JNelson113

I'm trying to requalify on UA from IAH (which never has good MR fares) and DXB looks like my best bet. I'd leave the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend and be back in IAH by Monday morning. I would be there about seven hours.

Is entry difficult? Will this short of a stay raise eyebrows? I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this.

clacko

search this forum using dubai....prob get more info quicker...

rankourabu

The only eyebrows raised may be on the return to the USA.

What do you mean by difficult entry into Dubai???

Its a shame, btw, to go all that way, and not even stay a day - but I understand its a MR.

JNelson113

Okay, that's fine, I can deal with USA eyebrows.

Just wondering how the entry is into Dubai; if I have to stand in line forever that weighs into this.

I totally agree . . . I'd love to go out and explore BUT I have a 19 month-old girl at home. She'll be with her dad but I've never left her and I am going to miss her a ton!

JNelson113

Yes, DUH. I actually found a few good threads. I didn't look hard enough the first time.

rankourabu

Definitely shorter than any line at a USA port of entry for foreigners.

I've waited 15 minutes max in DXB.

dhuey

I didn't think much of Dubai. If you've got 7 hours to spend, maybe take a cab over to Burj Khalifa (world's tallest building). You might want to make a reservation for a meal at At.mosphere, the restaurant/lounge near the top. http://www.atmosphereburjkhalifa.com/ It's about a half-hour cab ride to/from the airport.

That building is pretty amazing. You stand at the base, look up and wonder how the heck they were able to construct it.

whimike

Dubai is a piece of cake. Lots of good restaurants and things to see/do.

I have never had any eyebrows raised coming or going, and I have been there over a dozen times in just the first 6 months of the year.

schley

This has changed because they did away with the 3rd world workers who used to que up at the below visa desks by the escalators. Now all immigration booths have the eye scan and fingerprints and they did away with the visa desks which is not a good thing IMO for there is no separate lines. Everyone is together and if you get behind someone who needs a lot of attention it slows you down by quite a bit. 3 weeks ago I was there with a large group. I got through in 10 minutes which was quick and the rest of the group got through anywhere from 15-50 minutes. It is a large mass of people together now.

Flahusky

and that is just in the airport
Take the train to the mall and spend a few hours there, you'll never look at an american mall the same again
My longest time in line at immigration was 30 minutes, there must have been 3 flights clearing at that time. They are very friendly, fast and to say efficient is an understatement. Just be prepared when you walk out the door for the humidity to slam you. I'm from Fla and it was impressive

DEN

DXB is a very easy MR, and I have never had any questions about a same day turnaround. You are just transiting actually...not a big deal. If you are flying on UA, 976 arrives around 3:30PM and the lines aren't long at Immigration at that time, 15 to 20 minutes max is my experience. If you are doing a turn around on 977 and staying at the airport, you can stay in the terminal without going through immigration, just pass through a quick security screening at the transfer desk and you have free access to the terminal.

The Dubai Airport Hotel (inside the secure area of the airport) has showers for about 45 AED (around $14 US) and there are some sleep cubes for rent in the main terminal.

If you want to leave the airport, US citizens get a visa issued at immigration for no fee and taxi's are reasonable. If you are doing a MR before the end of the year, the temperature is down a bit as well as the humidity (summer in Dubai is nasty) Expect the temps and humidity this time of year to be more like the southern US in summer.

Look here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...tions-etc.html and start about 12 months back from the last post for more current info.
Airport Hotel: http://www.dubaiintlhotels.com/
Snoozecube: http://www.snoozecube.com/about-us-2/

The flight is effortless really. Two meals, two movies and 6 hours of sleep.....and you are there!

DEN

JNelson113

Thanks so much, everyone! Looks like a great MR destination. Thanks again!

Uncle Lars

There seems to be a KLM flight from AMS arriving at 11:50 PM that does a turnaround at 12:50 AM...is this possible at DXB for a MR this summer?

DEN

Although most of my experience was with UA, 1 hour seems very risky. T1 is large and even though you are just transiting, there is still lots of walking. I would look for alternatives or make plans for the probability of a misconnect.

DXB is hot and humid in the summer which might limit your desire to get out and do much sightseeing if you have a 24 hour layover. Also keep in mind that Ramadan is May 26th through June 24th which can also be a bit limiting.

Good Luck!

DEN

Uncle Lars

Oops sorry...looks like the scheduled arrival time is 11:05 PM; this would make more sense since I believe it's the same aircraft turning around about 2 hours later to go back to AMS. Have you done straight turns like this in DXB with UA?