Hi can any pilots based in Berlin with EasyJet offer information on taxation level , cost of living etc?

The simple answer is: it depends. Taxation is high, however there are lots of tax excemptions and a good tax adviser should be used, especially if there is a cross border issue in there as well. As an SFO and CPT you will fall into the max tax bracket of 42% for some part of your salary.

Same for cost of living. Within Berlin, especially in some more hip areas, prices for rent and buying places to live is sky rocketing, but still comparatively cheap, especially compared to Paris or London. Food is fairly cheap for the most part, energy is very expensive, Berlin has a pretty good public transport systems, so a car is, depending where you live, not necessary. If you live farther outside the city public transport and stores become more rare, same for other stuff like phone options, signal strength and online speeds, but rents are much lower.

Hi denti

thanks for your reply. I can understand the higher level and will be searching for a good tax attorney to guide me through the maze. Like you said maybe best option is away from city. I can see this is not going to be easy task in any case.

If you join us in Berlin - then join Verdi (Union) and they do your taxes for free. They have done a Good job for me the last few years.
i just moved to Berlin and found a decent appartement - albeit not in a hip place - but new build, underground parking big balcony and easy access to airport and public transportation....for about 1000 Euro all included and found and signed within my first few days in Berlin.
it is not impossible- but if you are looking to live somewhere hip and cheap then of course there is a big line for these Appartements.

immpretty sure it it depends on the base. If you join easy in LGW, I’d imagine you’re fairly likely to be able to stay there. In a more regional/sought after base like BRS for example, it would be a lot harder to upgrade and remain in base. Hence the reason for DEC’s!

I’m presently getting desperate to change my „pink airline” to some employer that at least respects FTL limitations and rules. Do you gentelman know is Easy looking for DECs to Berlin base and how does the schedule looks like ? Thank you for any help

Yes, they are currently hiring for next year for Berlin. The schedule is a fixed roster of five days early duties, three off, then five days late duties followed by four days off. TXL is a base with frequent nightstops, as they only have 16 parking spots during the night for the 25 planes based there. The network is a mix of high frequency domestic flights, quite a bit of scandinavia and of course some other european and warm water destinations. SXF on the other hand usually does not night stop out of base, does not fly domestic at all and serves an established european network.

Denti, thank you for the info, are they looking DECs for SXF or you have to go via TXL? Can you share with me some info if you are guys flying a lot of 4sectors (which Im already fed up with...) and how many hours anually ? For me its everything about lifestyle, together with my wife we like Berlin and we have some friends there. Thank uou in advance for help :)

Hi

Anyone currently with Easyjet and have first hand up to date info on how staff travel work?

Questions like when can you get tickets? Unlimited? Stand-by or confirmed bookings? How to order tickets? Online? Jumpseats available? Able to see bookings on flight that you are on stand-by for?
Would like to apply for Berlin base and have a short commute to where family is based.

Thanks for any inputs that may come.

Hi
I’ve got Interview soon for SFO at Gatwick, German base initially, anyone can give me some feedback retarding salary conditons and roster for SXF or TXL? Any idea about housing at AirPort surroundings? Nothing fancy.....:))
I would appreciate your info.

thanks Cheers!!

Double post

4 ways of doing staff travel currently. Unlimited bookings available, 3 other names on the list and you can make 20 name changes per year.
First 3 are booked online, through the ‘staff travel’ link on the company portal. (Looks very much like the normal website, but has the staff options too)
1. Standard ticket: guaranteed seat. they say this is the full fare, though I’m sure it’s often slightly discounted.
2. Staff ticket: generally around £20 each way. Guaranteed seat.
3. Standby ticket: often becomes confirmed before date of travel though this is clearly the more risky option. Also often around £20
Hold luggage on standard and staff tickets is £5 (c.£10 for skis etc) so that’s really where you save a decent amount.

Keep in in mind that the staff tickets and standby tickets depend on load factors, so it’s not available for all flights but there’s usually a good selection.
Confirmed staff travel and standby travel will only become available 90 days from the date of departure.

Last option if you are from a city served by your base network is the commuter letter. Base Captain / admin team can sort that out - basically allows free travel between two cities. Certain rules apply for this:
You’re meant to book a staff ticket or confirmed ticket if one is available, though I’m not entirely sure how this is ever checked so the risk would be yours.
Then if one isn’t available, you go to the airport in full uniform, no hold luggage, use staff security, and show the gate agent your commuter letter. If there’s space in the cabin you get that, if not you get a jumpseat if there’s no training, and if there are no commuters with a higher seniority than you (which is based on when you get the letter, not when you join the company or which rank you hold).
I’d say 99% of the time you’ll get on, though you can get unlucky and pick the flight that’s totally full, with flight deck training happening and another more senior commuter commuter / positioning crew on board in which case you’re stuck.

Hope that helps!