Another polite NO coming from me ('08 poolie as well). 4 days of number crunching and can't make it to work. We might "survive" (wife + 2), as in no more than HK$17k for rent for at least the first 3-4 years, absolutely no margin for misc. expenses and the list of "if's" goes on. I am not touching the "forgivable loan" in these calculations as I don't quite trust the terms.
Why it has taken me the 4 days to get to this point, when some of you were able to toss the offer in trash within 4 minutes, is because, at age 36 now, I'm not on very solid ground with my current airline (U.S. regional looking at divestiture, while potentially having an upgrade within a 1+ year, all happening at the same company). So, an offer from CX now, granted it is sh!t compared to the original, is much more difficult to turn down, when I really don't have a good alternative path to a better career track. On the other hand, why would I want to move across the world to continue the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, desperately counting the weeks, months, years to the next paygrade. Of course CX still offers a career path, the opportunity to fly widebodies on a decent payscale. But the point where it all pays off is so far down the career, I fail to see it.
I echo the sentiment the dream is over, reality bites, and we must look elsewhere. Maybe in a year or two DEFO opens up again, and then it'll be a new game on. But, if/when the time comes, I will use this past 3 years of "outside, looking in" as a guide, how much do I really want to be part of the once illustrious CX career.
Thanks for playing.
T