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

November Roster

My November roster has been published, and it was my “top bid”, which means my group is the highest in seniority for bidding.

We did have a new bidding system roll into place this month, so I think that may be why I didn’t get everything I bid for!

In November (which by the way – where has this year gone?!) I’ll be heading to:

  • VIE (Vienna – originally I was rostered Manchester but someone sent me a swap for Vienna, of course I accepted straight away!)
  • 6 days off (to attend a wedding of friends in Mauritius, yay!)
  • AMS (Amsterdam)
  • LGW (London Gatwick)
  • PVG (Shanghai)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)

These are all subject to change as I may get sent some swaps or send some myself, I’ll keep you updated!

I did also bid for Orlando and Bologna, but all of the above flights are A380 flights (except Vienna) so it looks like the rostering system didn’t want to give me any 777. Shame, would have been nice to see some new destinations!

I bid for HKG to go and see my ex-flatmate Kirsty who lives there now, so I’m very excited to finally be able to catch up with her as I haven’t seen her since her wedding in August!

Do let me know if you have any requests for posts – my Macbook battery has been playing up a lot recently and I fear it may need to be replaced, which is why I haven’t been able to post as much recently.

Thanks to everyone who follows my blog and leaves me lovely comments on each posts, it’s really appreciated! 🙂

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

Marvellous Mauritius

I was lucky enough to finally be rostered another flight to Mauritius! It had been over a year since I last visited and I was so happy to get the chance to re-visit the beautiful island I fell in love with last time.

The flight was nice and easy, busy but not too long. After around 6 hours we arrived in MRU just as the sun was setting. It was already dark by the time we arrived at the hotel but I could still see the pool and ocean glistening from the lobby!

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The hotel does a great dinner buffet, so we sat down to some delicious Mauritian food and had a relaxing evening.

The hotel is actually more of a resort and some of the rooms are spread out pretty far, you can even get a lift on a golf buggy if the walk is too much for you!

My room had a beautiful view of the ocean and all the lovely palm trees. It was the best feeling waking up on the first day of my birthday month and being greeted by the sound of waves crashing and the breeze blowing through the trees!

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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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