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I was thinking about working as a flight attendant for a couple years to see the world/america. I make 25k now, even though its little money, i dont mind if i apply and get a job. but then i read online about how FA's get paid 18 k a year, and they only get paid while the door is shut, and lots of other stuff going on.
Also, do FA's get free parking at the airport? or they have to drive there, pay parking per day, and sometimes they will be out of the city for a few days.
It doesnt seem like a good job at all, at least if i make 25k a year compared to the 18k, i can just use the extra 7k and travel to 14 places over america (if each place costs 500, for the round trip ticket , I did not include food since if i was a FA, and i flew for free, I still have to pay for the hotel and food). the 500 round trip is on the high side also!
i'm not here to bash the industry, but my dreams were a little wiped out when i saw what former FA's said in blogs and articles. it seems like a thankless job.
Working for just a couple of years would be completely useless if your goal is to see the world/america, or travel like a tourist. You will be too junior to get a free seat to anywhere you'd want to see. You'll most likely be on call 5 days out of 7, and not do much but sleep on your days off. Even if your schedule at the end of the month,combined with the beginning of the next month, gives you a block of more than 2 days off it's not likely you could successfully get to/and get back from anywhere and still be back home in time to go on call again.
It's unlikely that you will see anything other than the inside of an aging, or under re- construction (noisy) hotel, near the airport, while you are on a (probably 10 hour) layover during work. That would be 10 hours from when the plane lands, to when you need to be on the plane again for your next duty period, NOT 10 hours at the hotel. If you wait with passengers after the flight (paid at per diem rates $2.00 an hour or less) or the hotel van doesn't pick you up promptly, you might only get a few hours of sleep, unless you skip showering and eating breakfast.
You will get free parking while you are at work, usually near the outskirts of airport, so add 30 or minutes to get to work after you park. I did pay for close (expensive) parking more than once though, because traffic (usually an accident) caused me to be running late even though I always left ridiculously early for work. You can also check public transportation, but it generally doesn't run 24/7 and many of your check-ins as a new hire will be before it opens.
You might not fly entirely for free on your [last person to get a seat] passes either. It depends on the airline, and they tend to change this policy from time to time.
It could cost you around $200, each way, to get to Europe and back.
Ha Ha, you're Not getting to Europe, you're spending your days off at the airport, running from gate to gate trying to get a seat
$18,000 may be on the high side, figure $15,000 to $18,000 to be safe.
Go ahead, bash the industry (management) it won't hurt their [lack] of feelings.
Its the same with any job dealing witht eh public in general really these days. Flyig is nott he same as it once was with cheaper ocwerall fares and overall public behaviour :IMO.Do't know the pay but if true that is near provert ywages which last I heard was 18k on gross income. Might adjusted income which can mean alot depends on benefits such as healthcare which adds average of 13K from government figures.
Back in the day, being a Flight Attendant was considered a glamorous job, a way to see the world, and the way to snag a prosperous husband. Now, I would not want to do it.
While a Flight Attendant has the important job of protecting the safety and well being of the passengers, it does not pay enough to put up with the abuse they have to deal with now. I'd sooner work at MacDonald's, and I'd probably earn about the same.
Back in the day, being a Flight Attendant was considered a glamorous job, a way to see the world, and the way to snag a prosperous husband. Now, I would not want to do it.
While a Flight Attendant has the important job of protecting the safety and well being of the passengers, it does not pay enough to put up with the abuse they have to deal with now. I'd sooner work at MacDonald's, and I'd probably earn about the same.
There's about zero glamuor in the job, at least not anymore. Pay is terrible for starting new flight attendants, and is even worse at the regional airlines. If you were going to become a FA, i'd only be looking at the major carriers (American, United, Delta) and would skip out on some of the others. Southwest is a good company, and pays pretty well, but I'm not sure how their flight attendant jumpseat privileges are for worldwide travel. A jumpseat is an extra seat in the aircraft that crew members often occupy, typically, there is one in the cabin for an extra flight attendant who is traveling for pleasure, or deadheading (being repositioned for the company before a flight). If there's an available seat in the cabin, you can easily occupy that one, and will occupy it before taking the "physical" jumpseat, but the principle is the same.
If you're in your 20's and don't really need much money, it's not "terrible". I was a pilot, still stated at $19k/yr, and most of the "cool" stories I had from my 20's involved airline crewmembers, overnights in random cities, and travel possible because of the benefits of the job. I knew one FA who literally traveled the world, Europe, Asia, South America, etc. She'd become an expert at living on the cheap, she'd stack her days off together on her schedule to get a week off at a time, and would head off to a random destination on a whim. Every time we'd fly, it was protocol to ask if she'd been anywhere fun, and it was always met with some great stories of awesome locations.
I can also remember running into groups of FA's that I worked with who'd go places just for a day. They only made 20k/yr, but they'd get 4 or 5 of them together, and head up to NYC for dinner, split a hotel for a night, and party it up in Manhattan, then catch the first free flight home the next day. You can have a great time doing it, but don't get into it because it's anything more than a job with a ton of job related travel, and a bit of personal travel built in.
Working for just a couple of years would be completely useless if your goal is to see the world/america, or travel like a tourist. You will be too junior to get a free seat to anywhere you'd want to see. You'll most likely be on call 5 days out of 7, and not do much but sleep on your days off. Even if your schedule at the end of the month,combined with the beginning of the next month, gives you a block of more than 2 days off it's not likely you could successfully get to/and get back from anywhere and still be back home in time to go on call again.
It's unlikely that you will see anything other than the inside of an aging, or under re- construction (noisy) hotel, near the airport, while you are on a (probably 10 hour) layover during work. That would be 10 hours from when the plane lands, to when you need to be on the plane again for your next duty period, NOT 10 hours at the hotel. If you wait with passengers after the flight (paid at per diem rates $2.00 an hour or less) or the hotel van doesn't pick you up promptly, you might only get a few hours of sleep, unless you skip showering and eating breakfast.
You will get free parking while you are at work, usually near the outskirts of airport, so add 30 or minutes to get to work after you park. I did pay for close (expensive) parking more than once though, because traffic (usually an accident) caused me to be running late even though I always left ridiculously early for work. You can also check public transportation, but it generally doesn't run 24/7 and many of your check-ins as a new hire will be before it opens.
You might not fly entirely for free on your [last person to get a seat] passes either. It depends on the airline, and they tend to change this policy from time to time.
It could cost you around $200, each way, to get to Europe and back.
Ha Ha, you're Not getting to Europe, you're spending your days off at the airport, running from gate to gate trying to get a seat
$18,000 may be on the high side, figure $15,000 to $18,000 to be safe.
Go ahead, bash the industry (management) it won't hurt their [lack] of feelings.
No wonder they act so pi$$y!
But hey, I used to want to be a flight attendant, or a nurse--after reading those Cherry Ames nurse, and Vicki Barr, flight attendant books! Or maybe do both?
No college degree required = low pay. Simple. At least there are some perks to being a FA ( like free travel and health benefits). Burger flippers don't get that luxury.
Working for just a couple of years would be completely useless if your goal is to see the world/america, or travel like a tourist. You will be too junior to get a free seat to anywhere you'd want to see. You'll most likely be on call 5 days out of 7, and not do much but sleep on your days off. Even if your schedule at the end of the month,combined with the beginning of the next month, gives you a block of more than 2 days off it's not likely you could successfully get to/and get back from anywhere and still be back home in time to go on call again.
It's unlikely that you will see anything other than the inside of an aging, or under re- construction (noisy) hotel, near the airport, while you are on a (probably 10 hour) layover during work. That would be 10 hours from when the plane lands, to when you need to be on the plane again for your next duty period, NOT 10 hours at the hotel. If you wait with passengers after the flight (paid at per diem rates $2.00 an hour or less) or the hotel van doesn't pick you up promptly, you might only get a few hours of sleep, unless you skip showering and eating breakfast.
are international flights better? (such as working a full 12 hour shift on air compared to on and off 2 hour flights, so pay would be better with less time worked)
also, on an international flight, is it the same such as the FA wont have enough time to enjoy the city, just land, help customers, shuttle, hotel, wake up, shuttle, work, in 10 hours? or do airlines let you stay a full day so you can explore the city (i would think not, in a business standpoint)
your post is very interesting, I liked how you put it into words as if I was going thru the BS or just trying to make 15-18k, the hard, suffering way.
are international flights better? (such as working a full 12 hour shift on air compared to on and off 2 hour flights, so pay would be better with less time worked)
also, on an international flight, is it the same such as the FA wont have enough time to enjoy the city, just land, help customers, shuttle, hotel, wake up, shuttle, work, in 10 hours? or do airlines let you stay a full day so you can explore the city (i would think not, in a business standpoint)
your post is very interesting, I liked how you put it into words as if I was going thru the BS or just trying to make 15-18k, the hard, suffering way.
Most of the international flight crews have a day in country prior to returning home. The trips are normally "3 days" meaning you show up to work on Day 1 and fly to your destination, once there, you're in country resting for a day, then fly back the next day and go home.
Airlines operate on a union inspired seniority system, so the ability to work the international flights might be a bit more difficult, it'll also depend on what aircraft your assigned out of training. If they're hiring flight attendants for the 737, you won't be heading off to Europe, if you're working the 777 or 767, you might have that opportunity.
Where you live will really change what opportunities are available to you. Most times, folks live in a city that isn't a base for the airline they'd like to work for. If they're lucky enough to be hired by that airline, the person has to move to a different city, or spend their days commuting to and from work (stressful, tiring, etc). When working for United Express I commuted from Kansas City to St. Louis on a regular basis, but luckily it was close enough to drive if the flights were approaching capacity. Even still, it's no fun to show up at one airport 4 or 5 hours before your scheduled to start working, and then you're working for 16 hours after you finally start your shift (yuck). The alternative to that is to commute in the night before, and if you don't have friends/family in the area, you'll need to buy a stake in a crashpad (house shared with other crewmembers, normally located near the airport, expect 3 bedrooms full of bunk beds and 1-2 baths). Not an attractive lifestyle either, yuck number 2.
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Ha Ha, you're Not getting to Europe, you're spending your days off at the airport, running from gate to gate trying to get a seat
