Flight Attendants Don’t Have As Many Free Flights

For our Valentine’s day afternoon, a workout at the Y and a movie were in order. I was feeling a bit under the weather as a result of something I ate on Saturday in Mexico, so we lay low and enjoyed an inside day, with the exception of the Y.

On the plane home I got to talking with a flight attendant who works for US Airways out of Charlotte. She said that she works four days in a row, and if snow closes an airport, they lose their day’s wages. She said that the last storm had her flying up to Philly and to a hotel, all for zero bucks. Bummer, she’s not the only one who suffers from snowfalls.

She said that since planes are usually so full, it is much harder these days for flight attendants to take advantage of the greatest benefit of working for an airline: free travel. Despite the fact that our Airbus seated 180 and had just 100 passengers, this is a rarity. Most of the times with fewer flights on the schedule, these jets are full up, and there are no seats left for freebies.

I told her why I was coming back from Cancun, and about the story I wrote about eco-tourism there. She said that she loves all-inclusive resorts, but that zip-lining is a dream she wants to experience some day. It was nice to share with her how easy it is to do this right near the popular city of Cancun. Next time she flies this route, she just might get out there and zip.