15 hour layover in Dubai, what to do?
 

Hi all - I'm travelling economy class from LAX - DAR in August with a connecting flight in Dubai. The problem is that my flight arrives in Dubai on Sunday and my connecting flight to Dar Es Salaam doesn't leave until 10.50am Monday.

Is there a hotel within the transit area in Dubai? If not, any suggestions as to how to pass fifteen hours at the airport?

Is this the shortest possible connection? If so, EK will provide you with a hotel room. There is also, otherwise, a transit hotel within the airport.

Depends on fare class. They have tightened up the fare classes eligible for STPC recently and these vary by market.

If you arrive at say around 7pm, you can probably have a quick stroll of Dubai and enjoy the great night views! It's not as hot as day, and there's still quite a lot to see.

Yes, as far as I can tell this is the shortest connection. I'm travelling in economy, have no status with them as this will be my first flight with Emirates (I did sign up for their skyways program) Thanks for the info.

If you're booked in U, B, N, M, E, W, R or Y class you will be STPC eligible.

You will get a complimentary voucher for the Millenium Airport Hotel + dinner + breakfast + visa if you need it.

Call them in advance and confirm your eligibility, then collect the voucher at checkin.

Excellent, thanks for the info. ^

B747-437B answered the most important part of your question. However just a reminder, August is Ramadan, F&B options may be limited during daylight hours ;) . The Millenniums' Mexican restaurant is open for lunch IIRC. As its a weekday, head down to Bastikiya and check out the Dubai Museum if you feel like it, or the usual mall crap. If the B part of F&B is more important, nothing beats the airport, the only place in DXB where you can get a drink 24/7/365

I called to find out about he hotel and was told that my flights were not considered a stop over but "in transit" so I didn't qualify for the hotel nor could I get a visa on arrival in order to leave the airport (even though I'm travelling on an American passport)

Seemed like a big hassle so just ended up booking a room at the Dubai International hotel which seemed the simplest thing to do.

If you are American, you can walk out of the airport http://www.emirates.com/us/english/p...uirements.aspx
Just figure out where you want to go

For anyone too bored to fill in the form above

The transit hotel is for transit pax, not pax on a stopover. Do you know what fare bucket your ticket is in (or otherwise tell us the fare and route and we can tell you what class it is). If it is an eligible class you should get the hotel.

What is the criterion that causes it to be 'in transit' vis a vis stopover.

According to the website:
"As a special courtesy to our passengers, in certain cases where an itinerary calls for a long stopover in Dubai, Emirates will cover accommodation, meals and ground transportation costs.

This service is offered to passengers holding tickets in specific ticket categories:
Economy Class passengers

• If the booking class for the entire outbound or inbound leg of their journey is U, B, N, M, E, W, R or Y.
• And if upon arrival in Dubai, the connection time until the first available flight is more than 8 hours and less than 24 hours.

"

OP seems to have satisfied both criteria?

Don't know the fare bucket but the ticket was $2,186.50 (with tax) and the routing is LAX-DXB-DAR-DXB-LAX leaving on Aug 14th and returning on Aug 21st.

I'm also now curious to see why this didn't qualify for the visa/hotel as everyone seems to think it should :-(

Anything under 24 hours is transit, over 24 hours is a stopover. From the point of pricing, for example, you could do a day trip in Dubai on a long transit and not pay extra on a fare that only allowed paid stopovers.

What you have is an M fare ($2,036 + tax) which is a fare eligible for STPC. You need to call them and sort this out - perhaps the agent you spoke to the first time was clueless.

EDIT: Actually, looking at EK.com it is $2,124 + tax so it could be a combination fare. But that would put at least one of the directions in a flex fare bucket while it shows Saver miles, but either way you're entitled to the hotel.