Ever wondered how to get upgraded on a flight, what the cabin crew actually do in the galley, or even how the rich and famous pass their time in first class?

Ex-Qantas flight attendant Owen Beddall has seen it all, having served the likes of Katy Perry and Russell Brand, Cate Blanchett and Lily Allen, among other high-profile names. He has travelled more than 40 countries on six continents and partied his way around major cities, staying in top class hotels.

“I chose to be in first class to be with the best of the best,” says Australian Beddall. “If you are going to do a job, you may as well be at the top end. I was a little nervous around them [celebrities], but I thought my job was always to make them feel comfortable.”

Most famous faces were well behaved, but the crew were apprehensive when Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, who’d been banned from flying with a number of airlines because of their bad behaviour, were on the flight list.

They were seated in business class, but during the flight, one of the female flight attendants from that section kept Beddall informed about what was going on.

“She whispered that one of the Gallagher brothers had offered the attendants £1,000 apiece to turn a blind eye while he smoked a joint in the toilet. What should she do?

“I was all for it,” he confesses. “‘Get the money up front’, I suggested. ‘Let him smoke the joint – it will set the smoke alarms off, and then maybe they’ll go to sleep.’”

As it turned out, the transaction never took place, and they fell asleep anyway.

The celebrity who most stands out for him is Lily Allen, he reveals, whom he’d never heard of when she was a passenger on his flight in 2006 and had a number one hit in the UK at the time.

“She exuded ‘celebrity’ from 100 seats away. She was in business class, I was in first, but I invited her up to the first class galley for a drink and a gossip.”

Beddall spills the beans in his new book, Confessions Of A Qantas Flight Attendant, charting the ups and downs of his 12-year career, including having to restrain passengers, being bitten by a snake in Bangkok and being caught up in a terrorist attack in Mumbai.

Celebrities who travel first class don’t tend to be more demanding than other passengers, he reflects.

“They are travelling all the time and it’s work for them. It’s usually the people who are getting upgraded who want to flex their corporate muscle, or show how important they are, who are the painful ones.

“Those who travel a lot offer minimal fuss and have a routine,” he continues. “The newbies or the upgrades want to try everything. They will guzzle through the wines and food.”

So, how do you get a free upgrade?

“Board last. Upgrades have to happen on the aircraft – unless they are being done through airline points – at the discretion of the crew, which is why you always need to engage your flight attendant.”

Alcohol can be a big problem, he admits. “For every drink on the ground, it’s like three in the air. On top of that, people are taking sleeping tablets. When you put the combination together, it can be difficult.”

And what about the mile-high club? It certainly exists, he says.

“Miranda Kerr and Ralph Fiennes had their episodes of fun [ex-Qantas flight attendant Lisa Robertson claimed she and Ralph Fiennes joined the mile-high club on a flight from Darwin, Australia, to Mumbai in 2007, while supermodel Miranda Kerr recently confessed to being in the club].

“Pilots have jumped into bed with first class passengers in the front, but it usually happens in economy. Don’t ask me how they do it. They usually end up in the toilet.

“But it was harder to get away with it in economy because the toilets were smaller and there were more people.”

Last year, Beddall left the airline after breaking his spine in a fall during a training exercise. Now he is based in Sydney and pursuing a writing and broadcasting career.

“I don’t miss a day of it,” he says.

  • Confessions Of A Qantas Flight Attendant by Owen Beddall with Libby Harkness is published by Ebury, priced £18.99. Available now.