Key quotes:<p><i>> I was living in LA, rent free.</i><p><i>> I love flying and I have a lot of frequent flyer miles/points from credit card sign up bonus/flying over the past few years.</i><p><i>> I booked all my tickets for Fall 2022 back in April and May 2022. Then I booked all my tickets for Spring 2023 back in Nov 2022. Most tickets were booked using Alaska miles or Southwest points</i><p><i>> I have elite status with Alaska and Southwest, both offer a valuable perk called same-day change. I always book the cheapest flight of that day and call them when the check-in window opened to change to other flights of that day free of charge.</i><p><i>> Spent 45972 minutes on my commute, equivalent to 31.93 24-hr days.</i><p>So basically, if you're rich and have already spent several times the cost of rent on travel in your gap year(s), willing to spend over 20 hours a week commuting for 3 days of class, and have literally no concept of the value of your time, you too can afford the miserable commute from LA to Berkeley for university!
My takeaway from reading about the person's experience is that we need better high speed public transportation in California. It would unlock a lot of economic and non-economic opportunities if people can move across the state within an hour. Imagine if Berkeley was a commuter school for people in Los Angeles, or UCLA was a commuter school for people in Bay Area.
> Total Cost: $5592.66<p>For 10 months. Even if true story, only make sense if you can find rent $559 cheaper in LA (and don't value your time & the environment of course). It was extra special for the OP as he'd live rent free in LA.<p>> Typically, the door-to-door commute time between my home in LA and my classroom in Berkeley is 4-5hrs EACH WAY<p>Waking up at 3:30am and wasting 9h every day doesn't seem worth the $ savings. I feel a part time on-campus job or something would be less draining, more rewarding, and financially same...
For full context, this is someone with a wife and two kids[1] who had a couple of semesters and just needed a temporary solution, not a 20 year old kid. Different then the title might suggest.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/15/uc-berkeley-la-plane-commute-grad-student" rel="nofollow">https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/15/uc-berkeley-la-plane...</a>
> actual psychos attend this school<p>LOL I read a good amount of r/berkeley but this plane-commute story has to be one of the funniest posts I've ever read.<p>So humbled to share space, living and interacting with the absolute most-fucking-insane students ever. I wish I could have that dedication for anything, as insane as it sounds. Wow. Inspirational.
> Total Cost: $5592.66<p>This is highly misleading since it doesn't include $ value of all the freq flyer miles used (as far as i can tell).<p>And I'm left wondering was it really cheaper? If yes, by how much?
Alternatively, drive to Bakersfield and take the Amtrack to there/Oakland. It's a much more eco-friendly and enjoyable ride. They sell 10-packs and monthly passes too.<p><a href="https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bfd" rel="nofollow">https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bfd</a>
I never understand how NIMBYSM is considered environmentally correct or friendly. Every movement is taken over by vested interests. Average 4-8 floor height buildings with existing American infrastructure otherwise should be enough to flood market with 'cheap enough' homes.
An interesting story of someone who did something very similar last year: <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/11/thirty-years-and-100-flights-this-graduate-says-it-was-worth-the-journey" rel="nofollow">https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/11/thirty-years-and-100-fl...</a>.<p>From the article:<p>Twice a week, Parnell rises before 5 a.m. in Whittier, about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. He takes a quick shower, hops in his car and drives 35 minutes to the Long Beach airport. He breezes through TSA precheck and, with coveted “A group” boarding status, claims a seat near the front of the morning Southwest Airlines flight bound for Oakland.<p>Parnell knocks out some course readings on the 45-minute flight before dashing off the plane and subjecting himself to the mercy of BART. If all goes according to plan, he steps onto the UC Berkeley campus just in time for his 10 a.m. discussion section on the future of nuclear energy.<p>“It’s a sprint,” Parnell said. “I use every minute.”<p>When — if — things are on time, he gets back home to his wife and two children around 10 p.m.
The fight for mitigating climate change has a long way to go. I understand the funnily absurd side of the story, but the obvious flip side hurts my eyes for not being mentioned: it's trivializing pollution to an extreme.
This story reminded me of a story I heard in 2017, during a cocktail party.<p>Some entrepreneur had worked out a lease for living space, in the commercial heart of a large urban city....living in what during daytime is *literally* some VC office. He would come in at 8pm+ when the VC staff had left, and leave in the AM to work. And he paid a ridiculous low amount of rent to have what was effectively a 25K lease at market price.<p>Not sure what exactly was the motivation for the VC to agree to this (imagine having a bed in your office?) but , wondering if there is an underground network for this that im not aware of?
Upon reading title I thought it was some clever hack involving hitching a ride on a private plane or something. Flying commercial for school 3 times a week is bonkers
I assumed he would use Surf Air or something similar (AYCE commuter plane for $2000-$2500).<p>Makes sense if you have lots if FF miles and free rent somewhere else.
It is creative. I'll give the writer that.<p>Can't say I have the stomach for such a grueling travel schedule and I have done my share of frequent travels, including intercontinental long-hauls.<p>Nevertheless, it solved a problem for the writer and made for interesting reading.
tl;dr student doesn’t appreciate the extreme privilege they live in (LA rent free?!?!?) and don’t realize this is totally untenable for someone scraping by trying to afford college (i.e. anyone in the USA not in the upper class).