Re: Aren't I still paying the same transaction fee with Lightning to open a channel?
So basically Lightning is impractical for a small one time purchase, which makes switching over to cryptocurrency note expensive than dealing with fiat 
I don't know how you reached the last assumption. LN is not practical for a single small transaction when you factor in feesbto open and close the channel, but it's very practical for use over several months. When compared to fiat you have to compare other factors which affects the price of Bitcoin transactions.