Monthly EK per diems

[Muffetology]

Hi,

Would appreciate some feedback from EK pilots about the average monthly meal allowances you can expect.

Thanks & Regards:)

[tbaylx]

That totally dpends on how many and where your layovers occur. I posted a typical LHR and SIN layover allowances in another recent post to give you an idea. Per Diems are paid in cash at the hotel in local currency. Don't plan on supplementing your income with perdiem money. It covers your meal costs and that's about it.

[Maverick]

Per diems are normally much lower than what you actually spend on a layover. If you do decide to have 3 meals at a restaurant with one non-alcoholic beverage, you will definitely go over the per diem that they give you. They also do not consider the fact that we always make atleast one phone call a layover to let our family know that we have arrived. They expect you to stay put in the hotel for 2-3 days without stepping out. Well, IMHO, per diems, should include one round trip to the city centre, a 5 minute phone call a day, non-discounted meal allowance as you might pay more for non-buffet meal (buffet is what they consider).

Other things which are not mandatory are free laundry for 1 set of your personal wear per day if you stop for more than one day. Entertainment allowance equal to 1 snack + a drink or 2 for the evening if you stay more than one day and other things which many other companies ( not necessarily airlines) give the senior staff in their stop overs away from home for work.

It is not possible for everyone to stay put in the hotel rooms and crew lounges for 24 hours on every layover. Many of us just go shopping or indulge in spas ( which the airline needn't pay for) only because we have nothing else to do in the hotel. So in case someone really wants a life i think staying in the hotel from checkin to check out isnt a real one.

[what_goes_up]

... and not to forget the allowance for a hooker or a massage with happy ending on trips with more than two night-stops... :ugh:

C'mon be real guys...

[puff m'call]

The long and short of all this is simple, the per Diem's emirates pay is not enough.

In front of me now is the Garden Court menu from our current hotel in SYD.

2 course $78 3 course $94

So if you're sad b'stard and like to hibernate in your hotel room then the per diem's will cover it, but if like most human beings you like a proper evening meal and a glass of wine then NO!! you out of pocket, it as simple as that. End of story.:mad: w'nkers

[scaglietti]

In my former life per diems were paid at the end of the month as part of the salary. Unless you were extremely anal it was difficult to keep track of what you spent. Depending on how much you flew the paycheck could look quite healthy but probably compared unfavourably with the monthly visa statement. EK's per diem system is superior to what I was used to because I find it easier to manage my personal funds (I don't consider per diem as my personal money until wheels up & headed to DXB).

As of 31/12/2008 there were 1896 pilots at EK. The 20 to 30 who post regularly on Pprune are clearly unhappy but I believe the per diems are a none-issue. Anybody that knows me knows that I do not miss any meals but drink alcohol sparingly (probably a good idea on layovers these days anyway!) but I nearly always have money left over from layovers. I rarely eat in the hotel (other than breakfast) and I believe that this is true of most of us.

If you are making a decision to join the 500-600 additional pilots need in 2008 this should not be serious consideration. There are far more important issues to ponder.

Scaglietti

[Muffetology]

My thanks to all who've replied. The info will be useful indeed in making my decision to join EK should I get the job.

Cheers & Safe Flying 2 all:)

[thefoxandfirkin]

Some advice on EK Perdiems,

Pack your Ipod, golf magazine and a bag of chocs for your in your room...your gonna need it!! :{

[scaglietti]

Seaman you don't have to do it yourself, Bill Clinton is available (for a fee)to distort my record on your behalf.:)

Didn't come from a lower paying airline - but one in which my future ability to continue feeding the family was doubtful.

I don't subscribe to the economic theory that states that just because it's another year everything must go up. EK state (before joining) that per diems are based on the cost of meals (admittedly buffet and not stated before joining) and incidentals at the hotel and if they have successfully negotiated no inflation over the last few years, well done I'd like to employ those people in my business.

It was not my intention to malign or impugn EK posters but to point out to the questioner that opinions expressed on prune may not be a scientific sampling. I suspect the majority of us are too busy flying the line, trying to figure out our salik balance (very strange accounting there), crying over the closure of Nad Al Sheba, and whimpering over the (ever-increasing) supermarket bill this week.

An idea - why not let the EK mgmt that has been able to hold hotel meal costs for the last few years (and in some cases decrease them) run Spinneys, Carrefour and the golf courses?

In my post I mentioned more substantive issues to be considered before joining - not an exhaustive list but here are couple of my pet peeves:

6 weeks leave but only 3 consecutive weeks at a time and only 1 ALT. If you try to go anywhere for the remaining 3 weeks your flights will probably be full and if you live far way (AUS, US) it will take 3 days to travel and at least 3 days to deal with jet lag);

Introduction of flight pay which has no effect on other emoluments. This will have a major medium to long term effect as it will increase exponentially to base pay. Leave and sickness will become expensive and the "pension" will not reflect income earned over your career at EK;

DXB cost of living. We can probably just afford the basics but any social activity has become very expensive with or without a family. Most outings (Ski Dubai, Autodrome, a concert, GOLF,etc) are or have become very expensive. Even the restaurants are becoming ponderous.

Scaglietti

[clevlandHD]

Don't expect to make money on your per diem. It is not meant to supplement your salary.
In taxed countries, companies will provide higher per diems since they don't pay social charges on them and employees don't pay taxes on them (everybody is happy!).
In the UAE, every money they give you (or service providers in the country) gets recycled and ends up in the royal purse. Not so with the off-base per diems which is money gone forever...and they are not happy. Spinneys, Costa's and MMI are managed by EK and they do have inflation so don't think the management negotiates 0% inflation in hotels for you...

[troff]

Muffy,
I see dat you har hasking about da 'ed tes', compass swing, an awl dat stuff. Why don' you worry habout da hinterview, get da job and endless training owt of da way firs', den worry habout da per diem?
An I hepect dat being from Singapore, (Airline or home country?) dat da, ow you say? "Engrish" tes' won' be of any concern eidder because of cor' da hinglish is the primary language of Singapore, eh?:}

[Bellbird]

Just to clarify clevlandHD, Spinneys is not managed by EK. It is a privately owned company, mananged by individuals like you and me, and has no managerial links to EK