A grad student at the University of California in Berkeley, known as Bill, recently completed his 10-month civil engineering program by commuting from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area by plane instead of settling for sky-high rents. Bill shared his experience in detail in a now-viral Reddit post.
Bill had a setup that made his air commute feasible. First off, he had a "comfortable" roommate situation in Los Angeles and had plans to work in that area after school. Given his course requirements, he only had to attend classes three times a week, with occasional extra trips for events or meetings. Because he had elite status with Alaska and Southwest, he could make same-day flight changes and book the most cost-effective flights. Although this meant waking up at 3:30 a.m. for an 8 a.m. class, or occasionally taking the last flight back for late projects, Bill considered it worth it. Ultimately, he spent $5,592.66 on his commute, which included parking, BART rides, and in-flight Wi-Fi, for a total of 238 flights and 52 days commuting.
Bill is proud to have completed his program without missing a single class, calling the achievement a "miracle." Head here to see a photo of him wearing a graduation sash of boarding passes.
KTLA:
Asked if he would do it all again, Bill answered yes, "This is probably one of the craziest things I've done in my life, and I'm so glad I made it through, without missing any classes. That itself is a miracle."
By the way, his favorite airline? Alaska Airlines, "Because they were happy to give free upgrades and their agents are really nice," he said.
