travel

Job Update

ALL THINGS TRAVEL

It’s been a crazy year for Flight Attendants regardless of which company you’re working for. Policies have changed, flight loads have lightened, limited routes and more. Because of all these changes and my personal and family lifestyle, I’ve made the decision to resign from my position as flight attendant.

This was not an easy choice and it’s honestly been something I’ve been pondering before the pandemic even hit. I loved my job but ultimately it came down to wanting to stay home and care for my children more.

After 8 years of working for my airline I feel I’ve visited many awesome places and made lots of new friends so I don’t feel any regret or remorse giving up my career to focus on my family. Sometimes people just outgrow their current position/situation and want to go in a different direction. For me that’s my children.

Now just because I no longer have flight benefits doesn’t mean I won’t be sharing travel tips, tricks, and cool destinations. As a family we still plan on doing fun destination vacations (once the pandemic is more under control) but for now we’re going to be playing tourist in our new state of Florida.

I want to say good luck and stay positive to all my fellow flight attendants and travel enthusiasts who come across my blog. This pandemic won’t last forever and the world of travel that we’re use to will soon return. I’ll miss you all but I’ll see you 34,000ft above me from the ground!

Koala Kloud Inflatable Footrest | Review

ALL THINGS TRAVEL, Product Reviews

When I was planning our cross country move which required air travel I wanted something to make my children more comfortable. I came across the Koala Kloud Inflatable Footrest and decided to give it a try.

I bought two (one for each kid) but I ended up only using one. Each cost approximately

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Cross Country Move pt. III | making the move

ALL THINGS TRAVEL

We made it! And it was definitely quite the trip. Let’s start with my travel experience with the kids…

A few days before our flight I started to get really stressed about traveling by myself with two kids. Thankfully my flight wasn’t full because I ended up buying my mom a ticket and she traveled with us and stayed in Florida for 10 days to help us get settled. Thankful she was with us because my husbands trip didn’t turn out as planned. More to come on that.

As for the “airplane port”

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Philadelphia Layover

ALL THINGS TRAVEL

I was fortunate enough to have not one, but two long Philadelphia layovers this month. There was so much to see and do, so much history to take in that I feel I only got a sliver of it done.

Nonetheless, this is a beautiful city and here’s what I was able to accomplish:

View from my hotel room. Isn’t it stunning?!

First up was the liberty bell. I’ve been to Philly before so I didn’t feel the need to go inside to get a look at the liberty bell but I still wanted to take a glance. It’s located in the independence national historic park. If you’re looking at the liberty bell from the front, behind it is a clear view of independence all.

Then when you’re feeling hungry, you need to go to Reading terminal market to fill all of your cravings.

Old city coffee, Beiler’s, By George, and Iovine juice are my favorites thus far.

There’s so much to see and do that I’m hoping I’ll get another long layover so I can continue my adventuring of this wonderful city.

Atlanta, Georgia Layover

ALL THINGS TRAVEL

I’ve never been to Atlanta and I had just enough time to venture out for about an hour or two. I did a quick search on google maps to see what was around my hotel and I found myself at the Centennial Olympic Park. It was absolutely beautiful!

Home of the 1996 Summer Olympics, this park was transformed into a beautiful place everyone can experience on a regular day-to-day life. There were beautiful water fountains, play structures for children, and wide open space to sit and just take in all the history.

There was also the aquarium, Coca Cola factory, and college football hall of fame for other forms of adventures all in one place.

I can’t wait for the next visit!

Pass Me the Money

ALL THINGS TRAVEL

So I worked my first premium flight out of my home base. It’s not that particularly hard but I still felt like a newbie since I’ve never worked this particular flight before but my crew was really friendly and the flight went pretty smooth other than the ATC holds due to construction on runways which caused 3 hour delays both coming and going.

I was working on an Airbus 321T aircraft which consists of first, business, and main cabin. I was working in business class. Our aircraft was lay flat seats in both first and business class which is great but the one downfall, if you drop your phone down the side of the seat (or any other important personal item) you’re pretty much screwed. The seat eats your items alive! Just kidding! But 99% of the time a mechanic will need to come onboard once you’ve landed to take the seat apart in order to reach the item you’ve dropped.

Well on my way home a passenger informed me he dropped his phone down the side of his seat. I gave the whole speech about the mechanic if we weren’t able to find it or reach it ourselves. Thankfully he was just grateful for the help and not upset about having to stay behind once we landed to get his phone.

I got my flashlight and started looking around under his seat and I asked Mr. Lost Phone Dude if he only dropped his phone. He said yes and asked why. Casually I informed him that someone had dropped money and I think there’s a $5 bill down there. He started laughing and he said, “now I have something to entertain me until we land. I’m gonna get you that $5!”. I was highly entertained by his enthusiasm for this $5. After a few minutes I told Mr. Lost Phone Dude that he should check the side magazine holder just in case his phone fell down there. WHAT DO YOU KNOW… THERE HIS PHONE WAS. So thankful no mechanics were necessary.

Once we landed, Mr. Lost Phone Dude sadly approached me stating that he wasn’t able to get the $5 for me. I laughed because he was actually trying to get it (I watched him during flight). When my co-worker heard there was money she was determined to get it. So out she went to the seat with a pair of bread tongs to get the $5. She walks back a few minutes later proudly placing the $5 in my hand.

Moral of the story, if passengers ever drop items in their seat, take a thorough look because you might be able to fuel your next Starbucks addiction.

Mid-Month Reserve Update

ALL THINGS TRAVEL

Hey Everyone! I wanted to give a quick update on how my September reserve month has been going. In my last post I mentioned my game plan on surviving this months schedule and trying to limit the amount of babysitting we’d need. Well my plan hasn’t exactly gone as planned but after reflecting on my schedule thus far it isn’t horrible.

We’ll start with the good. I’ve only worked two actual trips. I’ve worked a two day trip which was my Denver layover. See my post about my Denver layover for more details. I’ve also worked a DFW turn which was supposed to be work there and deadhead (hitch a ride but still technically on duty just not working crew) home. Well my home airport has one runway down for construction and my flight home had a creeping delay. It just kept getting later and later. It was delayed a total of 5 hours but I eventually made it home (at 1:30am!). I’ve also had a total of three days on Standby Duty which is where I hangout in our flight operations for six hours and I’m used as a last resort to cover any flights. Thankfully I wasn’t used on any of those days and I was able to go home afterwards. I had have my sister watch the baby for 1 of those 3 days. So not bad!

Now for the not so great. Apparently I’m not senior enough to be holding actual trips so I’ve had several days where I’m just at home waiting for a call. In my last post I mentioned this was exactly what I did not want to happen. It requires more dependence on my family for babysitting and I hate to inconvenience them. Being at home waiting for a call is so stressful because I constantly feel like I missed a call or I’m glued to checking my phone every 5 minutes. I also have to spend time at my parents or sister’s house which I never complain about but they live 2 hours from the airport and in the mountains so I never know if I’ll make it in time or if I have service. But every time I’m at home on call I haven’t actually been called in so that’s good! Gives me and my son the chance to hangout with family but I seriously hate the stress of it.

Even though my game plan hasn’t exactly been working the way I thought, I can’t really complain because I haven’t had to rush to the airport after a call from home. Let’s hope I haven’t jinxed it!

Reserve & Mom Life

ALL THINGS TRAVEL, Parenting

Being a reserve flight attendant means that I can be called at anytime and need to report to the airport within 3 hours. I bet a lot of you are wondering how that works with having a 16 month old son. Well it’s not easy but thankfully I have a lot of family support! Here’s how I plan to survive my September reserve month:

Schedule: this month I’m available to the company every Friday-Monday which means I have every Tuesday-Thursday off. I bid for this schedule intentionally so I could minimize number of days we’d need a babysitter. More weekdays off; prioritize weekend flying.

Bidding for specific assignments: so this one is most important because the day prior I have the choice to input bids for specific trips I want based on what’s available. These trips are usually open due to someone calling in sick, being removed from the trip for any number of reasons, or maybe there was a flight crew legality or weather which made the original crew be reassigned. I prioritize this because 1. I feel like I have a little bit more control over my schedule. 2. I know what my next day trip will be because I chose to work it. 3. It eliminates scheduling calling me in the middle of the night. These trips are given to FA’s in seniority order so I may not get the specific trip but I always try this option first.

Standby duty: if I can’t get a specific trip than I bid for airport standby as my secondary option. This is where I show up at the airport and hangout for 6 hours. During that time if there is any crew issues and someone isn’t able to make the flight than I’d be used to replace that FA. You’re usually assigned a flight within 30 minutes to departure time. So standbys are used as a very last resort. I chose this because it’s less likely to actually get assigned a trip. Again, I bid for this option the day prior to a reserve day so I know what I’m doing. This way I can figure out and make arrangements for babysitting.

Remain on call: this is my last option (hopefully option 1 and 2 work so I never have to use this) but this is basically where I’m at home going about my day and scheduling can call me for a trip within 3 hours once I’m notified. I hate this option because I never know when I’m going to get a call. I could be grocery shopping and I’d need to stop and head to the airport. This option is especially hard with babysitting. Family members babysit when my husband and I can’t be home so I always feel bad asking them to stop their plans to help watch the baby. Its like they’re on reserve too! On days where I’m just waiting around I usually go to a family members house so it’s easier on them. No driving necessary for them. I try to make it as easy and convenient as possible (even if that means it’s more inconvenient for me).

That’s my intended plan on sieving this months reserve. If all goes right I’m hoping we won’t have to rely on babysitters. Stay tuned for updates as to how my plan is working out!