When I fly to the UAE with the family I tend to do F out of LHR so we get the CCR access and the wife gets to pre-book the spa. I tend to try and get the 12:30 departure, however, as I don't tend to value F over CW too much on the shorter overnight flights; I'd rather keep the 80k Avios each way. The Marhaba service used to be a nice addition to flying F to DXB but this has been enhanced away.

I fly back in J from DXB as I don't consider the CCR bar worth the extra 80k Avios for the 4 of us to fly F. Plus it's generally an overnight; see above.

AUH is good for the 787, but as has been stated above the lounge at AUH is really poor, and the airport is generally really chaotic at that time of night. That being said, immigration should be quicker there than at DXB.

All that being said, £500 is two tickets to Bubblicious brunch and a night at pretty much any JBR property. So if you're prepared to make the sacrifice on the seat, you can reward yourself with far better food and a lot better booze in DXB than you'd get on board.