Rostering Around – October

My roster for October has just been published, and although it’s my 2nd top bid I didn’t really get anything I asked for! I think that’s because as well as having 5 days leave I’m also scheduled for my visa renewal. I can’t believe how quickly that’s come around, sometimes it feels like I’ve only just joined!

I’ll be starting the month off with my Mauritius flight, which technically was from my September roster.

Then comes my birthday, and as of yet I still have no plans! Next up is:

  • KHI (Karachi turnaround)
  • KWI (Kuwait turnaround)
  • MAN (Manchester layover)
  • Leave (5 days, plus a couple of days off either side)
  • DME (Moscow layover)
  • IKA (Tehran turnaround)
  • DAC (Dhaka layover)
  • Visa Renewal
  • Can-Use (this is basically stand-by, if my visa renewal takes longer I’ll be in Dubai, if not I’ll most likely get rostered a flight).

Now, funny story for those last 3 flights. I was actually rostered a San Fransisco flight, but I’m not a massive fan of US flights so I put it up on swap shop to see if anybody had any good offers.

However, during my flight to Singapore one of the guys was asking around if anybody had any days off (which I did, 5 in a row right after my leave) and was desperate to take them. I wouldn’t normally give away my days off (understandably) but he was offering 2500 DHS (which is equivalent to just over 600 Euros!!) if I took his flights. 😀 Turns out he has a rich boyfriend who is willing to pay for him to get rid of his flights…and who can resist that kind of money just to swap a couple of flights?! I think that’ll pay for my next holiday on my upcoming leave, haha!

So there you go, that’s my schedule for next month! I would love to get rid of my turnarounds at the beginning of the month and maybe see if I can swap that Manchester, so stay tuned to see where in the wold I end up!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for day-to-day updates of my travels! 🙂

A day in the life: Flying High

So I thought it might be fun to do another “day in the life” type of post, something a little bit different here on my blog.

I’m currently in Singapore, and since this flight is the freshest in my memory, I thought I’d write all about it! Who knows, maybe it won’t be as interesting as some of my other posts, but here goes!

The flight departure time is scheduled for 03:05, which means I need to check in 2 hours early, at 01:05 in the morning. Not ideal timing, but luckily I manage a few hours nap beforehand. Since I’ve literally just moved apartments, my things are all over the place and I’ve packed a random jumble of clothes and hope I have something that goes together for the layover!

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Once my make-up and hair are all done (over the past few months I’ve gradually started wearing less and less make-up on flights so this only takes me 20 mins max) and my uniform is ironed, I get on the crew bus which stops right outside my building. I arrive just as my e-gate is opening so don’t need to sit around, and can go straight to the briefing room.

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A Dutch Day Out!

A recent trip of mine took me all the way to sunny Amsterdam. Ever since I saw AMS on my roster, I knew I wanted to do something a little bit different. I’ve visited the gorgeous city quite a few times, including staying a few nights there when I backpacked around Europe with my best friend Lucy.

This time, the windmills were calling! I’d wanted to visit the quaint village of Zaanse Schans the previous time I’d gone to Amsterdam but never got round to it, so was determined to make the most of it this time.

After an early start and a busy flight, we arrived in Holland. Myself and 2 other girls from business class inquired with the concierge how best to get there, and decided on a train leaving in an hour. After a quick shower and a few whatsapp messages, we were on our way. Since our hotel is next to the airport, we had to take a train for around 20 minutes or so outside the city, then a few stops on a bus.

Before we knew it, we’d arrived in Zaanse Schans (along with bus-loads of Chinese tourists, haha!).

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The beautifully quaint little village, in Western Europe’s oldest industrial area, used to have more than 600 windmills running at the same time. Now 10 windmills continue to work, and are used for sawing wood and grinding oil, flour, spices and dyes.

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I’d piled on the layers as my weather app had told me it was to be around 15 degrees, however it was a beautiful warm and sunny day and I wished I hadn’t bothered with my jacket! As you can probably tell from my hair, it was more than a little bit windy! Perfect for all of those windmills though 😉

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Roster for September

I had some positive comments on my last roster post for August, so I thought I’d continue and post my flights for the month here on my blog!

I didn’t bid for any flights, I only asked for a string of 5 days off as I was planning a trip away, but unfortunately I didn’t get them. Nevertheless, my flights are quite ok, and no turnarounds this month!

I’m heading off to:

  • MAN
  • LGW (originally a MUC, which I swapped)
  • AMS
  • BKK
  • ZRH
  • SIN (originally a JFK, but I just did that last month so I swapped it!)
  • MRU

How exciting that I finally get to visit the beautiful island of Mauritius again! I’ve only been once before and the end of September should be beautiful sunny weather.

I’m also rather looking forward to some pampering and a massage in Bangkok, it’s been far too many months since my last visit!

If you guys would like to see any specific blog posts, please do feel free to leave a comment and let me know 🙂

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more regular updates of where I am in the world!

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of…

… There’s nothin’ you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
Big lights will inspire you,
Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York!

I think you guys can guess where one of my most recent layovers was spent!

I didn’t manage to swap my 24 hour layover in the Big Apple, so after a couple of hours sleep I was up at 1am ready to serve a full cabin of hungry passengers for the next 14 hours.

Luckily, they were hungry but even more than that, they were sleepy! I guess the one good thing about a departure at 3 o’clock in the morning is that everybody wants one thing – sleep!

The flight flew by with great crew, and so many laughs in the galley whilst everybody slept.

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We’re lucky enough to fly over some beautiful places on our way around the world, and I always take time to appreciate the beautiful views out of the window. I even popped up to the cockpit to admire a bit more of Greenland and the gorgeous snowy peaks visible for a while.

Just as the passengers were starting to wake up, it was time for my break! We have a little crew rest compartment (located in the cabin on the A380 behind a locked door!) which sleeps 9, plus a separate area for the flight deck with 2 bunk beds. They are a bit of a squeeze and I’m pretty sure some of the tall guys barely even manage to fit in the bunk beds, but once you’re in it’s hard not to fall into a deep sleep!

After a short but sweet slumber, it was time to serve some breakfast, and then….land into the concrete jungle!

Being Saturday morning, the city was so busy and it took us forever to get to the hotel. Half of the roads were closed due to some market or other so we drove around for what felt like hours before we finally reached the hotel. By this time it was already lunchtime, and although I’d already eaten on the plane, I was suddenly absolute starving!

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