My understanding is that the "best routes" are not necessarily international routes; they are routes that offer the most paid hours per hour spent at work. Cab

My understanding is that the "best routes" are not necessarily international routes; they are routes that offer the most paid hours per hour spent at work. Cabin crew only get paid from the cabin door closing to the cabin door opening. Therefore longer routes tend to be better because messing around on the ground is roughly constant no matter how long the flight, so the longer the flight the more paid hours there are per 'free' ground hour. However there are several factors fighting this: - Layover time in a foreign city. Some destinations have bad flight schedules so you might end up with a long unpaid layover. - After a few years of layovers in Paris it probably doesn't seem as exciting anymore so you aren't as willing to satisfy time at home for it. - Domestic flights (especially on smaller planes) take less time to fill up, so crew can arrive closer to 'cabin door closed' time. - Not all cabin crew live near an international departure airport, and they don't get paid to commute. Also they don't get put in first class when flying as a NONREV anymore thanks to free elite upgrades. Therefore it varies by airline but some domestic or short routes may get very senior staff because they happen to match up with personal schedules, and some international cities will get junior staff because the schedule or paid-vs-free hours ratio is bad.