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!

36 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    September 22, 2015 / 10:29 pm

    How old are most of the Emirates cabin crew?

    • September 24, 2015 / 8:13 am

      21+ 🙂 Literally anywhere between 21 and 50! I guess average age for females is 21-35, but as I say, that’s a guess!

      • N
        September 28, 2015 / 9:45 am

        Hi rachel,
        usually how many how many hours do you get to sleep? Is it hard to wakeup in an odd time. Would love to know your experience n how do you deal with sleepness night during your long flights

        • October 16, 2015 / 1:44 pm

          Hi there! Hm that’s a very tricky question. Before those kind of night flights leaving at 3am I’ll probably only sleep between 2-4 hours if I’m lucky. Usually then once I arrive at the destination I’ll have a nice long sleep if I can!

  2. Anonymous
    September 11, 2015 / 11:58 am

    Hello Rachel, you’re very kind to share a bit of your life with us, it inspires many of us! I have a bit silly quesion though… I know on the emirates website there’s written that you don’t need to have previous customer service experience, but anytime I read blogs of cabin crew with emirates, they all have worked in the customer service area, so… do you actually know someone who was hired but doesn’t have customer service experience?
    Thank you for your patience, Rachel and have a very good day 🙂

    • Anonymous
      September 11, 2015 / 7:11 pm

      I’ve never worked in customer service, in fact I haven’t got any work experience and I’m joining emirates in November :). So go ahead and go to an open day

    • September 24, 2015 / 8:04 am

      Hi there, glad you enjoy reading 🙂 I think there are plenty of people hired who don’t have any customer service experience! (For example people who come straight after university, etc) In the mean time, while you’re waiting to apply, why don’t you try getting a part time job waitressing or something like that if you can? 🙂

  3. Anonymous
    September 11, 2015 / 3:02 am

    Hello!
    Could I ask you, how it is with special flight tickets for crew?
    I have heard something about 90% and 50% discount, some are only for you, some for family, some even for friends, something is if you want a fixed flight date, for some you need to wait if the plane is not full, how does it work?
    Many many thanks!!:))
    Patricia

    • September 24, 2015 / 8:03 am

      That’s pretty much how it works! ID90 for us and immediate family (parents & siblings) which is around 90% off – but these are standby tickets, so if the plane is full you don’t get on! “Special” tickets for friends and other family (cousins etc) but these are not always available and sometimes not even much cheaper than a full fare ticket. Just depends on where you’re going etc.

  4. Anonymous
    September 11, 2015 / 12:57 am

    Hi, how many days of vacations per year do you have?
    And how many can you take in a row?
    Thanks!

    • September 24, 2015 / 8:01 am

      30 days of leave per year, you can take them in blocks of minimum 5 days at a time and I believe maximum 15 at once 🙂

  5. September 7, 2015 / 3:23 pm

    Hi there, you have a great blog 🙂
    I am starting in October and I would just like to ask you an the housing allowance if we chose not to live in their accomodation. Everyone seems to tell me something different, some say it’s 30 k others that it is 50k and some that you have to be married ^^
    Do you know which one it actually is?
    Than and sorry for the Trouble 🙂
    Keep up the good work

    • Gema
      September 19, 2015 / 4:17 am

      They give you 50k, but you do have to be married and give proof of it, apart from that your spouse has to be living in the UAE too or you won’t get it. If you meet that criteria then they will give you your live out allowance as soon as your 6 months probation period is over.

      • September 24, 2015 / 8:11 am

        No you don’t have to be married 🙂 You can take it and live alone or with friends/ boyfriend as well 🙂

      • Gema
        September 25, 2015 / 3:31 pm

        Oh, ok! That’s great to know. I have a friend working there and he told me he had to get married to live with his girlfriend, I guess then that was just so that it was legal, but had nothing to do with the live out allowance.

    • Rita
      September 21, 2015 / 4:13 pm

      Hi !
      I just read your comment and have been reading Rachel’s blog for a while now!
      I am also starting in October , my doj is 16th October , when will you be starting? 🙂

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:57 am

      Hi there, thanks for reading 🙂 I think it’s around 50K (AED) but you definitely don’t have to be married! I know plenty of crew who take the live out allowance and live either alone, with friends or with their partners. (For example, one of my best friends in Dubai has just moved out with her boyfriend – they are not married!)

  6. Cori
    September 6, 2015 / 2:22 am

    How did you got your Visa to fly to The USA?

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:55 am

      It’s a crew visa so the company applied for it for me 🙂

  7. Ravi
    September 5, 2015 / 5:29 pm

    Are the crew meals any different from passenger meals? for ex if u r flying to SFO which is around 16 hrs how many meals does the crew get?

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:55 am

      We get the same amount of crew meals (e.g. for SFO – 3 meals for passengers, 3 meals for crew) but sometimes there are a few more choices. However since working in business class I mostly just eat the leftover passenger meals! We do get some salads and fruit as well which is great.

  8. September 5, 2015 / 12:01 am

    Hey Rachel,
    I was wondering about the reserve months. When you have it is that like a whole month you’re on Stand by and you don’t know if/where you’re gonna fly? Or is being on reserve mixed during a normal roster with a number of days airport/home standby? Because if it’s a whole month I guess you must be patient (but yeah EK asks you to be as from the AD so that’s already ok haha) but you must read quite a few books? 😛
    Thanks 🙂

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:54 am

      Hi there! Yes it’s pretty much like that – a whole month of not knowing where you’ll end up! Every day at 6pm you check your roster and it gets updated for the next day. Somehow in nearly 3 years I’ve been lucky enough to skip reserve every time, haha!

  9. marian
    September 4, 2015 / 2:23 pm

    Hi Rachel. How are you? I love you blog. Your lif looks fabulous. I would love to work for emirates or etihad airlines too, What’s the mean age of male cabin crew ? I’m 24 and I hope I still have a chance. 😉 Thank you for respond.

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:53 am

      Hi there, thanks so much for reading! 🙂 24 is the perfect age to apply! For men I think it doesn’t matter so much at what age you join either so you’re in with a great chance!

  10. Jana
    September 3, 2015 / 3:41 pm

    Hi
    Are you going to be in the Netherlands during weekend? If so, and you don’t know what to do I’ll be more than happy to join you and show around a bit 🙂

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:52 am

      Aw sorry I didn’t see this comment earlier! I actually went during the week, and there’s a new post coming very soon about what I got up to 🙂

  11. September 2, 2015 / 9:47 pm

    Definitly another day in the life post 🙂

  12. Anonymous
    September 2, 2015 / 8:12 pm

    Yay! Looks like a good roster 😉 Yes, please, keep posting it, it’s really exciting! I see a Mauritius there, what a paradise! Maybe you could also write the name of the city, as i think many of us don’t really have a clue of what the airport code mean eheh
    Thanks for your updates, your blog really keeps me motivated and makes me dream everyday! Kisses

    • Minerva
      September 2, 2015 / 8:33 pm

      lol I had to google all the airport codes as well 😀

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:49 am

      Yes it’s been a nice month 🙂 I absolutely cannot wait for that Mauritius, I’ve only been once before so I’m really looking forward to it! Hehe sure, I’ll do that next time 🙂

  13. September 2, 2015 / 5:39 pm

    Please could you do another day in the life post perhaps on a longer service or a turnaround service as I find those quite interesting!

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:48 am

      Sure, I’ll definitely keep that in mind 🙂

  14. M
    September 2, 2015 / 4:22 pm

    Hi Rachel! I’m always excited to see a new post on your blog. Keep posting! Also, I am wondering – now that you have been flying for quite some time, do you find it easy to find the balance to stay healthy in general? Is it a hard thing? Does the crew manage to eat healthy in flight meal? Just out of curiosity 🙂

    And by the way, how long are you planning to fly for the company? You seem to be enjoying it so much! 😉 i can’t wait to re apply for EK as i have been rejected on the FI once. how would you picture yourself in 5 years? Sorry for the long comment! I’m just excited to know a bit of a crew’s point of view 😀

    • September 24, 2015 / 7:47 am

      Thank you so much for reading! 🙂 I have to say it can be very hard to stay healthy – especially when you’re flying at crazy times of the day/night! I do try hard to keep it balanced and not eat too much unhealthy stuff when I’m onboard, but it can be so tempting to eat the chocolate croissant for breakfast onboard haha!
      I have no plans to leave anytime soon, I’ll be renewing my residence visa and signing my new contract in the upcoming months 🙂 So hopefully if I stay a while I’ll eventually get to purser! Let me know if you end up re-applying 🙂

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