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

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

#61

Post by khazhoux »

uoaei wrote: post #58
usui wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Yes, the elite, priviledged lifestyle of waking up at 3:30 three days a week, to spend 8-10 hours on a plane and public transport, because you can’t afford housing on campus.

Just rich kid things!

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

#62

Post by aripickar »

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...

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

#63

Post by uoaei »

khazhoux wrote: post #61
uoaei wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Yes, the elite, priviledged lifestyle of waking up at 3:30 three days a week, to spend 8-10 hours on a plane and public transport, because you can’t afford housing on campus. Just rich kid things!

Clearly they could have afforded housing on campus if they just saved all the money they had spent on that credit card.

The luxury of affording your credit card bill every month as a college student, and living a lush life on all the things that money affords, then attending a prestigious school with a near guarantee of stable high income in perpetuity, is not a chance many get. By definition, privilege is the enjoyment of things that many others cannot enjoy.

Do you have a point to make or is this just a kneejerk reaction from a "temporarily embarrassed millionaire"?

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

#64

Post by snapetom »

tempestn wrote: post #32
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…

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.

I'm getting close to a similar situation.

I live in Washington and negotiating with my employer about doing a weekend MBA program in Texas. Most, if not all, tuition is covered, I'm staying with family there. However, it's not nothing money-wise. I'm my own with flights.

What I see as a pro, though, is that I'm highly productive on planes and airport lounges. At home, I'm distracted by spouse, pets, Netflix/Hulu/Amazon, etc. I've always been able to focus much more while traveling. I'm confident I can do most of the work for the program in the air, plus I get to hang out with extended family once a week.

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

#65

Post by godelski »

atdrummond wrote: post #34
et-al wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-co...

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.

> 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?

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

#66

Post by aidenn0 »

fuzzythinker wrote: post #52

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

Is that more reliable than the one that runs along the coast? Bay area to coastal SoCal Amtrak is notoriously late.

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

#67

Post by jnsaff2 »

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.

Here is an interesting take on California HSR.

TL;DR the physics is really hard and California might not be the best place for it.

https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2022/10/11/why-high-speed...

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

#70

Post by ehnto »

asdff wrote: post #20
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.

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.

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.

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