I'm flying from Brisbane to Tehran on Emirates and would like to stay in Dubai for a few days either on my way to Tehran or when I'm coming back to Australia. Is this possible? How much would it cost me? Do I need to get visa to stay in Emirates? And can I buy my ticket online or do I need to go to a travel agency?

Thanks,
Mansoor

Salaam Mansoor,

Yes, from Australia to Tehran, you can buy your ticket online. Almost all fares on Emirates allow you to get a free stopover in Dubai. Just use the multi-city search function and you can put in BNE-DXB, DXB-THR, THR-BNE if stopping on the outbound or you can simply use the stopover tab in the multi-city search and do it that way. If you have an Iranian passport then yes, you would need a visa for Dubai. The hotel you are staying at can arrange this for you or if you are visiting a friend, your friend can sponsor you. The processing time is about 3 working days and you have to pay 450 dirhams for the visa. You may also have to make a deposit of 5,000 dirhams which is refunded when you depart Dubai.

If you have a passport from a GCC country or:

France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Spain, Monaco, Vatican City, Iceland, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, United States (US), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, then you do not need a visa.

Thanks for the info.
Can someone here explain why does the ticket price is so much higher when you stop over? It just doesn't make sense. for example:

Departing Thursday, 18 March, 2010
Returning Saturday, 17 April, 2010
would cost $1798

and

Departing Thursday, 18 March, 2010
Leaving Iran on 14 April, 2010
Returning Saturday, 17 April, 2010 from Dubai
would cost $6231

Is this right or am I doing something wrong?

Your price is wrong.
The cost for BNE-IKA-DXB-BNE is $1822.

Thanks for your reply. I was trying to book using Stopover button on top of the page. When I used Multi-city Search I got a better price. Now there are 2 more questions:

What's the difference between Stopover and Muliti-city?
The price I got using:
Departing Brisbane on Thursday, 18 March, 2010
Leaving Iran on 14 April, 2010
Returning Saturday, 17 April, 2010 from Dubai

is $1970 not $1822. Do you know why?

The fare you're getting the 1970 is RLJCPAU1 which is 920 each way plus the taxes.
It is the cheapest return fare on EK for that period

The 1798 (WLJBPAU1) fare has a restriction on the outbound, it is valid when outbound is one of the following.
EK FLIGHT 433
EK FLIGHT 409
EK FLIGHT 415
EK FLIGHT 425.

The reason you might be getting the higher fare is because the fare bucket W may be sold out on one or some of the flights. If you are flexible with dates have a look at some of the before and after dates of your planned trip.

why did no one mention arabian airpass?

fly brisbane-dxb-brisbane

while you stay here.. use your arabian airpass and get a cheap ticket to tehran.

I believe that would be because it is cheaper to fly to Tehran than to Dubai. It never makes sense to buy a ticket to Dubai - it's always more expensive.

i have found the opposite to be true.. but then again.. maybe my destinations were different?