I commute to work by plane. People are shocked when they learn how affordable and efficient it really is for me.

• When people hear that I commute to work by plane, they often assume I have lots of money. • Thanks to credit-card points, though, I often travel at virtually no cost. • I've also developed best practices for saving money, like booking flights during seasonal sales.

As a college professor who lives in Los Angeles but teaches in San Jose, I fly to work on a weekly basis.

I used to live in the San Jose area before the COVID-19 pandemic, but when my workplace went remote, I moved about 350 miles away to Los Angeles.

When remote work ended in 2021, I decided to stay in Los Angeles — largely because my husband and kids preferred Southern California and its proximity to our extended family. So, I had two options: drive over 10 hours a day in California's notorious traffic, or take a shor