I have a couple questions about Dubai Connect eligibility. From reading through here, it seems that nobody knows for sure when a reservation will qualify. We have been "discussing" this for awhile.

For context, my wife and a couple of the children will likely be traveling EWR-DXB-ACC in July 2020. My questions are based off of that.

1. The earlier EWR flight (leaving at 11:50 AM) gives a 23h 10m layover in Dubai. The later flight would have a 7h 55m layover, just under the 8 hour cutoff. However, the fare is much lower for the earlier flight. The later one costs about $300 more. I don't know much about fare classes, but the earlier cheaper one would be book in (Q), and the later more expensive one in (U). Due to the difference in fare, considering that there will be at least 4 of them traveling, the difference adds up. We would book the earlier flight.

Will having a later flight under an 8 hour layover, but with only a higher fare available, disqualify the reservations from Dubai Connect? I would imagine it would qualify if the later flight would leave an 8 hour layover, but it is just under. However, we won't book the later flight/higher fare because of the cost difference. For the $1,200 we save in airfare, we can easily pay for a hotel and meals. We are Americans so we don't need to worry about visas. And a 23h layover is nicer in a way than an 8 hour layover. They will have time to see the city a bit and get some good sleep.

2. Is there a way to tell before purchasing if the reservation will qualify for Dubai Connect? I couldn't find a way to tell. I would probably just go ahead and book. Does Dubai Connect show up right away (if it does show up) after booking, or at least within 24 hours? If for some reason I decided to cancel, I would have 24 hours to do so with no fee. But at the moment anyway nothing else comes close to the fare we'd pay on Emirates, so there is really no competition there. We'll use them whether or not we have to pay for a hotel.

That said, we will be buying the tickets in about a month, around the end of November. We'll see what is available by then. That could change.