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

February Roster

Our rosters came quite a few days early this month, which was a pleasantly unexpected surprise!

After having been very lucky and getting quite a few flights that I asked for this month, I should have been on reserve, or “bottom bid” for February. However I was lucky enough to receive a fairly normal roster, with (almost) no nasty surprises! I asked for 5 days off at the end of the month, to try and keep up with my 2017 resolutions of travelling more, and I actually got them, which I’m quite surprised about.

I’ll also be flying off to:

  • ZRH – Zurich, Switzerland
  • DOH – Doha, Qatar (turnaround)
  • DUB – Dublin, Ireland
  • ZRH – Zurich, Switzerland
  • COK -Cochin, India (turnaround)
  • IAH – Houston, USA

As you can see, two trips to Zurich, which always pop up on my roster. No complaints there as it’s a shortish flight, usually not too busy, and a great allowance.

It’s been a couple of years since I went to Dublin so I’m looking forward to that one, any tips or recommendations are much appreciated!

Houston is now back on the 777, and that’ll be my first long-haul flight since working in first class.

Only two turnarounds, a quick Doha (around 40-45 minutes each way!) and a Cochin, not a particularly desired flight as it leaves around 2am and gets back around 12pm the next day. Horrible timings and a long flight, but let’s hope for the best!

As for my 5 days off at the end of the month, a little getaway is in the works with my friend Kirsty, fingers crossed everything works out…stay tuned to see where we end up!

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

Mulled Wine & Cheese Fondue in Lausanne, Switzerland

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the festive period and managed to spend time with your families, I was home for a week at Christmas and managed to get lots of relaxation and eating in!

Now it’s back to work for me, and I spent New Year’s Eve at 40,000ft, somewhere between Zurich and Dubai. In this job it’s practically unheard of to have both Christmas and New Year’s Eve off, let alone 2 years in a row, so I didn’t mind working NYE since I was lucky enough to be on leave for Christmas.

My last flight before my leave was a trip to Geneva, my second time visiting in December. Since it had only been two weeks since the previous trip, I decided to jump on a train and visit Lausanne, a small town around 40 minutes away.

Luckily I even had a companion for the afternoon – Thanatip, the lovely Thai first class crew, accompanied me.

We were slightly taken aback by the price of the train ticket – 56 Swiss Francs each for a return ticket! Bearing in mind that’s about what I used to pay for a ticket from Klagenfurt – Vienna (a 4 hour train journey!) when I lived in Austria, and this was a 40 minute ride each way. Fortunately we get a generous allowance in Geneva, but still!

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December Roster

It’s that time of the month again…my last roster of 2016! This year has just sped by, and I’ve almost completed my first month of working in first class.

Next month I’ve got plenty of European flights, perfect for visiting the Christmas markets and getting in the festive spirit. I’m just waiting for December 1st so I can put my Christmas tree up!

In December I’ll be flying off to these destinations:

  • GVA (Geneva, Switzerland – my first time!)
  • KBL (Kabul, Afghanistan)
  • AMM (Amman, Jordan)
  • ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • MXP (Milan, Italy)
  • DOH (Doha, Qatar)
  • GVA (Geneva, Switzerland)
  • Leave (Home for Christmas!)
  • ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland)

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I was surprised to see 3 turnarounds (Kabul, Amman & Doha) in next month’s roster, as that’s more than I usually get. They are short flights, although in Kabul we stay on ground for almost 4 hours so it’s a long day. Thankfully we now get paid for ground time during turnaround flights!

As you can see I’ll be a regular in Switzerland – I put it as a low bid and got 2 GVA and 2 ZRH, although not much else that I bid for!

The best part of my roster is 5 days leave over Christmas – it’s been 3 years since I had Christmas off!

I’m slowly getting used to working in first class, and enjoying the change. Hopefully it won’t be long before I fully know my way around the galley!

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

The Reality of Flying

As much as I love to keep my blog positive and only post about the fun things I get up to either in Dubai or on my layovers, the reality is that I don’t actually spend every layover out and about, exploring the city or surrounding areas.

And that’s perfectly ok! I think I would be totally burned out if I never rested and made sure to get a proper night’s sleep or spend some of my layovers just lounging in bed.

I would love to keep you all believing that this is the most glamorous job in the world, but that isn’t always the case I’m afraid! Now, of course we all know that sometimes it really is amazing – breakfast in Dubai, lunch in Milan, and dinner in New York. But on other days, the reality hits you and I don’t want to portray a false illusion here.

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November Roster

So as you may remember from my October roster post, starting from next month (if all goes well) I’ll be working in first class! This means that I got my roster a little earlier than usual.

I’ll be starting off the month with 5 days leave, which I’ll be spending in Barcelona with my best friend Lucy. I’ve been to Barcelona lots of times, but I still love the city so I’m always happy to go back.

Other than that my roster is as follows:

  • Leave
  • EBB (Entebbe, Uganda – a new destination for me!)
  • LHR (London Heathrow, UK)
  • SFO (San Francisco, US)
  • ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)

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As you can see I have a new destination that I haven’t visited before, Entebbe! I’ll be researching what there is to do there in 24 hours, so any tips are most welcome.

Another trip to San Fran, which should be fun. Although the flight is veeeery long (I’ve just got back from a trip there as well!) it should be interesting working it in first class rather than business class.

My trip to HKG is one I’m very happy about, as it’s a 48 hour layover! When I saw that we had started 48 and 72 hour layovers there again I just had to bid for it. Now to plan what to do there with my lovely friend Kirsty!

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