Anonymous wrote:My SIL has been a flight attendant for over 20 years. It is definitely a service job and you can make a decent living but not a high one. She loves and uses the travel benefits all the time (she is unmarried/no kids). That is the main perk for her and she does not hate the job itself. Over the years she has been based in multiple different cities and that has allowed her to live in Paris, Tokyo, Santiago, Miami, Chicago, and other places at various times. She has now settled in one city and bought a condo so she stays based in the US. When she travels for work she is put up at a hotel and they are usually pretty nice (she flies for a major airline). Because of the way that they book their trips, she is able to have large blocks of time off multiple times a year, which allows her to travel (flights free and hotel discounts) extensively apart from work.
Although I am sure it still happens, I think the idea that flight attendants marry pilots or rich fliers and then are rich and live happily ever is very outdated. Many of her coworkers are gay men and there are as many flight attendant/luggage handler couples as flight attendant/pilot.
So in sum, if you're working the Cincinnati-Kansas City route for a budget airline you're basically a glorified bus attendant. However, flying the major international routes for a major airline can make for a very glamorous and interesting lifestyle.