Student takes two flights a week to dodge rent, says it gives him more time to study
A University of British Columbia student has found a way to avoid paying Canada’s high rent prices.
A 21-year-old student named Tim Chen, originally from China, flies twice a week from the city of Calgary to Vancouver to attend his in-person classes. The round-trip flights he takes each week cost him around 150 CAD, which adds up to about 850 USD a month on plane tickets. However, this turns out to be a smart move for the student, as it’s only half of what he would pay for a one-bedroom apartment rental in Vancouver, Canada.
Tim Chen is an art student, and the idea of flying twice a week to attend class came to him after seeing an ad from Flair Airlines offering low-cost flights between Calgary and Vancouver. At first, the teenager thought it was a joke, but after a few days of thinking it over, he realized it was actually a viable option. “This is the only financially viable option” Chen says. “I could never afford a bachelor’s suite of a kind by myself” says the young man, who currently lives with his parents.
He travels with just a backpack
Chen wakes up at 4 a.m. to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Vancouver—only on days he has in-person classes. He arrives on campus by 8 a.m. to start classes and then catches a return flight to Calgary that same evening. Once the plane lands, he takes public transportation and gets home around 12:30 a.m. What makes his case unique is that he travels with only a backpack, carrying a laptop, some books, and basic school supplies like pencils and paper.
Even though the whole process might seem tough and tiring, Chen insists it’s not as exhausting as it sounds. “I’ve learned how to sleep on the plane,” he says. “Actually, I have more time to study now that I don’t have to worry about traffic or public transport,” he concludes. This student’s story highlights the difficult housing situation in Canada, which makes it harder for students to adapt to their academic life.
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