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#1 Business grade for four years and I did the first class course last spring, so here is what nobody explains properly: what the first class qualification is, how you get it, and what the cabin is like to work once you are there.
What the course is
A separate qualification within grade I. About a week. Product knowledge (the suites on the 777 and the A380, the shower spa on the A380, the lounge on the upper deck), the dining (a full a la carte menu on demand with the caviar service, the wine list, the way each dish is plated), the specific service choreography, and a lot of role play with the instructors as passengers who have very particular expectations. There is a written test and a practical. The pass rate is high; the filter is being selected for the course.
Who gets it
Grade I crew with a strong record, put forward by pursers, after a period in business that has varied from one to three years. The same reliability logic as every other promotion at this airline: attendance, appraisals, being known. The course is not a prize for being charming. It is given to people the pursers trust with the most expensive passengers on the aircraft.
The cabin
Up to 14 passengers on the 777, fewer on the A380 with the shower suites. Two or three crew for the cabin. On a 14 hour sector you will do something for each passenger roughly every hour and you will know each of their names by the second hour. The service is quiet and long. There is no trolley. There is no rush. There is enormous attention to detail and a purser who checks it.
Day to day
The passengers are a mix: business travellers who want to sleep and eat well, wealthy leisure travellers on a big trip, a small number of the famous and the very rich, and the occasional upgrade who is thrilled to be there. The famous are usually the easiest. The upgraded are the most fun. The very rich are a spectrum from charming to the reason this thread exists.
The work is calmer and more exposed than business. A mistake in first is noticed by the passenger, the purser and the airline. A good sector in first is the best feeling in the job.
What changes for you
The money: a small increment, not a big one. The flying: first class is on the long haul routes with the best layovers, so the profile of your month improves. The status: pursers and colleagues treat first class crew as the senior service people on the aircraft, which is nice and also a responsibility.
Would I recommend chasing it
If you love the craft of service, yes. If you are in it for the money, the increment will disappoint you. If you want to be a purser eventually, the first class qualification is close to required in practice. And if you just want a quieter cabin than economy, business is already that and first adds pressure rather than removing it.
Questions welcome, including the caviar ones.
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#2 Purser, and I put forward two people for the first course last year. Both were the crew who knew every business passenger's name by hour two without being told to. That is the tell. Charm is common, attention is rare.
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#3 Upper deck, five years, did the course the year before Joe. The 'upgraded passenger is the most fun' line is completely true. They ask for the shower, they photograph the caviar, they thank you like you cooked it. I love them.
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#4 Economy, two years, and now I have a two step plan instead of a one step plan. Business first, then this. Thank you for making the path visible.
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#5 @marcusdxb two steps and a clean record. That is the whole map.
