Smile - You cheeky sod!
We do tend to get a few days off, however I have a habit of swapping as much as I can anyway to get the longer trips!
Concorde1 - Having a total laugh here! Really loving it, however there are some aspects of oz that I do miss... I find life in the UK is unnecessarily difficult in some ways (eg banking, insurance, flying ID's, road signs!!
) but there are other things that I have just fallen in love with - eg Leicester Square and the West End; the Underground (surprisingly!); summer nights where its 10pm and still light.....
A few things I forgot to mention in my previous post:
1) Gather together your last 5 years of employers and addresses. You WILL need it for your flying ID application. Contact your last 5 years employers - they will be contacted and asked to provide a reference for you - so give them a heads up, and let them know its coming, and how important it is that you get the form they get sent back off them ASAP!
2) Bank accounts here are difficult to open for non-residents. VA will provide you with a letter of proof of employment, which is a start... here you dont "get" an account, you "apply" for one - and they *can* decline you!
3) You will need a National Insurance number here - like a combined Tax File Number/Medicare number - serves a similar purpose. The
moment you arrive here, get on the phone to the national insurance people in your area and organise an interview - it can take up to 6 weeks before your interview is scheduled, and you need your NI number for your flying ID!
4) Look into training accomodation now. Training is 6 weeks, and you dont want to be spending all that time stressing about where your next night will be spent! Particularly around crawley/gatwick/horley/three bridges there are *heaps* of bed & breakfasts, which are all very familiar with cabin crew and their training schedules etc - usually quite helpful and flexible. Check out
Find-me-a-b-n-b or other websites previously mentioned...
Good luck all in your applications!