Will I qualify for Long Stopover Benefits?
 

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping someone would know the answer

I am hoping to book an Emirates flight which has an 8.5 hour stopover at Dubai (this is unavoidable as I am booking a-c and b is Dubai)

I will be booking through STA as I am under 26 and the price is more than £100 cheaper for an economy ticket

Will Emirates still book me the hotel/meal? I've never travelled with them before so don't know their policies etc

I really hope they will :)

There are 2 main conditions

(1) Is there any flight on EK within 8 hours of your arrival into Dubai to your destination. As long as you are booking on the next departing flight to the destination and that flight is > 8 hours from arrival , then you are fine

(2) What booking class is the ticket booked in. http://www.emirates.com/ae/english/p...stopovers.aspx no longer states the booking classes which are eligable ; it also states "If you have booked your flights through a travel agent, please instruct your agent to book this service on your behalf, provided your itinerary/fare qualifies." so you need to get the TA to arrange it , so they should be able to confirm before you pay

STA's Under26 Student fares are usually always Saver fares in cheap classes. You'll need to speak to STA or EK about what accommodation they may, if any, provide. While I've used STA alot to travel EK I've never had a stop over over 8 hours so cannot comment.

Thank you both for your help- I've spoken briefly to STA and there is a flight in between to shorten the stopovr to 2 hours- but this would increase it by £250 and I'm on a budget :)

I think I will try and book the general business lounge at Dubai for the 5 hour window they offer then- would you recommend this?

Do you know if I fly with emirates and have this 8 hour stop over will i have my 2nd boarding card as soon as I land? otherwise I won't be able to go in th lounge?

Your help is very much appreciated!

p.s. what is y/f/g please?

If you've got 8 hours, you'd be better leaving the airport for a few hours. There are loads of bars and restaurants very close to the airport. Ask for the Le Meridian Village for a good place to start.

You should get both your boarding passes at the first airport. You can then freely leave the airport and return with your second boarding pass.

Give yourself 90 minutes or so to get back into the airport.

Y - Economy
J - Business
F - First

Sorry I wasn't very clear will land local time 00.25 and take off 09.15!

i thought as a girl on my own probably best not to wander around a brand new city!

I do wish I could go in the day though and do this

STA offered me the holiday inn for £57- not sure if this is a good rate? simple single room I think- the thing is i suppose it will take me 2 hours to get out the airport- have to be back another 2 before flight takes off...

I'm guessing the hotel in the actual airport is v. pricy?

Thanks again!

Dubai is mostly fine to wander around in but at that time, probably not at all interesting. Unless you're coming during Ramadan when things are open later...

Is that the Holiday Inn Express Dubai Airport? If so the website 21 day advance rate is about 50 quid.

It shouldn't take two hours to get out if your luggage is checked through, though at that time immigration queues can be a bit long.

You may even get both boarding passes in London.

If not, when you land in Dubai, you will be able to approach a transfer desk to get your BP. The transfer desk will then try to get you to go through security and into the departures area, but you can always just walk to immigration.

We stayed at a hotel that was 5minutes from the airport. The taxi driver laughed at how short the trip was. We got to the hotel about 25 minutes after we landed (remember, Emirates will keep your checked-in backs (>23hrs) so you dont need to pick them or and drop them off again) so you can leave about an hour and a half before ur flight and thats a good 6hours sleep your getting.

I have an upcoming five hour layover, and I plan to leave the airport. However, EK told me that customs would not allow me to leave the airport if transit is less than 8 hours. I have never heard of that before. Anyone can verify that information?

Not heard of that. Obv you certain nationalities need certain visa's to enter DXB but the 8hour time frame is a strange one with regards to leaving the airport.

Technically it is correct. UAE immigration defines "transit" as a layover longer than 8 hours but shorter than 96 hours. If your purpose of entering the UAE is only "transit" then you may be denied entry if your layover period (calculated from the time you arrive at the immigration desk to the scheduled departure time of your next flight) is less than 8 hours.

Most people are entering the UAE for a purpose other than simply "transit". This could be to get lunch at a restaurant, to look at the Burj Khalifa from a different angle, or simply to enjoy a breath of hot desert air. If you are a citizen of one of the ~35 countries that enjoys free visa access to the UAE, this is easy to demonstrate and you will be granted access without any further questions.

If you require a transit visa for the UAE however, you will fall foul of this regulation. This applies to passengers in First/Business Class who are entitled to STPC hotel layovers if a layover exceeds 6 hours, but who will NOT be granted access to the UAE if they do not have at least 8 hours between their flights.

I have fallen foul of this requirement once myself (7h45m connection in Business Class). I had the hotel and visa voucher from Emirates but immigration simply refused to accept it since it was below 8 hours. Emirates staff apologised and said that this happened quite often.

On another occasion, a late inbound flight and a long line at immigration pushed my 9h10m layover to just 7h58m by the time I reached the front of the immigration line. I spent 30 minutes in the immigration office while the immigration supervisor and an Emirates supervisor argued for a while before agreeing to accept my time stamp from the IRIS scan machine (which was 8h10m before departure) as my time of arrival at immigration and hence permit me entry.