I went inside the secret airplane rooms where flight attendants and pilots sleep. Here are 3 surprising things I saw.

Side-by-side images of the rest area for pilots and flight attendants on an Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER.Monica Humphries/Insider

• On a long-haul Air New Zealand flight, I saw the secret rooms where pilots and flight attendants rest.
• The Boeing 777-300ER had a room with two beds for pilots and an eight-bed area for flight attendants.

From applying and getting hired to working on 12-plus-hour flights, many elements of a flight attendant's and pilot's jobs are elusive.

But last summer, I had one of those secrets revealed to me.

Before a 12-hour Air New Zealand flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to Los Angeles, California, I stepped inside the secret rooms where flight attendants and pilots rest on long-haul flights.

While there were plenty of differences between the two rooms, three things surprised me. Take a look.