I'm booked in First on Emirates (Skywards Flex Reward) on the following flights:

12 Oct EK729 Entebbe to Dubai arriving 22:30
13 Oct EK215 Dubai to Los Angeles departing 08:55

From reading it appears that this itinerary should qualify for Dubai Connect however on the manage my booking page no option for Dubai Connect exists.

My outbound flight to Entebbe is on a paid First ticket as follows:

21 Sep EK030 London to Dubai arriving 02:50
22 Sep EK730 Dubai to Entebbe departing 09:20

I am able to utilize Dubai Connect through manage my booking on this itinerary (>6 hour layover) however was just planning to stay in the lounge due to the relatively short layover.

The return I was planning on utilizing Dubai Connect as the layover is long enough for a hotel to make sense to me but as mentioned, no option to book Dubai Connect exists on manage my booking.

Could anyone clarify why the return is not eligible for Dubai Connect.

Thanks in advance for any information.