Originally Posted by
Zoltar
Departing out of DXB in a few days and will arrive at the airport about 6 hours earlier than my flight (driving from another emirate). Departing on United Polaris Business.
1) Will I be able to check in? Will I be allowed to enter the lounge that early?
2) If not, is there a place I can just drop my carry on baggage? Perhaps there's a lounge outside of security to drop my bags. If not, any suggestion for a secure place I can pay to store my luggage? I plan to head into Dubai and do some shopping after dropping my luggage off.
1. The web site says the United counter opens three hours early, i.e., at 10:55pm. I was there last week around that time and the guy said they actually open around 10:00pm. YMMV.
2. There is a luggage storage facility at the airport:
https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...ervices-dubai/
I must say I had a great experience. In addition to the benefits of using the Emirates T3 dedicated business terminal and EK lounge, the service all around is good. They have guys with luggage trolleys like at a hotel when you exit the taxi. I noticed when I put my checked bag on the belt that it was ripped along the zipper line, so I thought maybe I should wrap it. The check-in agent summoned one of the porters, who offered to take it all the way back to the wrapping station while I waited at check-in (of course I handed him the AED 40 that it would cost plus tip).* All of this is way out of United's league.
Of course the security theater is running strong. I probably had to show my boarding pass five times, answer the battery of questions about what was in my luggage twice*, and go through not two but three security checks. At the card table setup outside the gate, the lady did an extensive check of every nook and cranny. I had bought a box of cigars (non-Cuban) at duty free, which was shrink-wrapped. She made me remove the packaging and lifted each cigar out of the box, handing a one of them to her colleague as if she didn't know what it was, plus asked me if I bought them at the airport and inspected the receipt (as if I wouldn't be allowed to carry such an item if I had bought it in town). She leafed through the pages of the book I had in my bag, etc.
*This was amusing. There's the usual agent who asks you, has your bag been in your possession, etc., right before the check-in desk, then puts the sticker on your passport. Later, when the porter came back with my wrapped suitcase, that same guy waved him past to hand me the suitcase at the check-in counter. I guess the fact that it was out of my control for the previous five minutes didn't bother him then.