Originally Posted by
8420PR
But you do have to register beforehand to get the card to use an E-Gate (and pay €50 or so for the privilege), so it is only useful if you are visiting multiple times and have time to spare to register.
Unfortunately, last time I visited Dubai (April) there were no smart-gates (where you don't need to register and can just enter with your passport) in the arrivals terminal that Swiss use. It looked like they were renovating, so maybe they have been built since.
The immigration queues took a long time, and were very poorly organised. There is an individual queue for each immigration desk, so if you pick one with a slow agent or lots of problems you can be there a long time. Last time arriving on Swiss it took about 1 hour.
Use Marhaba. They use the VIP immigration - no line at all
I was not aware that there is a $50 charge to register for E gate since it's free for Skywards gold & plat but even if your only traveling to Dubai once or twice a year, $50 is worth not standing in line forever.
I realized last night when I returned to DXB from SIN that the reason most passengers on airlines other then EK don't know they qualify for this is it's simply not advertised and not worth the space in an inflight magazine of an airline with 1-2 flights to Dubai. On the other hand EK's magazine devotes 2 pages to E gates, who qualifies, where they are, etc. skywards gold & Plat have the magnetic strip clearly marked "for use with Dubai E gates"