- Josh Nichols commutes from Michigan to Chicago every week for his job as an analyst at United Airlines.
- Nichols takes advantage of United’s flight privileges, allowing standby travel for his trip.
- Supercommuting improves Nichols’ work-life balance, enabling him to live in Michigan.
This is a spoken essay based on a conversation with Josh Nichols, a 25-year-old from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who regularly commutes to Chicago for his job as a senior analyst at United Airlines. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I live in Michigan and my office is in Chicago. I work in customer strategy and innovation as a senior analyst for United Airlines, and our department is hybrid. For the most part, we are on duty on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and sometimes Thursdays, every week. It’s really nice to have that bit of flexibility.
When I first started working, I lived in Chicago for two years. But I hate Chicago with a passion. There is so much traffic, it was expensive, it was noisy.
I had heard that some colleagues were taking a supertrip. Just thinking about the quality of life I have back home in Michigan versus the quality of life I had in Chicago, the decision was pretty clear.
After talking to my management and coming to a mutual understanding that they would give me the green light to leave town, but that I would have to come into the office, it was a no-brainer.
I am very grateful that our team is flexible in this regard. My management team is very understanding and very welcoming. But I also think it might be a different story if I wasn’t such a hard worker or if they had to keep a close eye on what I’m doing.
Flight from Detroit to Chicago
I normally take a 6am flight from Detroit that lands at Chicago O’Hare around 6am also due to the time difference. After boarding, I usually fall right back to sleep and wake up in Chicago.
I have a United Club card, so upon arrival, I’ll go there and have breakfast, and then take the subway downtown to our office at Willis Tower.
I will work in the office all day on Tuesday, spend the night in Chicago and work in the office all day on Wednesday. Then I usually take the 7pm flight from Chicago to Michigan. Sometimes I will stay another day and catch the same flight on Thursday evening.
As far as where I stay, it’s a good balance between friends and just getting hotel rooms. I have some very, very generous friends who I am very grateful to allow me to be their local potato. Often I’ll buy them dinner or we’ll just hang out. If I’m staying in a hotel, I usually get one from the airport because it’s cheaper, and then I’ll travel back and forth by train.
I use my flying privileges as a United employee
Because I am choosing to live outside of Chicago, I cannot use the flights provided by our company to travel within, and the company does not pay for my hotel stays or transportation to the airport.
Instead, I fly on standby with our flight privileges, where employees can fly for free if there is a seat available and you are old enough to take it. By Monday night I have a general idea of what the flights look like the next morning.
If they don’t look great, I might decide to take the train or drive four hours, and I might leave on Monday night. Thankfully, my track record for getting on the Tuesday morning flight is pretty good.
When I show up in the morning, I have to wait to see if I’m selected and get a seat assignment. If I don’t make the 6am flight, there will be another 7:30am flight.
I can also buy a ticket as a normal passenger. I try to avoid buying tickets as much as possible, but of course I bought a ticket to go to the office, especially during the holidays. This is just what I have to do to be responsible and hold up my end of the bargain.
I don’t think I would be willing to do this trip if I had to finance my own flights or drive or take the train every week.
Better work-life balance
I have been doing this for almost two years now. Sometimes it’s a challenge because there’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to catch my flight or which return flight I’ll be able to get on. But I’d rather deal with those little challenges than live in Chicago.
Living in Michigan, where I’m originally from, is worth it.
I can see my parents and my grandparents regularly. I am able to see a lot more of my friends. It has really helped me maintain a healthy social life.
Super commuting allows me to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I still maintain very strong relationships at work. I maintain the quality of the work I do and I don’t miss working days in the office.
For others interested in super-traveling, I think it’s really important to evaluate what you want out of your life and know if you’re willing to make certain sacrifices for the quality of life that makes you happiest.
I think the most important thing is that you can’t get loose. You can’t take virtual work as an opportunity to be mediocre. And if you know yourself, if you’re someone who likes not to work so hard when you’re not being managed, maybe it’s best not to.
