6 ms·

I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

• diversionfactor 3y ago
  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).
  • jrochkind1 3y ago
    From what I read I don't see how I'd make any conclusions about what they do or don't appreciate or think is tenable for anyone in particular else. Where do you see that?
    • User23 3y ago
      Socal is full of people living rent free. You don’t need to be rich to do it either. You just need to revise your living standards.
• emrah 3y ago
  > Total Cost: $5592.66 This is highly misleading since it doesn't include $ value of all the freq flyer miles used (as far as i can tell). And I'm left wondering was it really cheaper? If yes, by how much?
  • alex_lav 3y ago
    FTA: > I was living in LA, rent free. But also, FTA: > August 2022-May 2023 So 10 months. At the quoted amount of 5592, that's 559 dollars a month. Do you think you could find a reasonable, safe, clean place to live in the Berkely area for 560 / mo? A quick search says no.
    • utopcell 3y ago
      Sure, nothing beats living rent-free.
    • ewoodrich 3y ago
      I guess I'm not seeing the argument here when the starting premise is free rent in a similarly high cost of living city.
      • stu2b50 3y ago
        The starting premise is that some students have families in different areas than their schools?
    • gruez 3y ago
      >Do you think you could find a reasonable, safe, clean place to live in the Berkely area for 560 / mo? A quick search says no. But to get that low quoted amount, you need to ignore the value of the frequent flyer miles used, and the value of his time spent commuting. If you factor those in, the cost is about $17.8k for the fall semester alone, plenty of money to get a nice place to live. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35997647 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35997647
      • alex_lav 3y ago
        Sorry I'm not understanding the point you're trying to make. This person handed over the 5500 in cash, not the 17.8k you quoted, correct? It's not like they had a budget of 17.8k, because they wouldn't have gotten those miles had they not been flying in the first place.
        • deepzn 3y ago
          The point is it wouldn't apply to most people without points. And the point they were trying to prove in the post is it was possible for others.
          • 3y ago
  • gruez 3y ago
    >This is highly misleading since it doesn't include $ value of all the freq flyer miles used (as far as i can tell). Yep. Here are the amounts with the value of the miles factored in[1]: >$1366.06 on Alaska, 307500 Alaska miles 307500 Alaska miles * 1.2 cents/mile = $3690 >$380.86 on Southwest, 43732 Southwest points 43732 Southwest points * 1.5 cents/point = $655.98 >$42.80 on United, 5500 United miles 5500 United miles * 1.2 cents/mile = $66 >$15.60 on Avianca, 6500 Avianca miles 6500 Avianca miles * 1.2 cents/mile = $78 So for the fall semester it costed him $1805.32 in cash, but if you factor in the value of the points that rises to $6295.30. He also mentioned that he spent 45972 minutes on commuting. If you factor the value of time (eg. minimum wage), the "cost" rises further to $17,788.30. [1] obtained from googling "[points program] value"
    • presentation 3y ago
      At least when I was in the Bay Area around 4 years ago, it was possible to get a 3 bedroom apartment right by Ashby BART for $3,000/mo. So yeah I don’t think this worked in this persons favor especially given the miserable schedule
    • bruce511 3y ago
      Valuing miles us a tricky thing to do because it depends on factors each are personal, and in this case unknown. I get that the airline has a book-value for them, but that's not the same as value-to-me. Firstly, unlike $ they can expire. So it's not like you can save them forever. I recently had 15 000 miles expire, simply because there was nothing I wanted, or needed, that I could spend them on. Secondly they're not universal. To follow the article, i can't spend them on rent. So they really only have a value if I can trade them for something I would/could have spent $ on. So sure, upgrades are nice, but not like essential. It's the same with time. You can be time-rich or time-poor. You can be cash-rich or cash-poor. Typically your priorities will be to reduce poorness. Rich people spend cash to get more time. Cash-poor people spend time to get more cash. Miles-rich follows the same argument. So it's not so easy to put a $ price on miles or time. Clearly the equation will vary from one person to another. Incidentally given the choice of commuting or working minimum wage, I'll choose commuting all day long. Especially if that commuting is eyes-free, so I can use that time in a productive or entertaining way.
• csa 3y ago
  I assumed he would use Surf Air or something similar (AYCE commuter plane for $2000-$2500). Makes sense if you have lots if FF miles and free rent somewhere else.
• newyankee 3y ago
  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.
  • kevinventullo 3y ago
    Does anyone consider NIMBYism environmentally friendly?
    • wlesieutre 3y ago
      No, but environmental reviews are a popular tool for enforcing it
    • davidw 3y ago
      My parents are from the "boomer" generation, and their idea of environmentalism is pretty good in a lot of ways, but in terms of lifestyle, they think of it as "live on a big lot with a lot of trees and drive everywhere". Yes, they get to see lots of green - but they are very fossil fuel dependent. There really is a shift in mentality from thinking about what you see out your front door to thinking about the whole thing as a global system, and not everyone is capable of connecting the dots.
    • closeparen 3y ago
      California NIMBYs generally consider themselves to be saving the world from overpopulation. That’s mainly an object permanence problem, but it’s true that high housing prices deter household & family formation. There’s also the old canard about how environmentalism demands maximally convenient driving and parking because congestion and hunting for spaces causes cars to run longer.
    • User23 3y ago
      Supposedly protecting the rare endangered birds keeping high density housing from being built next to mansions on the Malibu shore is extremely environmentally friendly NIMBY.
• diligence_ 3y ago
  [dead]
• kpw94 3y ago
  > Total Cost: $5592.66 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. > Typically, the door-to-door commute time between my home in LA and my classroom in Berkeley is 4-5hrs EACH WAY 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...
  • alwayslikethis 3y ago
    Whatever part time job you have on campus, it sure isn't going to make you enough to rent anything close to a good location. You'd still have to commute quite far, just now you also have to work.
  • deepzn 3y ago
    Also they used a lot of miles. So real $ cost would be higher.
  • et-al 3y ago
    If you check out the OP's FlyerTalk thread, they were already doing LAX-MIA-LAX mileage runs before attending Cal. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/2093205-epic-commute-i-go-school-plane-aug-2022-may-2023-a.html https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/2093205-epic-co...
    • atdrummond 3y ago
      Yep. I would routinely fly weekend trips from the Midwest to Jakarta on my weekends in college just to get AA miles. The views of FT posters should be taken with a massive grain of salt - we’re not normal.
      • godelski 3y ago
        > routinely fly weekend trips from the Midwest to Jakarta on my weekends in college ,,just to get AA mile,, I'm sorry, can you clarify? Is there some secret cheap flights from the midwest to Jakarta or were you spending a grand+ every weekend?
• bhl 3y ago
  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.
  • echelon 3y ago
    Build more density in the cities you want rather than bussing people in. That's the best answer.
  • asdff 3y ago
    This is the entire point of the high speed rail. It unlocks new labor markets. Now workers can live maybe not in LA and commute to berkeley, but further in the central valley and go either way. Cities like Fresno or Merced could see booms as these areas take on the housing demand brought on by labor.
    • ehnto 3y ago
      Brightline Rail Company gets it. They are predominantly a real estate play, buying up land surrounding their "higher" speed rail services. They have a Cali project currently though it is to connect to Las Vegas. Buy the land, build the rail connector and enjoy the boost in land value you created. It feels like everyone wants rail, benefits from rail and advocates for rail, but no rail gets done.
      • inferiorhuman 3y ago
        Brightline rail has the worst safety record in the country. They're too cheap to even put up fencing around their track. The only thing Brightline gets is sacrificing a few lives to make a buck. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/29/799962246/brightline-nations-deadliest-railroad-after-high-number-of-track-deaths https://www.npr.org/2020/01/29/799962246/brightline-nations-...
• akiselev 3y ago
  Key quotes: > I was living in LA, rent free. > 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 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 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. > Spent 45972 minutes on my commute, equivalent to 31.93 24-hr days. 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!
  • tempestn 3y ago
    I guess it's not necessarily a poor use of time if you can study in the airport and/or on the plane. Or if you just enjoy flying.
    • akiselev 3y ago
      The LAX-SFO flight averages to around an hour and a half one way. It sounds like he really liked commuting to and from the airport more than flying. He would have been better off with a PPL and a Piper that takes off from the nearest small airport. It would have cost a little more but the bulk of it would have amortized better over the course of a four year degree (frequent flyer miles and elite status vs life time of PPL and resale value of the plane)
      • Karrot_Kream 3y ago
        Well you're still at the mercy of weather and airspace restrictions in your Piper. Flying IFR helps, but there's going to be days you'll need to scrap your flight because of winds or days you'll have to fly in pattern for a while waiting for clearance to land, potentially making you late for class.
• dilyevsky 3y ago
  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
• atleastoptimal 3y ago
  If a 4-5 hour each-way commute and 3:40 wake up times throughout an entire year of school is worth cheaper rent to a person, it's their choice.
• usui 3y ago
  > actual psychos attend this school 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. 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.
• IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago
  This story reminded me of a story I heard in 2017, during a cocktail party. 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. 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?
  • fakedang 3y ago
    > Not sure what exactly was the motivation for the VC to agree to this (imagine having a bed in your office? That's just an Entrepreneur-"in-Residence".
  • quickthrower2 3y ago
    Sounds like it might be breaking some kind of building usage code. But the VC might have a free nighttime security guard, and coffee machine warmed up for breakfast time.
• fuzzythinker 3y ago
  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. https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bfd https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bfd
  • aidenn0 3y ago
    Is that more reliable than the one that runs along the coast? Bay area to coastal SoCal Amtrak is notoriously late.
    • fuzzythinker 3y ago
      I took it 20-30 times 15 years ago, I don't remember it being late.
  • tpmx 3y ago
    That's a ~9 hour trip including the drive and 30 minutes safety margin.
    • fuzzythinker 3y ago
      Yes, much longer time, but net work/read/sleep time should be same or greater.
• pengaru 3y ago
  zero fucks given
• aripickar 3y ago
  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. [1] https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/15/uc-berkeley-la-plane-commute-grad-student https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/15/uc-berkeley-la-plane...
  • limitedfrom 3y ago
    Doesn't seem so. The article talks about a person getting a sociology degree, while the Reddit post talks about someone working on an MEng degree. Given the poster's extensive posts on Flyertalk and his comments saying that there are two of them[1], I think there actually might be two different folks doing this. edit: Found an older post where the poster says they're doing an MEng Civil Engineering program[2] [1] https://old.reddit.com/user/greateranglia https://old.reddit.com/user/greateranglia [2] https://old.reddit.com/r/berkeley/comments/urcxua/is_it_possible_to_do_super_commute_from_la_3x/ https://old.reddit.com/r/berkeley/comments/urcxua/is_it_poss...
    • usui 3y ago
      Correct, but you don't even need to search the post history. The difference in the major is already noticeable in the original post. These are two different people. Just imagine, these two could have been commuting together and syncing up.
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• jeandejean 3y ago
  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.
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• vivegi 3y ago
  It is creative. I'll give the writer that. 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. Nevertheless, it solved a problem for the writer and made for interesting reading.
• lutorm 3y ago
  And here I was thinking someone was commuting in their own plane...
• SamvitJ 3y ago
  An interesting story of someone who did something very similar last year: https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/11/thirty-years-and-100-flights-this-graduate-says-it-was-worth-the-journey https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/05/11/thirty-years-and-100-fl.... From the article: 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. 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. “It’s a sprint,” Parnell said. “I use every minute.” When — if — things are on time, he gets back home to his wife and two children around 10 p.m.