- Josh Nichols commutes from Michigan to Chicago weekly for his analyst job at United Airlines.
- Nichols benefits from United’s flight privileges, allowing standby travel for his commute.
- Supercommuting enhances Nichols’ work-life balance, enabling him to live in Michigan.
This is an as-told-to 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 on customer strategy and innovation as a senior analyst for United Airlines, and our department is hybrid. For the most part, we are in office Tuesday and Wednesday, and sometimes on Thursday, every single week. It’s really nice to have that bit of flexibility.
When I first started the job I lived in Chicago for two years. But I hate Chicago with a passion. There’s so much traffic, it was expensive, it was noisy.
I had heard several colleagues were doing supercommuting. Just thinking about the quality of life that I have back home in Michigan versus the quality of life that I had in Chicago, the decision was pretty clear.
After talking with my management and coming to a mutual understanding that they would give me the green light to leave the city but that I would still need to come into the office, it was a no-brainer.
I’m very thankful that our team is flexible in that regard. My leadership team is very understanding and very accommodating. But I also think that it might be a different story if I weren’t a hard worker or if they had to keep close track of what I’m doing.
Flying from Detroit to Chicago
I normally take a 6 a.m. flight from Detroit that lands at Chicago O’Hare also around 6 a.m. due to the time difference. After boarding, I usually fall right to sleep and wake up in Chicago.
I have a United Club card, so on arrival, I will go there and have some breakfast, and then take the subway into downtown to our office at Willis Tower.
I’ll work in the office all day Tuesday, spend the night in Chicago, and work all day in the office on Wednesday. Then I usually take the 7 p.m. flight from Chicago back to Michigan. Sometimes I’ll stay another day and catch the same evening flight on Thursday.
As for where I stay, it’s a good balance between friends and just getting hotel rooms. I have some very, very generous friends that I am very thankful for who allow me to be their local couch potato. Often I’ll buy them dinner or we’ll just hang out. If I stay in a hotel I usually get one by the airport because it’s cheaper and then I’ll commute back and forth on the train.
I use my flight privileges as a United employee
Because I am choosing to live outside of Chicago, I can’t use our company-provided flights to commute in, and the company does not pay for my hotel stays or transportation to and from the airport.
Instead I fly standby with our flight privileges, which is where employees can fly for free if there’s a seat available and you’re senior enough to get it. On Monday night I have a general idea of how the flights look for the next morning.
If they don’t look great, I might decide to take the train in or do the four-hour drive, and potentially leave Monday evening. 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 get cleared and receive a seat assignment. If I don’t make the 6 a.m. flight, there’s a 7:30 a.m. flight as well.
I can also buy a ticket as a normal passenger. I try to avoid buying tickets as much as possible, but I certainly have purchased a ticket to get to the office, especially around the holidays. That’s 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 commute if I had to self-fund my flights or drive or take the train every single week.
Better work-life balance
I’ve been doing this for almost two years now. Sometimes it’s a challenge because it’s not a guarantee I’ll be able to catch my flight or which return flight I’ll be able to get on. But I would rather deal with those small challenges than live in Chicago.
Getting to live in Michigan, where I’m originally from, is so worth it.
I get to see my parents and my grandparents on a regular basis. I’m able to see so many more of my friends. It’s really helped me maintain a healthy social life.
Supercommuting allows me to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I still maintain very strong relationships at work. I maintain the quality of work that I put out and I’m not missing my in-office days.
For others interested in supercommuting, I think taking stock of what you want out of your life is really important and knowing if you’re willing to make certain sacrifices for the quality of life that makes you happiest.
I think the most important thing is, you cannot slack. You can’t take virtual work as an opportunity to be mediocre. And if you know yourself, if you’re someone that likes to not work as hard when you’re not being managed, maybe it’s best not to do it.
