Alaska Airlines Surprises College Student Who Commuted by Plane
Alaska Airlines was so moved and impressed by the determination of a college student who commuted by plane from his Los Angeles home to California, Berkeley to complete his master’s degree – mostly on Alaska Airline – that they got him a graduation gift.
Bill, who decline to use his last name, felt it would be cheaper to commute from Los Angeles to Cal Berkeley, and he was right. He said by commuting by plane, he saved almost $15,000 in rent in the ultra-expensive Bay Area.
So to show their appreciation, Alaska Airlines got him a little gift.
Bill received a Flight Pass Pro Subscription service for one year, which will allow him to travel within California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
He set up his schedule so that he only had three days of classes and flew 238 flights, most of them on Alaska Airlines.
He did it by accumulating frequent flyer miles, including signing up for credit cards.
“With the frequency and flexibility as well as same-day changes, that was the most valuable perk because I could switch to any flights if I wanted to stay longer and hang out with my friends,” said Bill. “I had a lot of miles from previous mileage runs or credit card sign-up bonuses with Alaska. When I started planning this commute, I checked, and there were 850,000 miles in my account.”
Yes, he had a great head start.
It was time-consuming, of course. But even though he sometimes had to pay foreground transportation, bill said it was worth the time to save all that money on rent and get his master’s degree.
And for making as many friends as he did at Alaska Airlines, from flight attendants to workers in the lounge.
Bill earned a graduate degree in the spring from Cal Berkeley in its Master of Engineering in Transportation program.
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