I've only ever purchased my own ticket for commuting once. That was to make sure I would make it home for Christmas. You talk about buying hotels and tickets, are you not planning on using a crash pad as a commuter? That only adds up to about $5000/yr, which is much cheaper than you hotel and purchased ticket options. You might burn a few days extra a month getting to and from work, but honestly that's the life of being a commuter. If being at home is more important, you utilize the commuter clause on the front end. It doesn't count against you other than the loss of pay (I believe you can use pto to cover it if you have enough banked).