Virgin Atlantic cabin crew reveal what they hear

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Being a flight attendant means you get to travel the world as part of your job, but according to one KLM crew member, the perks extend far beyond that. Demi Bonita is a travel and lifestyle blogger who records her experience working as a flight attendant for dutch airline KLM on her Instagram page @demibonita where she has amassed 24.6K followers. Demi also shares videos on her TikTok page @Demibonita where she has 43.5K followers.

In a video, she shared “the best things about being a flight attendant”. Demi said: “I wouldn’t have seen so much of the world if it wasn’t for my job.”

Among the things listed, Demi said a lack of a nine-to-five job, free travel and “layovers in the world’s best hotels” were some of her favourite perks. However, one aspect of the job in particular piqued viewers’ interest.

“[We] get an extra amount of money to spend at our destinations,” she revealed. Commenters were quick to query the perk, with one viewer named Yvette asking: “How much do you get to spend at the destination?”

Another viewer, and fellow flight attendant posting under the username @toon_reiling, said: “It depends on the destination, but in Singapore, it’s like €450 (approximately £388).”

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A post shared by DB | Demi Bonita (@demibonita)

However, this bonus of the job isn’t as straightforward as getting “free money” and is instead considered to be a form of allowance to look after airline crew members who are down route. The amount offered also varies depending on the airline you work for.

A flight attendant named Jorie Sterne commented: “Here in America the US carriers don’t give us money to spend on our layover.”

According to the job website Indeed, this allowance is mostly to cover food for the crew when they are abroad for work. The website explained: “An exciting advantage of being a flight attendant is free food or food reimbursement.

“Not only are in-flight snacks and meals provided, but many companies also reimburse crew members for outside food expenses during travel. When flight attendants land in one city and have time before their next flight, they can explore local restaurants and try new food for free.”

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Airline companies typically pay for food reimbursement per hour, which is why long trips tend to mean more spending money. “Airlines may pay employees for these expenses upfront or use a reimbursement system such as checking receipts to pay employees back,” added Indeed.

Sjaak Schulteis, a former cabin attendant for Lufthansa German Airlines revealed that crew members can also save up this money if they are savvy about their spending. “There is a daily allowance on the destination, that, wisely used, can not only cover your expenses but also is a nice extra,” he explained in a Quora forum.

American flight attendant Kat Nesbitt broke down how much money her airline gave her to cover expenses while travelling, and admitted it wasn’t as much as people might expect.

In a Youtube short posted to her channel, Kat said: “So as a flight attendant one of the questions I am often asked is do we have to pay for our own food? The answer to that is yes we do.

“The airline does not pay for our food although they do pay us a per diem so every hour you are away from base you will receive a per diem. This is roughly $2 (approximately £1.67) an hour.

“It can vary depending on what airline you work for. Just to make it easy let’s say you have a 20-hour layover. This is going to add up to about $40 (approximately £33 ) of per diem that you can use to pay for your food or you can use it to pay for something else. In a way, it kind of helps to cover food costs but not really.”

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