> I was living in LA, rent free.
But also, FTA:
> August 2022-May 2023
So 10 months. At the quoted amount of 5592, that's 559 dollars a month. Do you think you could find a reasonable, safe, clean place to live in the Berkely area for 560 / mo? A quick search says no.
But to get that low quoted amount, you need to ignore the value of the frequent flyer miles used, and the value of his time spent commuting. If you factor those in, the cost is about $17.8k for the fall semester alone, plenty of money to get a nice place to live.
Qualifying for sign up rewards is doable by almost anyone with decent credit. And if you didn't have the credit, you wouldn't be able to get the lease anyway.
BART would usually be faster