Your payment, time off etc can vary , even in the same airline, depending on the agency you choose. One agency, a long way from Europe, was rumbled for not allowing its contractors to opt for a roster with more time off, as it involved a lower salary, & therefore a commensurately smaller slice of the pie for them. I have seen the same contract (in Turkey) advertised by multiple agencies, all on a different "deal".
Time off & salary have all gone West this last 10 years in the contract world & MOST agencies will leave you in the Sh1t if the airline (for whatever reason) doesn't pay your final salary (or if you are dismissed). If it all goes for a can of worms there are no industrial procedures/representation as you "may" have on a normal contract, basically you are out, often without your last salary, & in accordance with the contract, which in all likelihood gives them the right to terminate you immediately with no notice/pay in lieu.
Most contracts have no sick pay, get mugged on the way back from the pub ? . . . . lose a weeks salary whilst your face heals up enough to present yourself for work.
You will always face hostility/resentment from the full-time guys, in your face or covert, it is always lingering in the background as they stupidly assume your deal is better without looking beyond the "headline" figures, this sometimes extends to rostering staff etc, so in certain companies you can expect all the cr@p on your roster.
1 year contracts can also mysteriously cease after 4mths, usually at the very moment nothing else is available.
If you work for a Belgian company, they won't give you a Hat, as they are only for full-time pilots (take a bow Virgin Express
) or a Xmas hamper/toys for your kids on St Nicolas (well you are not Belge , what do you expect ?)
But. . . . . . .
Some companies however will make you very welcome & valued, you will be treated as (or better) than a local, your "attitude" may indeed be a breath of fresh air compared to what FO's/CC/Rostering etc are subjected to by the "locals".
If you do end up working somewhere you don't like, well, off you go to the next contract, it is not "all the eggs in 1 basket".
You can also end up getting to know many places if you regularly chop & change.
Then again. . . . .
Constantly having to perform OCC's & learn YET another way to fly a 737, & be yet again convinced "we know best",and sit through yet another "dangerous goods" initial
can become a little tiresome after a few companies.
Finally, the choice is yours, funnily enough it has ended up being mine too, & I actually don't regret it, but I have (recently at least) been lucky with both the company & agency I have been affiliated to. Twas not always thus, but I still have a lot more positive memories than negative, so cannot indeed countenance against it. Do your homework, on both the airlines & agencies that you are considering, & you won't do too badly.
Welcome to the Gypsy life, if/when you make the jump.