Blue Membership - e-Gate Pass
 

How can I get my Emirates Blue card registered for e-Gate pass and does it cost money and miles?

Not answering your question, but do you have a UK passport? If so, you can use the Smart gates in T3. You register the first time you go through.

Thanks

Yes I do. I can use my UK passport at Smart gates? Interesting. Need to read up on this.

Thanks

So I can turn up to the airport, use the smart gate with my UK passport and then ask the immigration officer to register me?

Strangely, I don't have a barcode on my passport.

There will be a line at the smart gates for people who are eligible but haven't registered yet - go through there, scan your passport, look at the facial/eye scanner, then you'll be directed to the immigration officer who will validate it so on your next visit you can use the registered line which has no immigration officer on the other side. No stickers or barcodes etc on your passport.

If you want to register your Blue card for e-gate, after exiting customs, turn left - so if you have chauffeur drive, it may be best to go and pick up your chauffeur drive voucher first - and then before you reach the doors, turn left again and go to the far end of the arrivals hall, past the baggage office and toilets, and there will be a DNRD office. On the left hand side is a Q-matic thing, press that, select the option for e-gate activation/renewal, wait for your number to be called. When called, go to the desk, give the person your passport, scan your finger prints etc. Then you can use the registered lines for smart gate - and also use e-gate on leaving DXB. iirc there is no charge for a Skywards card e-gate activation. You will of course need to be a GCC citizen, UAE resident or visa-free national to be eligible.

That's fantastic. Thank you

Anecdotally, if you have time - I find if you wear glasses of quite a strong prescription, the e-gate card is a preferable option to the facial/eye scanner, as when you are in the smart gate you only need to present your two thumbprints to get through instead of staring at the black box for an interminable amount of time. Similar story for leaving DXB, but then my last trips have been within the window that DNRD computers updated so I had to see an officer anyway!

e-gate, Smart gate or Fast Track card. Which is the most efficient when arriving and departing DXB on a UK passport?

e-gate: I don't think smart gate works on departure? I have only seen e-gate supported at the fast track gates.

When I landed last week in Dubai my fast track was useless. Line wasn't big but there was a hold up with two passengers who seem to have invalid visas so the line didn't move for a good 10 minutes until they opened another desk. The e-gate would have been quicker in my scenario.

Thanks all.

I will try it out when I get to Dubai in 3 weeks. :D

Frrom the post above yours I inferred one could use Fasttrack and e-gate in combination. Your post seems to disagree.

Can anyone clarify?

They are totally separate lanes - the fast track card refers to dedicated immigration desks staffed with immigration officers where you need to present the card to be eligible to queue/access those desks, whereas the smart gates at immigration are automatic gates on either side of the hall with only one officer there to register anyone who is unregistered or has a problem. Sometimes there is no one at all, but not a problem if you are registered of course. The smart gates accept UAE ID card, e-gate or machine readable passport from the valid countries.