Its pretty simple, Emirates is to pay for hotel accomodation when transit time is more than 6 hours when flying in F or J.

First time I tried to get an STPC, flying in paid F, I was denied in DXB because I didn't call EK and request the STPC.

Second time I called and booked the STPC. Arrived in DXB and they wanted to put me in the same room as the person I was traveling with. Learned that I need to request separate rooms as only 1 room is provided if tickets are on the same PNR. So, pay for 2 F tickets and travel with an associate, and you will have 1 room if you don't know to request 2.

Third time I called and booked STPC and requested 2 rooms, this time on paid J. Arrive to DXB and they only show one of us as having a room, put the other at the Millennium dump they use for Y passengers.

Fourth time I called and booked STPC and requested 2 rooms, paid J again. Arrive to DXB and they have no record of any booking. After a while they find 2 rooms at the Al Bustan Rotana.

Fifth time, just a week ago, in paid F. I called and booked STPC with 2 rooms Arrive at DXB and they have no record of my reservation. Then they said they have a record of a Chauffeur drive booked to the Le Meridian, but that is all. I ask them to figure out it since I for sure made the reservation and nearly every past STPC reservation I have had has had issues. The lady says all the hotels are sold out and tough luck. After some words she goes and gets the supervisor. He looks at a computer and tells me that the Le Meridian is sold out and he has no rooms for me. I ask about the Al Bustan, he says sold out because of a cancelled flight. Millennium, sold out. Basically, they show that somebody booked a Chauffeur drive but nobody booked the STPC.

All past times they found a way to accommodate, but this time they refused to do ANYTHING. Clearly the agent made an error since all they did was book Chauffeur drive to the Le Meridian, but the EK staff basically had the attitude that they don't care and have no responsibility. It is 1 AM at night and they left me to go find a hotel on my own.

Does anybody know of a concrete way to get an STPC booked without all of these issues?!

I have always received a physical voucher when my STPC was confirmed. It required going to the local EK office to pick up, but it is a physical confirmation of the hotel booking (that immigration often asks to see anyway).

Strewth, sounds like a nightmare. Are you booking all your tickets online? Or do you do it thru an agent or local EK office?
I make most of my bookings thru the local EK office and while I have never used the STPC "feature" I am confident that it would be taken care of.

I would keep the receipt of this stay and forward to EK for re-imbursement.

I book all my tickets online. My local EK "office" is the ticket desk at SFO airport, which is about an hours drive away.

The first time I flew out of DFW, I had called EK to ask about setting up a Chauffeur drive and the EK agent told me that I had been approved for a STPC and the Le Meridian had been confirmed. I had not requested one because I didn't qualify for one on that flight since there was another flight possible with a 3-hour layover. But, if they were offering and approving, I asked and found out they had booked a single room for both travelers, so I asked if we can get 2 rooms. The agent put me on hold and then came back and told me that my flight doesn't qualify for the STPC and Dallas had made an error approving us for one, and that he can't get us a 2nd room, and not only that, he was canceling the 1 room that was confirmed.

That was the only experience I have had with them offering a STPC without me requesting it. Every time since I have had to request it, and never has anybody given me the physical voucher.

Immigration has never once asked me where I am staying, but that may be because I am from a visa waiver country and don't have to deal with any visa. Plus, now with e-gate I rarely deal with them anyway.

Complicating things is that most of my flights have been originating from NBO and CAI, and I am basically transiting those airports. Going to a local EK office there to pick up a voucher is unlikely, unless I can pick it up in the airport within the transit area.

STPC always worked like clock work for me. Book tickets, call EK and get the STPC vouchers issued and delivered to the airport, where upon check in I get them.
Once in BEY, had upgraded to J and so paid the departure taxes but forgot to pick up the receipt and the STPC voucher. The check in agent brought them to my seat on the plane.

I am surprised you never got told of the green voucher for STPC, or have things changed recently?

I forgot to add, not only EK gets the vouchers ready for pick up from the airport you're departing from but also from the other end (for example, for a SYD-DXB-BEY return ticket vouchers -for both outbound and inbound will be ready for collection at SYD. After arriving to BEY and changing the return dates a new voucher is issued and set ready for pick up at BEY).

Exactly the same here in my experience. Always had physical STPC vouchers for the entire trip provided at the first point of departure (or at any EK ticket office in advance of that). In case of date change for the return, the STPC voucher would be revalidated at the airport of check-in for the return flight.

Never actually booked STPC before the flight, if needed I just ask upon check-in and have always been confirmed, only once was I given a voucher and that was at the check-in desk..

Perhaps whimike never received any because his trips originate from NBO/CAI and he only transits there, so no visit to check in!

Correct. But, the STPC desk has always written out the voucher upon arrival up DXB, even for STPCs coming from the USA transiting DXB to CAI/NBO.

When I first saw the thread about an American traveller being treated with heart problems in Tehran, I was worried it was Whimike that had succumbed, whilst still apoplectic about another STPC shambles.

Glad to see you up and posting again

Hahaha... Well... Even though it would seems otherwise by how I post, I don't let these issues get to me and live a relatively low-stress life.

In fact, posting my experiences on FT gets rid of any stress that could build. It's therapy!!

And... With my track record with EK, if I were to have a heart attack it would be over the North Pole!!!!

I pick up my STPC vouchers either at SFO or CCU, my origin/dest airports, for my Dubai stopovers.

From the US, I always book the STPC stay on the customer service number, which usually connects to Mumbai it seems.

In any case, the agent can book your stay, and also email you a copy of the reservation. You can then use this to pick up your STPC voucher at SFO airport.

I have done this nearly 20x with no issues so far (fingers crossed).

I hope this helps.

Actually, here in Germany the first problem is to get a STPC at all. Often the argument is: you colud take another flight (usually a night flight from here) in which case you dont need a STPC - thats the policy of EK Germany. Fortunately, the international line based in the UK is more generous and I always get it there (big thank you to the friendly people on Emirates Europe phone line!). In this case I usually also get an e-mail with a revised travel plan indicating the stop -over - this should be possible in the US, too. And when you go to the check-in counter to get your physical voucher (for me usually FRA), you would always have this e-mail as a proof, in case they dont have it (never happened, though).So my advice: once you got the STPC confirmed on the phone ask for an additional e-mail confirming it, in case they dont offer it right away.