V-Flyer

Hi folks,

My sister is thinking of applying for Virgin cabin crew and she was wondering if anybody out there knew what sort of salary virgin paid their cabin crew?

Cheers

JIM

£9460 plus flight allowances each flight but going to £10,200 once passing probation, not good

The basic salary is pretty average in comparisson to other airlines. Crew earn £26 per flight as trip pay, duty free commission (altough this amounts to nothing) and flight allowances which are tax free. A night stop on average is $170, some destinations pay more, some less. A two night trip can range between $248 - 350. Although the salary isn't amazing the fact you get an allowance every week does make it easier to survive. Its a case of economising every now and again down whilst down route.

I have been fortunate as I live in the South and bought my property while they were still cheap, hence nice cheap motgage and no major commuting costs. For your sister I guess it depends on her financial circumstances and how far she would have to travel. It's a great lifestyle, see the world, cheap hols and lots and lots of shopping....perfect. BA do pay better but there is no guarantee that she would get long haul straight away.

I wish her all the best and should she need any further interview info then please ask away.

quote:BA do pay better

Ive heard of BA crew getting fantastic money, more than i am on now!! Does this come with experience in long haul, or being an IFS? Anyone know? Or are they telling porkies??

this is an interesting site for comparison of pay
http://www.ppjn.com/

HIghflyer

BA pay has a few influencing factors, Old contract - mega bucks, New Contracts - less than VA as I understand it.

IIRC you get a service bonus and a seniority bonus, but on the rate you earn so the more you fly the more you earn. They are also pretty flexible on rotas

HTH

Its worth remembering that it is a lot of hard work for little fun! After all for east coast destinations its only 1 night- so arrive say 3pm earliest, transfer to hotel all sorted out by 6pm go out next day shop then at about 5pm u have to be back at the airport for the flight say! Plus the whole body clock is just messed up! And all those moody pax esp on b+s! But at the end of the day u get to see the world and fly on those beauties but i certainly couldnt hack it unless on the flight deck! Guess each to there own!

PS: Also worth realising that it messes up a womans internal clock a lot- my godmother (ex Varig, TAP and Monarch) said her menstural cycle become very irregular and random causing lots of strange side effects all the tooing and frowing! Just dont do what my cousin did 9 years dreamed of being a VS Stewardess, failed interview number of times. Finally got accepted,so quit her £24,000 a year job, passed all exams 100% then got into the air and found out it wasnt for her and gaave up after a month! And couldnt get her old job back!

I guess that SouthernBelle, Declan and all the other crew on here can rightly tell us that being Cabin Crew is not all glamour, as i guess many youngsters may at first think. Plus the lifestyle can be hard to get used to, being away a lot and possibly missing many important days (birthdays, Christmases) that you are normally used to spending with friends and family, and when you are home you are probably tired and in the wrong time zone for a few day.s

I had considered the job for a while, but my partner, who dated a BA crew member, really put me off. He told me the long hard facts about her job and i saw that i perhaps wasnt all smiles (as the VS guys convey anyway)

I think you guys do a great job considering some of the pax you have to contend with on a regular basis!

Question for the crew;

One of the girls were i work is thinking of applying to VS for cabin crew but she lives in Manchester whats the situation of living in Manchester and commuting down...are VS strict about the proximity to the airport rules? Do VS allow you to commute and then give an address you would use when on stand by, that was close to LGW/LHR.

Any advice would be really helpful

Hi db1,

We have crew who live all over the UK and mainland Europe.

It is best to live close to either LHR or LGW until completion of the six month probabtionary period. After six months the travel concessions begin which makes commuting a lot easier.

We do have some crew based in Manchester who operate the flights to/from Orlando although this contract is based on seniority and is therefore not available to new entrants.

Hope this helps.

Dont forget the basic salary is only arounf £10200 for Economy Cabin Crew buit that is for an average working month of around 70 hours!!

So really the money is good for the number of hours you work.

Dont forget the 7 free flights with upgrades!!!, cheap holidays , car hire and discounts with every Virgin Company going.!

On average you will do around 6 trips a month.