M'sian Woman Fly 5 Days a Week From Penang to KL For Work

Meet Racheal Kaur who decided to take a plane from Pulau Pinang to commute to her work in Kuala Lumpur every day. Yes, you read it right. A PLANE!

In an interview, Racheal reveals how her day begins with her waking up at 4 am. She leaves her house at 5 am to board the plane at 5:55 am. The flight takes her about 30 to 45 minutes, and she then makes her way to her office from KLIA and arrives no later than 7:45 am.

Her children were the reason for the unusual arrangement

Racheal said it wasn't always like this: She would travel to work by plane. Previously, she had rented a house in KL and would only drive to Penang on the weekends. However, she soon realised she was missing out on so much time with her children.

“With this new arrangement, I'm able to go home everyday and see my kids at night and even can help out with any last minute homework they might have,” she said.

Despite being an employee of AirAsia, Racheal said her daily commute was not sponsored by the company. With her own money, Racheal said it cost her RM50 daily to go to work with her staff discount.

Although choosing to commute by flight means Racheal doesn't have to deal with traffic jams, she said it does get tricky during peak periods like festive seasons as commercial passengers are given priority.

“While it can be challenging, I'm still able to go home at the end of the day so it's not a problem for me.”

She saved more money commuting like this

It is not a secret that flight tickets can get pricey, but Racheal's current routine actually allows her to save on living expenses.

She revealed that when she was renting in KL, she had to pay RM1,500 each month. But now, she only needs to pay RM1,000 monthly for her house mortgage in Penang.

Furthermore, commuting by plane to work also helps Racheal cut costs on food, as she would spend an average of RM300 monthly compared to RM500-RM600 when she was renting in KL.

While Racheal admits that her commute is tiring, she firmly believes that it's all worth the trouble in the end.

“It is exhausting waking up at 4 am everyday but the moment I reach home, I get to see my children and all that exhaustion is just gone.”

For now, Racheal does not plan to change her routine and plans to continue this arrangement for the foreseeable future.

You can watch her full interview below:

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