How much are you saving or putting away each month at Ek?

[Gyro Nut]

It would appear that one of the attractions of EK is the remuneration package.

In helping me make up my mind about any decision to seek employment at Emirates, could EK drivers state how much they are able to put away each month (conservatively speaking in Dollars, Pounds, Euro's), stating also their years and rank at EK, and also their basic family setup eg. married, 1 child.

I know there have been various threads on EK salaries, but at the end of the day, how much one can put away each month is what counts. Thanks to anyone that contributes to my query...

[Warbirds]

Here's the deal, inflation is a daily exercise, and the USD is devalueing even futher! Go figure....

Oh i forgot, VAT is on its way.

[Gulf News]

Ok this thread has real potential so I will start the ball rolling before "the sky is falling" merchants climb on board.

B777 Capt 10 years in company two kids (one primary school, one secondary)
Clear savings AED 13700 (USD3700). This includes provident fund contributions (excluding company) and payment on overseas investments.

Not in company accommodation so require AED 3800 to top up mortgage and approx 2500 for DEWA but the capital appreciation is worth it. Home currency is USD so no ERP. Have to be quite diciplined with saving now that exchange rate is plummeting however still have a good qualty of life.

[GMDS]

Wow, Gulf ... , congrats, you're a wizard.
With a few years less in the pit and one more mouth to fill, I am looking at maybe one third of what you manage. No Porsche in the garage, no boat on the pavement, no quad on the trailor, just a 4-cyl for the missus.
Even with a tiny little bit of ERP, savings are definitely declining. Extrapolating with real inflation and what has been and might be upped by EK, savings will go extinct by mid 2009.
That will be it then.

[L1011]

Gyro - you need to be a little more specific.
Are you coming as a FO or DEC? Single person or Married with kids? How many/how old and will they move here or stay in SA?
Life is still OK here, bar the insane roads, busy rosters and a management style that makes Dilbert look good. It used to be great, but let's not dwell on that.
Even though I'm very senior here (meaningless in most respects - just a bit more money) - with a wife and two teenagers as far as ability to save goes, I tend to agree with GMDS.
The company pays 15% into the Provident Fund and honestly I do not save a whole lot besides that. (Not counting the mortgages on offshore properties, but that is a long-term capital gain, not savings.)
Some months are better than others, but Dubai is a very expensive place to live now. The days when I had toys and flash new car are long gone. One decent holiday with a devalued $ and I'm skint again.
If you are coming here because you need a job, then fair enough. If your position is stable in SA and you are leaving to save money for the future, doubt EK is the place for you.
Unless we get a huge payrise.

[Memphis Belle]

In a German Forum a member, obviously EK-employee, claims, that captains with 5-7 years seniority get 10000€ cash/month.
Asked about a detailed summary, how this salary is composed, he failed to do so.
Can someone do me/us a favour and give a more precise info about the gross/net income of a captain with the given seniority, currency either $ or €, given the current exchange rates?

[EAM]

Kollege,

sa***itts was talking about about 10.000 (10 Mille cash in de Täsch) leaving open if it is Dollar or Euro, I guess he was talking about Dollar.
His fellow friend from the cyberland is giving even higher values for EY, but none of my friends in EY gets what he is talking about, maybe he is just very special and has a special contract

[Memphis Belle]

Hard to believe that a pilot (?) isn´t able to more precisely tell us about those "phantastic" salaries. Is he doing his job in the same way?

His "10000 cash in de täsch"-phrase was adressed to Lufthansa-Captains, claiming, that the mentioned EK-Captains are earning far more than them.
Providing, that sa....itts means US-dollars, this changes the picture significantly with the current €:$ rate of 1:1.47, yielding about 6800€, and any LH-Captain will probably laugh about that.

Reading all threads here it seems, that sa....itts is talking crazy b@ll**** all the time.
By asking/confirming his statement here, I just wanted to be sure about that...

[Ghostflyer]

Depends on package vs cash. The cash a 10 year guy gets is about $10272 before any deductions, provident fund, medical, schooling etc. See the salary thread.

[Dune]

Maybe I've been here too long or maybe I've had too many "back of the clock" flights or maybe I'm just a grumpy old bastard but I am so sick and tired of these wannna be's coming up with these stupid questions in this day and age.

Hey junior; have you heard of google? Here are some hints:

-google "Emirates pay scales" and get the pay package,

-google "International currency exchange rates" to get the rate differences,

-google "cost of living in Dubai" and get the cost to live here,and

-spend an afternoon reading the past 6 months of Pprune posts on this subject.

You do all that and you will be as informed as any pilot currently working for this company.

[mini cooper]

Don't save anything, all money goes to pay the bills at home (not Dubai!!). If I were paid more (been a captain for quite a few years now) I may be able to save, but not at the moment

To explain, I bought a big house at home which I know will not depreciate, is well built and will still be around in another 100 years (it's been around for 130 already!!). It cost a lot but is I believe a decent investment. Don't have any loans in Dubai and have minimised as much as is possible the financial ties I have with Dubai so that if I want to leave I can and won't owe and be tied by anything.
It is horses for courses really, some people have invested in Dubai, save oodles of money, look as pleased as cheshire cats and constantly say how much money they have earned from property in Dubai. I believe that it will all crash one day hence I have nothing to do with it.................

[Need to Know Basis]

Whats it like in of Western Europe ?

Ladies & Gents, I have often followed the various threads with regards to EK pay scales, cost of living, introduction of taxation, the traffic, local police.....its all interesting stuff.

May I be so bold. If its all getting too much then why don`t you leave the Sandpit and join the real world. Try the UK.....or to be more politically correct England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland. Try paying the tax rates in this country after 10 years of Socialist Govt.....sorry New Labour. You all harp on about how bad its getting in the Sandpit. Come back to Blighty and watch with horror the Billions of Pound p***ed down the drain by these jokers.

Thanks for letting me get it off my chest. Dont forget The Grass is NOT Greener on the other side.......or in your case swapping sand for grass. Its the same old s**t where ever you end up.

[Backwater]

Need to Know Basis.
You Tw@! **** off and join a forum for losers. You have a political system. Use it.
In dubai it's take it or leave it. many leave it. Some can't due to the sheer effort and expense of getting here in the first place cause they believed the b'**** propagated by the recruiters. Hence PPrune offers a chance to release the inevitable frustration, and incidentally informing others of what may be in store for them if they believe the recruiters too.

Dune, great post.

Back to the wine...

[White Knight]

Backwater- maybe a trip to the shrink for a bit of anger management therapy You say there's a political system in the UK, yep - supposed to mean free speech, a little like NTKB's post.. Lighten up a little

[yoohoo748]

IF you can't make/save money in the ME, then you will never be able to... anywhere. House supplied. Education paid for. Food is cheap enough... if you eat at home. The trick is to not be lured into changing your lifestyle too much from what you had back home. Keep the recreation, but in different forms. Life is pretty easy here. I find it no problem to be socking away 1000BD per month... and I don't have many sacrifices. Want to spend you check in the pub? that is your deal. Want to enjoy your friends and family and a BBQ? Much more fun, and costs so little.

For the first while here I saved nothing... but that was because I had no cares about money and was not doing the 'conversion' to track my spending. $5 for a coffee? it all adds up. Fresh brew at home is better if you know how. Steak? rather have the buds over for a good 'Q... good times man.

My country is over taxed. That is why I am here. I want the choice to keep my cash or spend it. You have a choice too. Go home if you don't like it, or learn to make it work for you.

[GMDS]

First a guy asks a simple question about how much is left at the end of the month. Even having gone through all the info here, it's still a legitimate question, as not easily deductable from the info.

Then some other guys give him a decent answer, not right up to the details, but roughly what to expect down here.

Finally another bunch cuts in with the oh so intelligent "...sick and tired of these questions", "... get used to it or leave it".
Why don't these guys just leave the thread instead of outing themselves as tossers?

[ekpilot]

Lifestyle and saving

If you come to the ME, the idea is to make money and enjoy the easy lifestyle and save for retirement. At the present time if you come to Dubai and plan to go back to your country in the future you should be saving a lot of money while you are here. The cost of living in Dubai plus the deteriorating exchange rates makes it very hard to justify moving around here at present time. What most people seem to forget when they consider moving here is the fact that there is no serious pension plan (Except the Locals at EK). That means you will need a very nice bank account to retire, a house, and car, kids education finished and more. If you work for a cie back home with an established pension plan (Although not guaranteed anymore in these days) it just makes no sense. When you live around here there is not much to do that doesn't cost money (more than ever now) . You can lock yourself in your house trying to save as much as possible but then you go crazy. If you come here it has to be worth it. There is a price to pay to live in the ME. You leave something behind when you come here. It is not like being home here. You need to make it worth. Money is the key to happiness around here. Sad but true. When i arrived here about 8 years ago it was worth it (Considering cost of living + exchange rate i was saving about 50% of my salary) Now it is a very different story (I save about 35%). If you can save 5000.00$ US a month with a family around here you are doing very very good. That's 60000.00$ a year. ( Some will agree some won't...let's see ) That would mean not living the airline pilot lifestyle you dream of having the new cars, the toys, plus two trips a year. You will have a normal car, one trip back home a year ( that will cost you 10000.00$ US ++ exchange rates ) and nothing of the so extraordinary lifestyles of the rich and famous. You will work hard that's a fact. You are on your own and exposed to the elements. Nothing is guaranteed around here (well maybe a few things ). Personally i don't think it is a good deal anymore. With this paste of saving you will need to stay around here all your life if you want to achieve your financial goals. 10 years of saving is approx the price of a very nice home in some western counties and a nice car (not counting interests...i'm just a pilot and i never achieve the 30% a years many of my colleagues achieve over 10 years... ) Nothing more. If that's what you want, there you go. For me and for many people Dubai doesn't make financial sense anymore when you consider all of the other non financial aspects of living here (Read the many threads. 50 to 75 % true. Take some leave some). Maybe it took me a few years ( 8 ) to come to this conclusion, but i feel that coming here today, i would come to the same conclusion in probably 1 or 2 years instead of 8 years. Like a good friend of mine says... ¨I'm tired of living here in Dubai HOPING for better days¨. He has been here the same time as me. One thing is for sure, if you come to Dubai for the money, you might be disappointed. The good days are gone and unless drastic changes are made on the financial side by EK, this will just be a normal job in a very different and particular country. The good thing about it, nowadays you have no chance of being retained here by the golden handcuffs Like the good old saying says around here. If you are not happy you can leave...hahahaha! Now this is only my personal opinion for what's it's worth. Good Luck in your choice of life!

[Gyro Nut]

GMDS and EKPilot, and others, thanks for your valuable info and insights.

I have spent a fair amount of time, looking at this issue, but the info is scattered all over the show on PPRuNe. Asking how much one can put away is a simple question, requiring a simple answer. It's amazing how others seem to produce such drivel in replying to the post. Thanks for the constructive answers.

Who knows that the future holds. I am just grateful my parents left Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in the late '70's. Imagine they had stayed. I just hope in 20 years time I don't say, "If only I had left South Africa for Emirates". I think SA is very different to Zimbabwe. We have issues of crime here, and we wonder what future our children will have as "whitey's", particularly with aggressive "affirmative action" or "BEE (Black Economic Employment) but our lifestyle is very good, and are blessed with a very beautiful country. Besides, I very much doubt I would be able to fly my gyroplane in the desert. Can't not have my gyro!

[sanddude]

Memphis Belle

Actually i think the guy is not far off if he takes into account provident fund and takes the housing allowances instead of the EK house. My total package as 2e year FO comes to about $10.000.This is not including bonus and overtime. So this guy at your forum at 7 years with command must be doing at leat $14.000 total package that is roughly 10.000 euro. In the and off the day total package is what counts. But i guess its hard to beat a LH pension scheme!

[Khaosai]

Hi,

without going into the nitty gritty of where it all goes, here is my approx monthly expenditure:

Living takes approx 9000 dhs per month.

Maid works out at 2000 dhs per month.

Holiday fund 4000 dhs per month.

Dont go near an aircraft pays 31700 dhs per month. Do 50 hrs flying bumps that up to approx 34000 Dhs per month.

No properties or loans here or overseas, but that might change in the near future !.

Rgds.