I commuted to work by plane to beat paying £2.8k rent – it only cost £80-a-pop & was exhausting but I saved so much cash
A YOUNG woman was trolled after sharing why she commuted to work by plane.
Sophia Celentano Did a summer internship in New Jersey, USA and claimed it was cheaper to pay for flights from Charleston, South Carolina than to live in an apartment near the office.
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Once a week, Sophia boarded a plane in her hometown and commuted for hours by plane, train, and car to complete her day’s work in person.
She claims the trip was tiring but has no regrets.
However, some trolls criticized her decision, claiming: “There’s no way this is cheaper than living there.”
Sophia decided to respond to the troll and made a full video breaking down the costs to prove how she saved thousands of pounds.
“I spend on average around £120 on flights every week,” she says in the clip.
“When I fly from Charleston to Newark it’s always around £80.”
As proof, she produces her receipts, which show that she was charged £21 for the outbound flight and £48 for the return flight – a total of £69.
“The reason I put down £120 is because I don’t always commute from Charleston. “Sometimes I commute from my boyfriend’s house in Richmond, Virginia,” she explains.
“These flights tend to be a little more expensive and I have experienced some flight cancellations so sometimes I have to spend a little more to get home.”
Once she’s flown to her destination, she needs an Uber to get to the office, which costs around £60 a day.
On a map of their Uber journey, viewers can see a purple line from Newark to Parsippany-Troy Hills, about 20 miles away.
This 40 minute journey cost Sophia £44.
The return journey to the train station only cost £7 as she shared the Uber with four other people.
“After taking an Uber to Newark Penn Station, I take Transit to the airport terminal. That ends up being $9,” she says.
“I very rarely buy food at the airport, but when I do it’s always less than £12.”
“In the morning I pack my breakfast, get lunch at the office, and then I get a snack at the airport.” When I get home, I eat a bigger dinner.
“In total so far that’s about $190 a week [on transportation and food].
“My internship is for 10 weeks, so that’s £2,000.”
It sounds like a lot of money, but Sophia did the math and revealed the shocking price she would have paid if she had moved to New Jersey.
Sophia shows her calculations on the screen, including £600 in rent if she was lucky.
“£600 for rent in New Jersey is very rare in the eastern areas where I would feel safe and comfortable,” she says.
“Then I would have had to spend at least £120 a week on food and at least another £60 on things like petrol [petrol]park and hang out with my friends.
“I didn’t mention this either, but I probably would have flown home at least once in the summer and flown or taken the train to Richmond at least once to see my boyfriend.
“For the three months, the total spend would have been around £3,600 on a very, very frugal budget.”
Sophia silenced the trolls and hundreds of people commented on her clip with their support.
One user said: “Realtors here in New Jersey, you absolutely made the right and more cost-effective decision by commuting.”
A second replied: “That’s so clever.”
And a third said: “Commuting makes a lot of sense.”
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