I was an Emirates flight attendant. From luxury hotels to strict beauty rules, here were the best and worst parts of the job.

• I was an Emirates flight attendant and loved the luxury hotels and fancy lifestyle.
• The constant time zone changes and beauty expectations made the job mentally and physically tough.
• There were other perks like good pay and free housing in Dubai, but I couldn't choose my roommates.

I was a flight attendant for Emirates for four years before leaving at the end of 2025.

The glamorous lifestyle everyone sees on Instagram — shopping in Milan, matcha in Japan, and safaris in Africa — is real. I loved seeing the world, and Emirates paid for my housing in Dubai.

But there is a hidden reality beyond what people see on social media.

During my years in the skies, I spent much of my time off jet-lagged or sick, and I had to adhere to strict beauty standards, meet demanding customer service expectations, and had no control over who I lived with.

With all its perks, being an Emirates flight attendant is a tough career that was more mentally and physically demanding than I thought.

Here were the best and worst parts of my job.

The uniform made us look glamorous, but maintaining that image took hours of work

While I had to be at the plane at a certain time, I usually had to wake up three hours earlier just to get ready.

Before each flight, after I passed through immigration in Dubai, I'd get a uniform check. If it wasn't perfectly ironed, they sent me to iron it. If a hair escaped my bun, I had to redo it. They also looked at nail polish, which had to be a specific color.

A few years ago, Emirates built a beauty hub at the headquarters to help spruce up the flight attendant look. It brought in makeup specialists from brands like Dior.

When I visited the beauty hub, a French makeup specialist showed me which hairstyle suited my hair type and told me I didn't need eyeliner.

I traveled a lot and stayed in luxury hotels, but I was often jet-lagged

Most layovers were 24 hours, but sometimes we got 56, depending on the route.

In New York, I stayed in Times Square, and in Budapest the hotel overlooked the Danube River. At these hotels, there was a lounge specifically for Emirates crew where we could hang out.

But that doesn't mean I was skipping through Manhattan with clear skin and bagless eyes. I often worked long-haul flights from Dubai to the US or Australia, so many of these layovers came after working a 16-hour flight, landing in an opposite time zone.

I had to force myself to stay awake for sightseeing or sleep the whole layover. In some layovers, the only thing I saw was the hotel room: I once entered a Miami hotel at 9 am, wanting only to sleep and completely skipping the day I'd planned at Miami Beach.

Overnight turnarounds were especially hard: sometimes I left home at 10 p.m. and returned at 2 p.m. the next day, serving hundreds of passengers in line with Emirates' high customer service expectations.

Switching my body clock constantly while simultaneously being sharp for my flights was a constant battle. Melatonin didn't help, but reducing caffeine and trying to sleep in line with my biological clock, at least on my days off, helped a bit.

I lived in Dubai for free, but the company controlled where I lived

I lived in accommodation designated for Emirates crew; the whole neighborhood was crew-only. Some of these accommodations are in Dubai's most expensive areas, such as Business Bay.

This was among the best perks because rent in Dubai can be expensive: a adecent one-bedroom apartment could cost 5,000 AED to 9,000 AED a month (up to about $2,500), depending on whether you were inside or outside the city center.

Still, the crew apartments were shared, and I couldn't choose where I wanted to live.

Emirates also offers a housing allowance for living elsewhere, but I wasn't eligible because I wasn't married, didn't have family in Dubai, and didn't own a house.

I earned good money and got great benefits, but I had little control over my leave

When flying for Emirates, I received a base salary of about 5,000 AED, plus flying hours paid at around 60 AED ($17) per hour. That translates to roughly 10,000 AED or more a month (about $2,700).

I also had a meal allowance for layovers, and we got a bonus at the end of each year, which was up to 20 weeks of base salary. We had to be in good standing with the company to receive it. Two years ago, I got a bonus of 22,000 AED (about $6,000).

While I wanted to spend that money on a holiday with my family, who were back in Tunisia, it was hard to plan because I had little control over vacation time. When the leave window opened, we submitted our preferred dates for approval.

The company could grant that period or assign a different one, but it didn't always fall within my preferred period. That means I missed a lot of holidays and other special occasions with my family. Still, I got a good amount of time off.

I had a fancy lifestyle but little energy

While I had free access to all sorts of hot spots across Dubai, I had limited time to enjoy it.

I often had at most three days off before having to work again, and spent those days mostly sleeping to recover from jet lag. I didn't have the energy to go to the free gyms, but I had to force myself to go because staying fit was expected of Emirates flight attendants.

Still, Emirates' staff-benefit programs gave me discounted access to restaurants and complimentary entry to certain pools and gyms.

I used to spend time sunbathing at places like FIVE Palm Jumeirah, a five-star party resort, or bowling at Brass Monkey, a popular adults-only dining and social venue.

Constant sickness and exhaustion were partly why I quit

Because I lived much of my life in a metal tube around hundreds of different people a day, I was constantly getting sick.

I got barotrauma several times — a common illness among flight attendants due to the constant changing cabin air pressure when working. When it was severe, I couldn't fly. Severe barotrauma sometimes took more than a month to heal.

Sleepless nights and constant health problems were some of the reasons that made me quit Emirates. But I must admit that being a flight attendant was one of the most amazing experiences that helped to shape the writer I am today.

Without it, I wouldn't have had the chance to climb the Great Wall of China or spend time in New Zealand. The free perks and luxury hotels were appealing, but I couldn't handle the cabin crew lifestyle for the long run.