This flight attendant is revealing little-known secrets about flying. People are fascinated.
By Robin ZlotnickOct. 30 2024, Updated 5:06 p.m. ET
The life of a flight attendant is quite unique, departing from the typical 9-to-5 routine. Unless you're in the profession or know someone who is, the nuances of this job may not be well-known.
That's where Ally Rae Case comes in. The flight attendant has been using her TikTok to answer questions about what it's like to be a flight attendant and to share some secrets about the trade that not everyone might know. Her videos are informative and fascinating, especially for anyone who's considering training to be a flight attendant.
In a series of videos, Ally rapid-fire answers common questions she gets as a flight attendant. She explains that her hotels are free when she's working, and she doesn't have to share a room with another flight attendant.
She says that crews sometimes hang out together on their layovers, but it depends. I imagine it's like any work place! If you have work friends there that day, you might hang out. If it's people you don't know so well, you might go your separate ways.
Next, she confirms that flight attendants do, indeed, eat the airplane food! Perhaps the most enticing trade secret is that flight attendants fly completely free domestically, and only have to pay taxes for international flights. That's a pretty fantastic perk.
In part three of her series, she adds that flight attendants can choose one other person to fly for free with them, whether it's a spouse or a sibling or a friend. Truly, having a flight attendant in one's inner circle can unlock incredible travel opportunities.
One sort of strange negative about being a flight attendant that Ally explains in part two of her video series is that flight attendants only get paid when the boarding door is closed. All that time they spend helping people to their seats and assisting with getting luggage into the overhead bins is unpaid time.
"Once the door is closed, the clock starts," Ally explains. "Once the boarding door opens, it stops. So your flight attendants are not getting paid during boarding and deplaning, so be especially nice during those times."
Other interesting tidbits include the fact that flight attendants rarely fly the same routes, and they don't work with the same team of flight attendants on any sort of regular basis. Additionally, flight attendants can make anywhere between one and five trips in a single day!
In addition to the behind-the-scenes videos about the job, Ally has shared with her audience some of her favorite hotel room and safety hacks for when she's traveling. Her tips include using the provided plastic bag in most hotel rooms to put your dirty laundry in, putting the plastic bag from the ice bucket over the remote to prevent having to touch dirty buttons, and using a paper cup to fashion a temporary toothbrush holder!
As for safety, Ally suggests checking the whole room, including cabinets and anywhere a person could possibly hide, before locking yourself into the room.
Ally's videos have millions of views. People clearly find the life of a flight attendant to be fascinating. It certainly seems like a special job to have and an interesting lifestyle! Follow her on TikTok for more about what it's life to take to the skies for a living.
This article was originally published on October 8, 2020. It has since been updated.