Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 123 posts

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

#51

Post by ericmcer »

bhl wrote: post #17

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.

A high speed rail enabling people to commute to SF/LA from 100+ miles away in under an hour would immediately relieve a huge amount of housing issues while creating tons of jobs in low income areas. The whole central valley would become a valid place for people to commute from.

Too bad we are incapable of building one.

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

#54

Post by scarface_74 »

bruce511 wrote: post #24
gruez wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 m…

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…

Miles don’t expire on any of the major airlines

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

#55

Post by labster »

bhl wrote: post #17

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.

I voted for California High Speed Rail when I was in university. I’m middle-aged now. I hope that one day, my grandchildren will be able to take that train.

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

#56

Post by fakedang »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #46

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 marke…

> 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".

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

#57

Post by [deleted] »

tbrake wrote: post #39
akiselev wrote: post #28

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…

What's with the indignation over this on HN? I didn't see them suggesting anyone/everyone would be able to do it, or that it was practical. It was just a funny set of cirucmstances that allowed for an attention catching headline and a mildly amusing tale. Yeeeesh.

[deleted]

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

#58

Post by uoaei »

usui wrote: post #49
tbrake wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's with the indignation over this on HN? I didn't see them suggesting anyone/everyone would be able to do it, or that it was practical. It was just a funny set of cirucmstances that allowed for an attention catching headline and a mildly amusing tale. Yeeeesh.

Exactly, what's with the critical and defensive reactionary response here? This story is hilarious! And the amount of effort it took to execute and maintain it. And to keep full track of commute time and expenses on a spreadsheet no less? Bravo.

It's also a grand waste of resources, not to mention quite a tasteless flaunt of the enjoyment of a level of privilege that very few have access to.

If you saw an article about how Bezos bragged openly on the internet about how much he spent a day on gourmet food flown in on private jets from faraway countries, do you think you'd respond any differently? Why or why not?

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

#59

Post by uoaei »

alex_lav wrote: post #35
deepzn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> And the point they were trying to prove in the post is it was possible for others. Qualifying for sign up rewards is doable by almost anyone with decent credit. And if you didn't have the credit, you wouldn't be able to get the lease anyway.

Did you also do the math for how long it takes to accrue that many points and how much money you need to spend to get access to them? I don't see any evidence that you considered those factors.

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

#60

Post by quickthrower2 »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #46

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 marke…

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.

Post reply on HN