California Student Commutes by Plane To Avoid High Rental Costs

A California graduate student has made headlines this week after revealing he commuted by plane every day between Los Angeles and San Francisco while attending the University of California, Berkeley, to avoid paying rent in the Bay Area.

The student, Bill, who asked local media to be identified by his first name only, wrote about his unusual solution to high rent in the Bay Area on Reddit, where he posted under the handle 'greateranglia'.

"I survived living in LA and commuting to Cal by plane over the past academic year to save on rent, AMA [ask me anything]," the student wrote.

Rent in the Bay Area is notoriously expensive compared to other areas in the state and the country, with the latest data showing that it remains high because of a lack of inventory and increased demand, as more workers are asked to head back into the office.

The latest data released by property rental platform Zumper shows that, as of June 2023, the average one-bedroom monthly rent in San Francisco is $3,000. Compared to last year, the rent for a one-bedroom flat has remained unchanged. In Los Angeles, according to Zumper, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in June 2023 is $2,415—1 percent higher than the previous year.

In an interview with KTLA, Bill said that he was living in a rented flat in Los Angeles when he got accepted into a one-year Master of Engineering program at the University of California, Berkeley. Knowing he would be returning to Los Angeles after graduating, he decided to avoid paying rent in the Bay Area—and commuting by plane instead.

He said he commuted between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at least three times a week during the academic year in order to follow his classes. All his professors and classmates knew he was a so-called super commuter, flying back home after class, he said.

He said he took a total of 238 flights and flew 92,089 miles, normally waking up in the early hours of the morning to catch a flight from LAX to SFO, then catch a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Berkeley, and do it all in reverse at the end of the day.

Bill kept a log of what he spent commuting during the year on Flyertalk, which amounted to a total of $5,592.66. He spent $671.29 of the total on BART, $520 on parking, $1,948.27 on gas, $39.96 on inflight WiFi, $1,552.10 on Alaska flights, 407,500 Alaska miles, $758.24 on Southwest flights, 156,945 Southwest points, $71.30 on United flights, 5,500 United miles, $15.60 on Avianca flights, 6,500 Avianca miles, and $15.90 on Spirit flights.

"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," he told KTLA. "That itself is a miracle."