The Dubai Diaries
My life as a flight attendant in the Middle East!

April Roster

It’s that time of the month again! Are you ready for my April roster? March was my top bid, and although I was happy to receive most of the flights I asked for, I actually have another great month ahead!

I have two new destinations (that I didn’t even bid for!) and some other great flights that I did ask for. In April I’ll be flying to:

  • JED – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
  • COK – Cochin, India
  • ATH – Athens, Greece
  • BKK – Bangkok, Thailand
  • MEL – Melbourne, Australia
  • HKG – Hong Kong
  • SEZ – Mahé, Seychelles

Only one turnaround, a fairly quick one to Jeddah and back. After that it’ll be my first time to India! I have done plenty of turnarounds to India and back, but this is the first time I’ve actually been rostered to stay there. If anyone has any tips of what to do or what to see in Cochin, please let me know!

Then it’s off to Athens – the last time I was there was winter last year so I’m hoping that Spring will have sprung and it’ll be beautiful and sunny.

Next up is a flight to Bangkok, which was one of my bids. Recently almost all of our Bangkok flights have been operating without a first class, which means I haven’t been there in ages. I’ve been craving some delicious Thai food and of course a wonderful Thai massage, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing once I’m there!

After that I’ve got a layover in Melbourne – if you’ve read my blog for a while you may remember that my cousin Sarah lives there, and as it’s over a Friday and Saturday we should be able to get a good catch up in.

Then it’s a trip to Hong Kong, which was also one of my bids, to see my friends Kirsty and Dan and their baby Theo. I can’t wait!

My last trip of the month is a short but sweet layover in the Seychelles – another new destination to tick off the list! It’ll only be an afternoon and evening there, but I’m fully intending to make the most of my short time there. Let’s hope the weather is nice!

So there we have it, another exciting month to look forward to. Thanks as always for reading!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

48 Hours in Athens

I was very happy when I saw Athens on my roster last month – it is usually a turnaround flight (and a fairly long one at that, around 4 hours each way), and I was rostered it as a 48 hour layover!

The flight left Dubai around 7am, so an early start, as we have to be in briefing 2 hours before departure. The flight was actually 2 sectors, first to Larnaca, and then on to Athens. We only had 1 passenger in first class on the way there, and he closed the doors to his suite and instructed us to let him sleep as much as possible – a very easy first sector!

After landing in Larnaca, most passengers got off, and after a quick job by the cleaners we were ready to board the next set of passengers. Only 38 in total – on the whole plane! As you can imagine that sector went by in a flash, and it’s only just over an hour to Athens.

We are usually 15 crew on the 777, and usually a pretty good mix of nationalities. However on this flight the Greeks were out in full force, and there were only 4 of us who didn’t speak Greek! Once we arrived into Athens, it was a fairly long drive to the hotel, but on the plus side we were staying in the city rather than by the airport.

After a quick nap a few of us (non-Greeks!) met up for some dinner. One of the crew had given us a huge list of all sorts of restaurants and bars to try out during the layover. We headed to one of them for some delicious dinner, and called it a night ready for some sightseeing the next day.

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Athens Part II

So, as I promised – here is part two of my little getaway to Athens.

I left off at a lovely little trip up Mount Lycabettus, which has an incredible panoramic view over the city and out to the ocean.

And the ocean is where we were headed the next day. Mum & Dad had asked me to plan a little itinerary for our trip, and I wanted to include a trip to an island. Obviously the famous ones such as Santorini, Mykonos or Crete are too far away for a day trip, so we decided on something a bit closer.

But first – coffee! Upon recommendation from a Greek girl I’d flown with, we found a hotel called A for Athens, which has a gorgeous outdoor rooftop terrace. We sat outside in the sunshine, admiring the wonderful view of the Parthenon.

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Athens Part I

I don’t remember if I posted on here or not that I was going to Athens for a few days with my parents, however if you follow me on Instagram you will have seen lots of pictures from my lovely little getaway in the sunshine!

When Dad told me last month him and Mum were going to visit Greece for a few days, I jumped at the chance and bidded for 5 days off. It was my “top bid” month, so luckily I got the days off and promptly booked my flight.

On the morning of the flight it was all looking rather full and I didn’t think I was going to get on, but luckily someone didn’t show up at the last minute and I made it! I was meant to be meeting mum and dad at Athens airport but as their flight was cancelled they arrived a little later.

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Luckily our hotel had a gorgeous rooftop bar so I sat out in the sunshine enjoying an iced coffee.

Once Mum and Dad finally arrived the sun was setting, and we were all feeling rather hungry, so headed out to find something to eat.

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April Roster

I’ve had a couple of requests to post my monthly roster – so here’s April for you!

I think I’ve explained before about the bidding system we have. There are 7 groups that all the crew are divided up into (randomly, as far as I can tell) and the bidding system goes by group seniority. So my group (group 5) is at “top bid”, where you supposedly have the highest chances of getting what you bid for, in April.

Even after nearly two and a half years I still haven’t got the bidding system completely sussed out, and I only got 2 of the things I asked for – you can bid for up to 5 (this includes layovers and days off).

  • Barcelona (one of the destinations I bid for!)
  • Munich (didn’t bid for this, but I seem to get it every month regardless!)
  • Los Angeles (trying to swap for our new 42 hour JFK layover)
  • 5 days off (which I bid for)
  • Kuwait turnaround
  • Munich
  • Barcelona

So as you can see – no new destinations again. 🙁

At least I got a couple of Barcelona trips in there, which will be fun as I’m hoping it’ll have warmed up nicely!

As for the lovely string of 5 days off, mum and dad have very kindly invited me to join them in Athens for a little holiday! Unfortunately it’s not quite enough time to visit any of the beautiful Greek islands, so I’ll try and see if I can do that sometime later this year. Any tips for Athens are very welcome! 🙂

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for day-to-day updates of where I am in the world and what’s going on!