Friday, April 8, 2011

Benefits/Perks for being an airline crew ( Cabin Crew and Pilots )

So what are the perks of being an airline crew? Again this is one of the top 10 questions that I am often being asked. Different airline have different perks and benefits but I am going to stick to Emirates since I was flying with them to give you all a general idea.

Do we have time to explore a particular country during nightstops and do sightseeing? The answer is yes. It depends on the frequency of the flight to that particular destination and whether it is short, medium or long haul. For short haul ( 5 hours and below) , we normally do the flight as a turnaround flight which means there are no nightstop as you fly there and return to base on the same day. For medium haul flights ( 9 hours and below) ,we get to stay in that country for between 24 hours up till 100 hours. If we have daily flights, which means we fly to that country every single day, the stay is normally 24 hours, for example, you arrive 8am today and leave at 8am the following day.

I use to do 3days/2 night ( 72 hours) in Hong Kong , Kuala Lumpur ( get to go home for free) , Malta and etc etc. Plenty of time to do sightseeing and to travel around. Sometimes the trip can be very long and the longest one I had was Dubai-Singapore-Melbourne-Auckland and back. Can you imagine travelling in between 4 countries in a span of 12 days with different time zones? This is where jetlags comes in and honestly, sometimes when I wake up, I don’t even know which country I am in! For this trip we will fly from Dubai to Singapore and stay there for 2 nights ( 48 hours) and then 7 nights in Melbourne then back to SIN for another 2 nights before we fly back to Dubai. During our stay in Melbourne, we will do turnaround flights to Auckland. There are many kinds of trip but the idea here is to let you know as an airline crew, we do get free travel and free holiday and to me that is the best part of the job. And mind you most of the hotels we stay during nightstop are five stars hotel ! 

If you want to travel on yourself and not during duty period, we get perks such discounted airfare from Ek and only pay 10% of the flight ticket. Besides, we also get discounted airfare from other airlines as well even though we are not their staff. For example, I can buy Malaysian or Singapore airlines tickets with a 90% discount. The only drawback with ID90 ( 90% discounted fare), we are on standby, which means that if the flight is full, we will be bump off. You will have plenty of time to travel as your annual leave is 30 days for cabin crew and 48 days for pilots.

As a junior crew, you will be provided with free accommodation in an apartment usually 3 or 2 sharing. When you are promoted to senior crew member, you get a single studio apartment all for yourself. They are fully furnished and your telephone line,uniform laundry and utility bills are all paid by the company. For pilots, you get a villa/bungalow for you and your family free of charge. Transport wise, it’s also free and will be a small bus for cabin crew while the pilots get an audi car to chauffer them to work. I stayed in pink building, an apartment with a huge size of about 2000sqft and located in the hottest place in dubai which is sheikh zayed road.  Most of the clubs, trendy cafes and posh restaurant are located here.

You will also get a crew card which entitles you for discounts at cafes, restaurant, free entry to selected nightclubs, shopping and etc etc. 

Apart from the above, you will get medical coverage, dental and comprehensive insurance scheme. The company will give you an end of service gratuity payment once you finish your contract and also the yearly profit sharing bonus besides your monthly salary.

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