He’s wingin’ it.
With rents within the Big Apple hitting record highs last 12 months, Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter goes above and beyond by “supercommuting” from his home in Columbus, Ohio, to NYC three days per week.
“When it got here time to return [to the office] in 2022, I used to be underwhelmed on the housing options in my price range. I toured one-room studios facing brick partitions and climbed crumbling staircases to achieve dank apartments with ancient fixtures,” Cutter wrote in an essay this week.
“I believed I could keep my expenses — rent in Ohio, plus travel costs — at or below the worth of a pleasant Latest York studio, or roughly $3,200 a month,” Cutter added, noting that he covers his own travel expenses to spend three days per week within the office.
The daring strategy isn’t entirely unorthodox — it’s actually gaining steam with the younger crowd as one Gen Zer boasted that she routinely commutes to Newark, NJ, from South Carolina to lower your expenses.
In Cutter’s case, he had relocated from NYC to an apartment near family early within the COVID-19 pandemic.
He planned to make use of travel miles and hotel points to make the journey worthwhile.
“To get to the office on time, I set my alarm in Columbus for 4:15 a.m. and hustled to the airport for six a.m. flights,” he penned. “When every thing went in line with plan, I made it door-to-door in three hours. If delays occurred, I scrambled to rebook on other flights.”
Cutter initially enjoyed swanky stays at high-end hotels like The Beekman — but such a way of life was unsustainable, he found.
“To conserve hotel points,” he traded Manhattan luxury — his newsroom is in the center of Midtown on Sixth Avenue — for a South Queens hotel near Aqueduct Racetrack within the vicinity of JFK Airport and the Van Wyck Expressway.
“My rooms neglected a sea of empty parking spaces, but required half as many points as Manhattan alternatives,” he shared.
And that was after staying at a Midtown Hampton Inn two days prior.
Inconsistency aside, supercommuting also exacted a social toll, Cutter lamented.
“I got here to dread the go-to query asked at parties and work events in Latest York: ‘So where do you reside?’” he sighed.
Not to say, he’s attempting to make it work within the nation’s inflation capital.
“Costs mounted in the autumn, Latest York’s prime tourist and business-travel season. Friends teased me for embracing a lifetime of chaos,” Cutter wrote.
“They weren’t improper. With out a refrigerator or stove, late-night dinners often consisted of yogurt and fruit purchased from a 24-hour CVS. Needing to pack light, I stored shoes under my desk and left spare outfits on an office coat rack.”
Cutter eventually yielded to the yoke of planes, trains, and automobiles.
“Ultimately, the maths didn’t work. I blew my budget by 15% and drained my miles balance,” he admitted. “But I flew a lot and stayed in so many hotels that I kept my elite status with Hyatt and American.”
Still, he’s not able to throw within the towel just yet — whilst one co-worker demanded he “get a f—ing apartment.”
“My lease is up, but hotel rates in Manhattan this winter have plunged now that the vacations are over,” Cutter wrote. “Possibly that Latest York apartment search may be postpone a bit of longer.”
He’s wingin’ it.
With rents within the Big Apple hitting record highs last 12 months, Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter goes above and beyond by “supercommuting” from his home in Columbus, Ohio, to NYC three days per week.
“When it got here time to return [to the office] in 2022, I used to be underwhelmed on the housing options in my price range. I toured one-room studios facing brick partitions and climbed crumbling staircases to achieve dank apartments with ancient fixtures,” Cutter wrote in an essay this week.
“I believed I could keep my expenses — rent in Ohio, plus travel costs — at or below the worth of a pleasant Latest York studio, or roughly $3,200 a month,” Cutter added, noting that he covers his own travel expenses to spend three days per week within the office.
The daring strategy isn’t entirely unorthodox — it’s actually gaining steam with the younger crowd as one Gen Zer boasted that she routinely commutes to Newark, NJ, from South Carolina to lower your expenses.
In Cutter’s case, he had relocated from NYC to an apartment near family early within the COVID-19 pandemic.
He planned to make use of travel miles and hotel points to make the journey worthwhile.
“To get to the office on time, I set my alarm in Columbus for 4:15 a.m. and hustled to the airport for six a.m. flights,” he penned. “When every thing went in line with plan, I made it door-to-door in three hours. If delays occurred, I scrambled to rebook on other flights.”
Cutter initially enjoyed swanky stays at high-end hotels like The Beekman — but such a way of life was unsustainable, he found.
“To conserve hotel points,” he traded Manhattan luxury — his newsroom is in the center of Midtown on Sixth Avenue — for a South Queens hotel near Aqueduct Racetrack within the vicinity of JFK Airport and the Van Wyck Expressway.
“My rooms neglected a sea of empty parking spaces, but required half as many points as Manhattan alternatives,” he shared.
And that was after staying at a Midtown Hampton Inn two days prior.
Inconsistency aside, supercommuting also exacted a social toll, Cutter lamented.
“I got here to dread the go-to query asked at parties and work events in Latest York: ‘So where do you reside?’” he sighed.
Not to say, he’s attempting to make it work within the nation’s inflation capital.
“Costs mounted in the autumn, Latest York’s prime tourist and business-travel season. Friends teased me for embracing a lifetime of chaos,” Cutter wrote.
“They weren’t improper. With out a refrigerator or stove, late-night dinners often consisted of yogurt and fruit purchased from a 24-hour CVS. Needing to pack light, I stored shoes under my desk and left spare outfits on an office coat rack.”
Cutter eventually yielded to the yoke of planes, trains, and automobiles.
“Ultimately, the maths didn’t work. I blew my budget by 15% and drained my miles balance,” he admitted. “But I flew a lot and stayed in so many hotels that I kept my elite status with Hyatt and American.”
Still, he’s not able to throw within the towel just yet — whilst one co-worker demanded he “get a f—ing apartment.”
“My lease is up, but hotel rates in Manhattan this winter have plunged now that the vacations are over,” Cutter wrote. “Possibly that Latest York apartment search may be postpone a bit of longer.”
