It's far cheaper, especially since miles are so hard to redeem. United has so few seats per plane for miles users that they are nearly worthless. I have hundred

It's far cheaper, especially since miles are so hard to redeem. United has so few seats per plane for miles users that they are nearly worthless. I have hundreds of thousands of miles on United and can rarely ever use them for a flight I want unless I am willing to make 4 or 5 hops.