10 Apps Flight Attendants Should Download Right Now

 

1. WinBid — This delightful app is the flight attendant's best friend. Airline crews prepare their bid for their monthly schedule. It displays all monthly lines and their associated trip pairings (and we all know what a pain in the patoot this can be to try to do manually), so there is no need for bulky “bid packages” to carry around. WinBid automatically downloads and stores all your airline’s line and associated pairings off-line. You can view, search, filter, score, list, and more.


2. GateGuru— Enter an airport code and up pops everything you could ever want to know about food, shopping, and any services offered, along with reviews, ratings and maps. Enter your flight number and access flight status, delays and weather conditions all in the same place.


3. Tapped Out— Think of the Sims, only with the Simpsons. Mind blown? The key is patience—the only way to advance in the quests, etc, is to keep playing daily. Darcy got me hooked on this, and I'll never look at a donut the same again.


4. FlightView— Another absolute diamond of an app. It tracks flights and shows you their delays, when they take off and land, etc. You can actually see a real time map of the flight path, in addition to ground information such as the gate numbers where the flight will land or take off from.
   
   [caption id="attachment_554" align="alignnone" width="300"] Where my flight at?[/caption]


5. Amazon Kindle— My sweet parents bought me a 8.9" Kindle Fire HD for my birthday, and its a delightful little gadget to be sure. I rarely (if ever) watch TV, but I read like a fiend, so you can always find me thumbing my way through some new tome. This has made such a difference while away long hours of downtime on flights, or layovers. If you're a big reader, definitely download this app on your phone, laptop or tablet.


6. Mint— Considering whether or not to by that impulse $13 hummus at the hotel because its the cheapest thing on the menu and the nearest restaurant is 9 blocks away? Mint is a wonderful app that sets monthly budgets for you based on your income, debts, bills and expected needs. It categorizes your spending, and you can set it up to text you when you're reaching your limit. In such a busy lifestyle, it helps to know Mint has got your back. I love how all my bank accounts/student loans/expenses are neatly categorized, and I have goals set for my savings and repayment plans.


7. FAAWait—During a oncoming weather delay a flight attendant who also works part time as an air traffic controller told me about FAAWait. It's his favorite app. One click and we knew which airports across the country were also experiencing delays, how long the delays were averaging, and what had caused the delays. In other words, win, win and win.


8. WhatsApp—An Emirate's flight attendant from Bosnia based in Saudi Arabia told me about this app on a flight from Miami to New York. WhatsApp makes it possible to send text messages to friends and family out of the country free of charge. There is virtually no cost to stay in touch with loved ones. You can even share audio and video messages.


9. HappyHourFinder—nobody is better at finding a deal than a flight attendant. Period. We will find out every discount, sale and maneuver to pinch a penny in the book. Just the other day a flight attendant told me that she cooks herself a grilled cheese sandwich with a clothes iron ( albeit well cleaned)!! It doesn't get more Jenny-on-the-spot than that. This is why we take advantage of happy hour specials, particularly ones that include half priced appetizers! Check it out, and see who has specials in your area!


10. Ride—My sweet roomie, Belle, told me about this one a few days ago, and I'm a believer. While its currently for iPhone users only, Ride is a rewards network that gives you points for travel. When you have it installed on your phone, it records the numbers of miles you travel and you accrue Ride points (pretty simple so far, yeah?) They are redeemable for real rewards through Ride, such as gift cards to companies like Amazon, Starbucks, Redbox, etc.
    And who doesn't love free stuff for shameless self promotion?

How To Negotiate With Flight Attendant Scheduling Like A Pro

As a reserve flight attendant, the #1 thing you can do to get the best trips is learn to negotiate with scheduling. They pretty much have your life in their hands—there's no way around it. I've only been on the job about 4 months, so by no means am I a pro, but if you're also new (or thinking about becoming a flight attendant), it might behoove you to take notes on some of what I've learned so far.

Carmen's Tips for Rocking It At Scheduling

 1.  Stay updated. I made this #1 for a reason. Get a mobile app that allows you see all open trips (ours is called Catcrew and can be found here); when they're leaving, when they're coming back, where they're going, who is flying, what type of aircraft, the layovers, the total hours you'll be paid, etc. I do this throughout the day to see where I am in the lineup to be called ("what number are you today" is a very common question among reserves)  but most specifically at around 3 PM I check and see what trips are available and watch them slowly disappear as future scheduling starts calling. That way, when it comes time for me to be called, I know exactly what trips are open, and I don't have to keep my scheduler on the phone asking all the questions that I could've found out on my own by simply staying updated.

2. Be polite. Don't think for one minute that scheduling personnel don't put notes in your account about you. If you're rude, or late, or let your temper show, you're bound to get a reputation.

3. Be in the know. Read your contract, and be aware of what is required of you, and what is required of scheduling. Example: take your 90 minutes when you get quick called. If you get asked how quickly you can get to the airport, say you need all 90 minutes, even if you are 15 minutes from the airport with packed bags. Do it.

4. Take the long trips. A 4 day trip might sound exhausting, but remember that you took this job because you wanted to travel. In addition, you'll notice a huge difference in the amount of per diem ( a specified hourly amount your airline will pay as reimbursement for various expenses during the trip) on your paychecks. Those layover hours add up, people. Usually to the tune of a couple extra hundred bucks. So, I say again, those longer trips are worth it!

5. Put yourself on international quick call if you have a yearning desire to go overseas. This way, as soon as a trip comes up and they need a reserve to fill it, you'll be in the first line of duty. However, this could mean getting called in the middle of the night for a 10 hour trip to London. This can suck. But I have a good friend who has gone to Dublin, London and Barcelona right after getting hired, just by putting herself on the international quick call list. Another way to up your odds of getting the international trips is to sit OPR a lot. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

6. Give them a list on your days off of places you'd like to go. Note that you can only do this on your days off, not when you're already on-call. This way, if something comes up, they'll put you in the queue to get that awesome long overnight in Seattle, or Paris, or Tel Aviv, etc, etc

7. Ask to be released the afternoon before your off days start. I usually call around 7 PM, and ask to be released, so I can leave Charlotte and get an early start flying back to Chattanooga to see Darcy and friends. Or, go on a birthday vacation. It saves you from spending valuable down time commuting to the place you want to be. Also, its a way to cover your butt. If you just skip town while you're on reserve and they catch you off base, you can get fired. Spare yourself the worry and risk and just ask to be released.

8. Never answer the phone on your OFF days. Unless of course, it's the last day of a set of your off days and there giving you a courtesy call about trips that will be available once you go back on call the next day. I usually just let it go voicemail and then playback their intent. Consider your options here; if you answer on an off day, they can give you a trip! So don't answer unless you need the money more than the leisure.

9. With that said, a courtesy call on your last day off around 3 PM is a wonderful opportunity to see what trips are available and get one you'll actually enjoy. Keep your eyes on the open trips screen and when they call, see if you can get one with a late check in. If they call on a Sunday at 3 pm and you get a trip with a check in on Monday at 7 pm, you just basically bartered yourself another day off!

10. Remember they're human, trying to do a job just like you. It's easy to try and villify the person who wakes you up at 3 AM to take a trip across the country, but they have a prime directive just like you do. They have to wrangle flight attendants and pilots and make sure trips are covered. Even if they aren't particularly perky or helpful, remember they are a means to an end and that end is your job. It's not hard to get along. I've seen so many flight attendants get their britches in a wad over scheduling dilemmas, but you should always keep your cool. Once you understand the system, and master the little nuances, you'll be well on your way to getting the trips—and time off—you so want and deserve.

I'm still far from being a pro at this, but I'm learning more and more each day and I want to share that knowledge with people who are even more green at this than me.

With that said, if I forgot anything, or you have some good advice to add, please comment!

10 Things To Do As A Reserve Flight Attendant

 

1. Keep your phone on you. Always. Jump when it rings, only to answer a call from Bob at Progressive, wondering why you changed insurance companies. Spend way too much time explaining the decline in your logistical needs due to the fact that you RIDE IN A FREAKING PLANE to get where you need to go.


2. Learn a second (or third, 4th, etc) language. I'm currently trying my hand at German for free on Duolingo


3. Do laundry. Iron uniform. Use starch. Feel really bad@ss because you just used starch on your crisp uniform shirts. You're so legit it's not even funny.


4. Check your on call available number.... every hour. Despair quietly. They'll get to you one day.


5. Pack your stuff. Unpack your stuff. Pack new stuff. Feel slightly more productive.


6. Clean your bedroom/bathroom. Use the abundance of downtime to your advantage. A clean counter is a righteous counter!


7. Go shopping way more than you ever thought you would in your entire life. But hey, there are a million fantastic little shops and boutiques. Weep over the things you cannot afford yet.


8. Watch ALL the movies/shows on Netflix.  Run out of good things to watch. Eventually devolve your taste in cinema to the point where you watch a movie about a roving discarded rubber tire that could blow things up with its mind. You genuinely can't believe you just admitted that.


9. Work out at your apartment's awesome gym. I'm a fan of the Couch to 5k running app for my iPhone. One day I'll be able to run a marathon, and that treadmill won't know what hit it.


10. Jump up like a ninja when you get a phone call from scheduling (see image below)

 

10 Essential Tips to Succeed In A Flight Attendant Interview

I'm starting a new kind of recurring post wherein I will do 10 tips of sorts, for travel and new hire flight attendants looking for a helpful resource for success. The longer I work in the airline industry, the more I learn, and the more I think to myself "I wish someone had told me that when I was just starting out!"

I was very fortunate, because when I added my name to the vast pool of applicants for flight attendant trainees in October 2012, I had a good friend already in the business to give me some insight into the process. That being said, there is so much I wish I had known then, that I have great fortune to share with you now. The airline industry is going through a hiring boom (at least my airline is!) and at least 1000 new flight attendants will be minted this year. If you're on the verge of considering a new career, want to travel, or even just want your boring life to look drastically different why not give it a try?

There are some of us who are content to lead an ordinary life, where you wake up and do the same thing at the same place. Every. Single. Day. Then there are those of us who never quite fit in this environment. We may try various types of jobs and even change careers several times hoping for a job with staying potential/growth, which you can actually enjoy instead of just tolerate. Nevertheless, you end up feeling like you're suffocating in tedium, while spinning in place. Sound familiar?

Maybe you've already applied and have gotten a call back from HR! If this is the case, congratulations! I know for a fact they ever-so-carefully screen potential candidates, and if you've gotten this far it means they're seriously interested in you because your resume and qualifications have risen to the top of the pile.
After the phone interview (where they ask very standard questions about your resume and skills), you'll be scheduled a time to come for an in person interview. When this happens, get excited and take the earliest possible date they have available. Why? Every benefit in the airline industry is based on seniority; from getting the schedule you want to taking vacation days off. The earlier you get in to the job, you will have a slight advantage over everyone else who is hired on a later interview date.

My airline paid for its chosen applicants to be flown to the physical interview, which was a huge advantage over some of the others I had applied to. Can you imagine how awkward it would be to drop $500 on a ticket, only to be told you didn't make the cut?

Here are my first ten (plus) tips about what/what not to do when you arrive at the interview.

1.  Dress well.  No short skirts or platform heels or earrings that are bigger than your actual ear. Think tasteful. Think understated. Make it easy for them to imagine you in the uniform. Below is my interview outfit— a stylish but tasteful dark peplum dress. Target and Anne Taylor are your best friends for interviews.
   


2. Be honest about liking customer service and willingness to relocate. If you don't like being around people, you definitely won't like people when you're trapped with them in a steel tube cruising along at 35,000 feet. That said, I'm naturally more of an introvert than an extrovert, but the difference is for  bursts of time, I absolutely love being around people and taking care of them. Don't think you can commute right away. Emphasize how flexible you are willing to be. They really do expect you to be at your base when you're on call, so don't think you can just go back to your hometown at night and take a flight back during the day. Not gonna happen. For the first 7 months you're on the job, you're on probation, which means your performance is under strict observation and evaluation. If you're not on base when you're supposed to be, they will know and you will be fired. Make your life easier and don't expect to even try to commute until after you're off probation.


3. Talk to everybody. Your fellow interviewees, the interviewers, the janitors, the receptionist. Try to make the impression that you are Skippy McSkipperskip— the most social person on the face of the planet. I made it a point to remember everyone's first name and one interesting fact about their life, so if I was called upon to do so (as I read on some forums was the case) I'd be able to show I'd been paying attention. As I've said, you are being watched, and people are taking notes on how you interact with others. This gives a window into how well you get along with other human beings in close quarters in the air.


4. Make the interviewers remember you. I share a name with a famous politician, and I made sure to mention that in my introduction (where you have to stand up in front of the entire group and speak for a minute.) I also made an effort to make the interviewers laugh, and be as confident and cheerful as possible.


5.  Be prepared for a long day. My interview was, in total, about 8 hours. Food and refreshments are provided, but a lot of people seem to think you're going to go in, be interviewed like any other company you've worked for, and then go home. What actually happens is a mixture of one-on-one interviews, group activities, mock-up flight tests, guest presentations on the company, question and answer sessions and ohsomuch paperwork at the end.


6. Ask intelligent questions about the airline. This shows your interest and Do not ask questions that would indicate you care more about the benefits and less about the job, such as how long you'll be on reserve or how many free flights you can give out to friends in a year. An example of a good question would be "What are [airline's name] plans for expansion in the future?" or "Which types of aircraft are in [airline's name]'s fleet?"


7. Don't forget to be you. Sure, you're being a slightly more polished version of you, but they don't want to hire some automaton—they want a real person. Let your best colors shine through. In my one-on-one portion of the interview, my interviewer noted how it was unique that I had flown private planes as a hobby before becoming a flight attendant. She must have talked to thousands of interviewees in her career, but that little tidbit helped me stand out. Months later, she still remembered me.


8.  Do not touch your cell phone. You need to be able to devote your full attention to the interview and interacting with your fellow candidates, so you need to avoid coming across as that bored person who is disconnected from the rest of the group, typing away on her cell phone.


9. Work well as a group. You'll be in group exercises/games, and its important that you should stand out as a leader, but also as a someone who designates duties to others and asks for advice or input where its needed. Getting along with others is a skill we learn in kindergarten, so it always surprises me when people are standoffish or try to take over and be a dictator over the rest of the people in the group.


10. Wear a watch. This is actually something they look for. A watch indicates you care about punctuality, and keep a wary eye on the time.


11. *Bonus* Bring copies of your resume and make sure you have a passport. (I remembered this after I had typed up the 10 tips.) You must have your passport by the time training starts, so its an added bonus if you have it at the interview.

These tips are the basics. Follow them and you will be off to a good start but, it doesn’t mean everyone is right for this career. It is a big investment for the airline to train flight attendants. The purpose behind the interview process is to make sure it is the right fit for both you and the company. Feel like you’ve got what it takes? Good Luck! Hope to see you in the skies!