Many people don’t know that I spent about a year as a flight attendant.  When they find out they are often confused because I don’t seem to fit the “typical demographic”, but I still think it was one of the best jobs I ever had.  Everyone knows that when you are a flight attendant you can fly for free, but there are a number of other reasons to consider this as a career choice.

1. You aren’t the only one who gets to fly for free!

Most airline travel benefits are probably better than you think.  Most people realize they could fly for free, but they don’t realize that most airlines extend these benefits to spouses/significant others, dependents, and even parents.  When I worked for an airline my parents used the flight benefits way more than I ever did.  Lots of airlines even give employees a few “buddy passes” a year so they can get their friends on a couple flights as well.

You only get on the flight if there is an open seat, but with careful planning you can still get on.

2. You get benefits other airlines as well.

Airlines typically have agreements where they trade benefits between their employees and beneficiaries.  I flew completely for free on my airline, but had access to fly 100 others.

When I flew my airlines it was completely free, but when I flew the others I had to pay a small fee, generally described as the taxes on the route.  Typically the fee for me to fly from Los Angeles to New York on another airline was only about $40.

3. Don’t need a college degree

Want to avoid student loans? College not for you?  Neither are necessary if you want to become a flight attendant!

4. Pay starts out pretty lame, but can get pretty good.

Even though pay starts out pretty low, there are a number of flight attendants that make $80,000 a year.  That’s a great salary, especially considering that you don’t have to have a college degree to get the job.

5. Schedule flexibility

Schedules are made by flight attendants seeing all available flights, and then “bidding” on the ones they most want.  They are awarded based on seniority, so even though it sucks when you are new, once you have some experience you can build a scheduled with tons of flexibility.  I had friends that would rush and get their hours in early in the month, and then take the final two weeks off.

6. Overnights allowing you to see the world

Many international flights come with a flight crew overnight.  This gives the flight crew time to get off and sleep in a local hotel before flying back.  Often times these overnights allow more time to actually do a little bit of exploring before coming back.  Even though the trips are quick, if you fly to the same place multiple times you will end up with plenty of time to explore.

7. Meet cool people

Generally people on planes are pretty happy and/or excited to be traveling somewhere, and can typically be a joy to talk to.

Think you could be interested? 

Well, before you commit to reading my TIPS TO GET HIRED make sure you read my post on the worst things about being a flight attendant.