Hello everyone.
I would be very grateful for info and advice regarding following:
I will be visiting my expat son, currently working in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. My first trip to the kingdom. Will like go towards the end of February. Plan to fly from Northern Europe via DXB, staying overnight in the transit hotel as I believe the trip will not qualify for Dubai connect, then on to DMM.
I am EK Gold, and will probably fly Y.

I assume I can have dinner in the lounge in DXB when I arrive, even though I am only flying out to DMM the following morning as long as I have an onward boarding pas??

What can I expect on my arrival in DMM in terms of clearing emigration and customs - time, hassle etc?

When leaving: does EK have a priority check in line for Gold in DMM? Will I have access to a lounge in DMM? Will there be priority boarding in DMM?

Many thanks in advance for any info, and for any additional pointers.

Can only answer this one.

Although EK has no arrivals lounge, you can access the departure lounge just as if you were in transit (<24 hours until your DMM flight).

However, when you leave you are now in the wrong place, so have to make your way back through transit security, playing the "I got lost" card, and join the arrivals flow to arrivals immigration etc.

Sounds awkward, but many reports on here about it being done.

I have not been to DMM recently but do fly into KSA quite often.

1. Yes, you can have dinner in the lounge before sleeping in the airside hotel

2. Passport control in KSA is slow and inefficient. Nothing scary, just slow and inefficient. DMM is not known for its tourism industry so don't expect to be warmly greeted. Be prepared to queue and wait - it's better to just set your expectations that way so that you'll feel good if things move quickly (which they may - it really depends if a large flight arrived before you). As a first time entry on your visa you will need to do biometrics at the counter (photo/finger prints). You will see some people run - don't be alarmed, they are just running to queue. I would recommend you move briskly so as to not be stuck all the way in the back. Sometimes the queues can be different for "first time on visa" and "reentry" although, of course, it won't be clear and definitely not posted. Ask someone in the queue. The posted queue signs for "business men, residents, etc" are mostly meaningless except for the "GCC Nationals" one.

After passport control, get your luggage if you have any. You will have to scan your checked and carry on luggage before exiting customs... (ie don't bring alcohol with you).

3. Departures are a bit of a scrum in KSA.

As a Gold, head to the Emirates J line at check-in, but that's where it ends. Don't remember if there is lounge access for Gold Y in DMM. At the gate, it's typically a free-for-all and boarding by class is often ignored, let alone skywards tier recognition. If you don't have much carry-on, consider waiting for the masses to board and get on last.

Hope this helps!

Oops, I didn't pick up on the airside hotel. Ignore my post above in this case and extramileage has described it better

Unfortunately DMM is a different beast. I have probably been there over 10 times. While no longer EK Gold, I was EK Gold for the majority of those visits and passport control in DMM is in fact very scary. It is a downright nightmare. Once I had to wait 3+ hours. Average wait time over all my visits is probably around the 2 hour mark.

My advice is to fill out the entry card given to you in-flight before you land and do your best to get to the very front of the queue as soon as you disembark the aircraft.

On the departure from DMM, my advice is to arrive at the airport 3 hours before your flight. Check in early and make your way to passport control. There is a lounge that is accessible to EK Gold members. It is nothing special at all, there are some sandwiches, snacks and (non-alcoholic) drinks.

I hope your experience is not as bad as some of mine have been, but I advise you to be well prepared and give yourself plenty of time coming into and departing DMM.

Many thanks to all who replied. That is very useful information. It is always good to be prepared - that way even a very long line in emigration etc seems a little less onerous. Glad to hear there is a lounge accessible to Gold members. Even if it is quite basic, at least it is a place to sit down in relative peace and calm.
Than you again.

To offer a different perspective, I've done three trips to DMM and back this year, and none of them have been particularly bad. Maybe I have just been lucky.

On arrival, I agree that it's best to sit as far forward onboard as you can, then quickly make your way to passport control. On my last visit, after queuing for 5-10 minutes I got to the desk then the system went down so I was left hanging around for half an hour or so waiting for it to come back online. As it will be your first trip to KSA, you will need to join the first time visitor queue. The queue entrances and desks definitely were signed accordingly when I was there in September, but there is sometimes someone on hand directing people to the right one.

On departure, each time I've been through passport control fairly quickly, never a wait of more than 10 minutes. Arrive early just to be sure. There isn't much going on at all after you are through security, it's pretty grim, and in fact last time I was there the carpeted floors of the central seating area and gate area were filthy.

EK Golds can use the Al Fursan lounge if I remember correctly, which is the Saudia one. There is another generic First/Business Class Lounge which was closed for refurbishment last time I was there.

Boarding was First/Business then Economy, a bit of a free-for-all. They might let Gold/Platinums through as well, I'm not sure.

Hi TIV,

I fly in and out off DMM every 5 weeks due to working there, so i can give you a bit of a heads up on what to expect.

Prior to boarding i advise pre selecting your seat up the front of the plane, this definitely helps when disembarking and getting to immigration first. Immigration can be a lottery, sometimes it can take 10 mins sometimes it can take 3hrs it just depends on how the Saudis are feeling on that given day. its has become a lot better than what it was they now actually segregate those returning citizens and first timers (your line will be on the left as a first timer) which is a major improvement stops some of the chaos. You will have to do the biometric scan (fingerprints) and photo on your first time in. make sure you fill out your arrival card as best you can, it with ask your for your alien number ignore this.

Regarding leaving Saudi, get to the airport early. Its mayhem trying to get to the check in counters especially between 7pm-11pm. every flight i have taken from DMM is always full and or oversold so if your a gold member like myself most of the time you will get a complimentary bump up in cabin class. when checking in you will have to go threw the usual pre security screen prior to getting into the check in desk. when you arrive at the emirates check in desk look for the business class line (its at this point you have to be a bit ruthless as there really is no distinguishable lines they just stand anywhere so don't be afraid to walk in front of people to get to the business class line, the majority of people standing there don't know what line the need to be in) or find one of the emirates staff and make it know to them that you are a gold member, they will usually see you straight away. There is a priority line threw immigration when leaving but it hardly gets used. Immigration on the way out is nowhere near as bad as on the way in.

Once threw immigration and another security screen turn left threw duty free and walk past the burger joint to the Al FURSAN lounge. Nothing special here but its better than hanging around outside the lounge IMO.

and now boarding-its a free for all, no one understands nor cares if your a first class passenger or a economy they just go for it, so board at your own leisure.

Hope this helps, Enjoy your stay in DMM

Once again: thank you very much for all the info. It is great to hear from people in the know. I had previously just heard rumors that were quite frankly not great about DMM, so it is very reassuring having real first hand knowledge communicated. Thanks again to all.

I've had good and bad experience with DMM. All the important stuff was already mentioned above, though. Keep in mind your mileage may vary quite randomly. That would be depending on the time of year, time of day, position of the moon, and (as somebody already mentioned) how the immigration officers are feeling at that very moment

One thing to note is, that the LCD screens at the baggage carousels don't always show the correct info. It happened to me twice that my EK flight was shown on one, but our bags were delivered onto a different one.
Ask one of the trolley service guys (in yellow shirts) to check if your flight will actually be on the carousel it is supposed to. They seem to know somehow...