[DXB] Any lounge for Biz pax on TG?

[Global Nomad]

Kyo
Sorry about this late response as I have just returned from IST to DXB (my base). Pls check the visa requirements for Dubai as they have just implemented new regulations. Only 33 countries have been exempted. See the link below. However can't seem to find the list of 33 countries.

http://www.dnrd.gov.ae/DNRD/News%20A..._Detail?id=301

Burj is expensive and requires advance booking just to see the place (friend of mine paid US$500 for himself and his missus for high tea and came away very disappointed - all hype and no substance)

Yes, Gold souq is unique only if you like gold jewellery done in indian style (aka very yellow in color). if diamond is your thing, then head over to gold and diamond park (very close to the Mall of Emirates) where you can get european cuttings at wholesale price.

For 15 hours, I agree the Big Bus tour is your best option. But I don't think they will start that early around 5am. They operate several routes using the spanking new china double deck coaches with an AC lower deck.

DXB is like Las Vegas without the casinos. So they do well with man made things like shopping malls. The ones not to be missed: Mall of Emirates with SkiDubai, Ibn Battuta Mall (almost half way to Abu Dhabi but worth the trip), Medinat Souq Jumeirah and Wafi Mall. Each of them all vying for one up man ship...

If malls are not your thing, then you could try the wild wadi which is a water theme park. A boat ride (abra) across the Dubai Creek would be another activity you can try as part og the gold souq program. I could share more about DXB more later so as not to bore others.

So I suggest you start with a big healthy breakfast as you will not find food or drinks during the day. 29 Sep is still in the month of Ramadan and you are not allowed to eat and drink in the open. You can only find food served in hotels in an enclosed section and you can forget alcohol altogether.

As for airport lounges, Emirates F/C excepted, the Diners Card lounge is the next best alternative. Sorry, no shower facilities there. Ditto for LH *A lounge. Merhaba Lounge is also marginally better and again no shower facilities.

One possible solution for the shower after sweating in the humid sep heat would be to use a gym facility in the malls. the nearest one is the aviation club/akaru spa which is near the airport and may be they can let you use the facilities on a per use basis. (http://www.aviationclub.ae/)

[KeithMEL]

... I will use DXB to slim down... hehe (fat chance)

Uh huh - glad you realised. DXB is absolutely not the place to slim down mate. Mmmmm *memories of pigging out in DXB*

[jhm]

Oh, just to mention also that I flew LHR-DXB-BAH-DXB-LHR last year.

I left London after work on Friday evening, arrived in Dubai the next morning, flew to BAH (met and had lunch there with SQFAN), back to DXB in the afternoon, 7 or 8 hours in the LM near the airport (some sleep and dinner), back to DXB airport around midnight and arrived back in London on Sunday morning.

The DXB hotel wasn't essential but I didn't fancy the thought of trying to kill 7-8 hours in DXB in the evening and then arrive at the airport without having had a shower beforehand. (DXB airport is also horrible IMHO - packed full of people sleeping on the floor etc.)

[jhm]

I would say the learning curve is extremely steep.

But once you know, the world is literally your oyster.

They may well be able to. The more I think about it, the more I don't fancy taking a risk on the luggage even if they said it could go through. Not to mention that irreplaceable 'Sacher' or 'Linzer' torte/birthday cake

For anything irreplaceable (I'm being serious here - I assume there'd be massive brownie points if you get the cakes to BKK unscathed!), I wouldn't trust check-in luggage. I'd always take something like that in my hand carry.

Are you sure you don't want a hotel ? You arrive at 5am and depart 14 hours later. Looking on spg.com for 28-29 September, you can get the Four Points (for example) for only AED 375 (about S$140). The website says it's 12 minutes from the airport by car. I'd seriously consider the room because:

* I can leave all my luggage (including the valuable cakes) safe in the (aircon) room;

* The opportunity to freshen up after a day of sightseeing in Dubai (the bathroom facilities are going to be much better than any lounge) before heading for the airport

* If I feel tired, there's a bed for some proper sleep

(If you do go for a hotel, you'd have to check that they'd allow you to check-in so early.)

[Kyo]

jhm: Frankly, it took me 1 month just to check, re-check, try to understand what was going on, do this and that... muster up the courage and take the plunge. I would say the learning curve is extremely steep.

Oh - rgdg Istanbul, I have a plan in-mind, need to do more research. I wanna do the Turkish baths...

Well, perhaps just ask at VIE just in case it does work.

They may well be able to. The more I think about it, the more I don't fancy taking a risk on the luggage even if they said it could go through. Not to mention that irreplaceable 'Sacher' or 'Linzer' torte/birthday cake

[jhm]

I have researched every possible connection I could think of (yes, even Czech and Montenegro, Belarus and Sarajevo, the lot...).

The lesson to learn for next time ? Book early!

Still, although you miss out on continuous sleep over a single longhaul flight, it'll be an interesting experience sampling business class on several different carriers (which will hopefully result in a good TR ). A shame you presumably don't have time to stopover a day or so in IST which is a place (well, one in a list of many) I'd want to visit one day.

The Thai officer was not confident in being able to check in on OS all the way through to Bangkok from Vienna. She said for safety, I should only check it in as far as Dubai, collect the luggage and re-check it at the counters in Dubai to ensure it would arrive in Bangkok.

Well, perhaps just ask at VIE just in case it does work.

[Kyo]

According to this article late last year:

Passengers in the 42 Royal Silk Business Class seats on each flight from Dubai to Bangkok are treated to luxuriously commodious comfort with a host of additional benefits such as:-

• use of premium class airport lounges in Thais' major on-line destinations


Just to make sure, I then decided to walk into the Thai Airways office to just ask - and they confirm that the LH *A lounge will accept C or F or *G, ROP passengers. However for some odd reason, the lounge is not open between 9am - 3pm. (This, they are re-confirming if this is a 24-hour lounge as the computer system showed opening hours of 15:00PM - 00:00AM, and then 00:01 - 09:00)

I will add this to the first post reflecting the same.

SQ LPP: I have researched every possible connection I could think of (yes, even Czech and Montenegro, Belarus and Sarajevo, the lot...). However, please feel free to correct me if you can find another without any backtracking. The only availability with Biz (and without backtracking, most importantly) was via IST and DXB (which I don't mind anyway). If you look on Great Circle, it's almost a straight line even. Ultimately my stopover on the way back to SIN had to be through BKK to attend my gf's b'day (that's what the cake is for).

Thanks also for the heads up about Europe's strict adherence to the 2-bag policy (I was also gonna bring a laptop bag). However now, I am considering getting a 'Linzer' torte instead as it will/hopefully should not melt and put that into the main bag I intend to check-in (or dump into a DXB locker, if they have one). The small-sized 'Sacher torte' that will probably fit into the main bag also. I will only carry my backpack around Dubai.

Relating to your comments on cost - I have no car, so I think it's not easy for me to say I had one?!? I have no intention of getting a car in Singapore either. I do use the cabs here quite a lot, almost daily basis. As for expensive public transport, I think even Dubai will have a hard time competing with my 1-hour taxi ride into Narita airport costing me a whopping 21,300 Yen after missing my Airport Express. Mistakes happen sometimes, I'm prepared for it... as for the Oktoberfest (not going anymore). I have a simple philosophy of how I spend money... work hard, play even harder. It works so far. I won't spend what I cannot afford. This time, thanks to the VIE DO, I took a chance on Europe, I'm glad it paid off. I intend to fully enjoy myself / celebrate a little because of that. On the flip side, I can't / am unwilling to pay for a night in the Burj-Al-Arab, so I won't. I might have a misconception of how expensive Dubai is, but knowing some shipping guys there (and more-or-less their crazy salaries/subsequently their crazy expenditure) - I think it is not unreasonable for me to simply not want to book a hotel when I'm only transiting for half a day.

I would not mind if one day you come to Singapore, will gladly extend an invitation for a coffee. You always give sound advice, and are quite humble (in the 2 yrs I've observed). I appreciate it! Even if I fly mostly in Y or J, and not F as you do, I hope to also show the same over time. Only time will tell, right?

jhm: The Thai officer was not confident in being able to check in on OS all the way through to Bangkok from Vienna. She said for safety, I should only check it in as far as Dubai, collect the luggage and re-check it at the counters in Dubai to ensure it would arrive in Bangkok.

phaleesy: I was just reading Lonely Planet on Dubai too! I like how they describe the Burj's interior as 'gaudy'... I did explore their website last year, and it did look rather outrageous... but it's just one of those things to tick off the checklist of things to do in Dubai, rather like having a Singapore Sling in Singapore is visiting the Burj Al Arab for coffee (I see they have a canapes and cocktails set too for 200 DHM) Will definitely aim to go a little bit nuts as it's my first time in the mid-East.

matt_will_fix_it: To put it one way, the very little time I've got there, I will try to make the most out of. If I eat too much in VIE, I will use DXB to slim down... hehe (fat chance)

SQFAN: Too bad I don't think I will get sheikhs knocking on my door anytime soon

[matt_will_fix_it]

Money-wise, having expenses is definitely important. However in a city of oil-millionaires/billionaires, my own funds could well be extinguished faster than I could imagine! I may need the hidden Swiss bank account numbers + access codes of that evil CGK or risk returning back to Singapore on one of my ships...

Dubai isn't that expensive... especially compared to Europe... taxis are still pretty cheap - it costs me about 30DHS to get from Emirates Towers (Sheikh Zayed Rd) to the airport... or maybe 50 each way to get to the Dubai creek/souk. also food can be found cheap... you can pick up a shawarma (like a kebab... why can't i find those in singapore?!) for about DHS10, or even less if you're lucky...

The biggest problem can be finding a taxi in dubai... if its busy they never stop unless you're white & giong to jumeriah...sometimes its taken me 2 hours to get a cab! a good tip is to walk into a nice hotel via side entrance... walk out thru the main entrance & pretend you're staying there & need to get to the airport, the porters will hail a cab for you & sort you out. also taxis are more likely to stop at hotels.

its not really a place you can walk from area to area easily (distances are pretty big) and the buses are just crap... i wouldn't recommend them, even for a student however there is a hop-on hop off bus which goes to all the major sites... just be careful as some buses aren't airconditioned (then you'll definately need that shower!)

where the costs come in is if you're eating in the top hotels, sleeping in the top hotels, or going out to the clubs etc... however for a day trip you can do it reletively inexpensively.

[phaleesy]

I would be spending >24 hours in DXB by myself in Dec. So this thread is extremely useful to me. Some information just cannot be found in the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. Thanks.

I will be travelling with probably two cabin-size bags (and probably a box of sacher torte in tow).

Therefore, I don't think I can check this in at VIE and expect it to go all the way through on 3 different airlines to Bangkok, some 2-3 days later, right? I'm also not keen to carry a huge chocolate cake through the Dubai dessert. For fear of melting... or being attacked by hungry camels.

Kyo, I do not think there is a problem dumping the cake in the check-in bags. The cake comes in a wooden box. The cake itself is also rather hard. Should be quite resistant to getting squashed. I do not remember having to worry about the chocolate melting either. But then again, I was only travelling between Austria and London.

I do not find the sacher torte that nice. We did have some discussion about the real torte in the VIE thread.

I would say you have a misconception here. We all live to adapt and to adjust. You visit a place where everything is expensive, then the solution would be to adjust what you have to make it works to reach your goal. I remember you post what kind of car you have, also what kind of car you want to drive for Oktoberfest. Well, kid, it will be damned expensive to do that in the expensive country. Take a public bus, for example.

I don't know your background, but just imagine here. Do you know that many young college students in the US or Canada (the two countries I have lived) do not have much money? Not all their parents are rich. How could they spend time in Europe or even the UK which are very expensive? They take public transit when they are on their holiday in Europe or UK.

My point is, that you don't have to be filthy rich to visit Dubi for 12 hours. If there is a will, there will be a way.

Good advice, SQLPP.

On my first trip to Europe 13 years ago, I had jam and bread for breakfast nearly everyday. Most of my main meals were very simple too. No fancy meals or Michelin stars for me in those days.

I travel on public transport. I still do that now!!! Across Europe and most of SE Asia. I hardly ever take the cab.

I'm planning my NY trip for Aug. Hotels can be expensive! We've gone down the Priceline route and have found somewhere decent and reasonable.

I didn't know DXB can be expensive. Looks like the Sheikh option is getting increasingly attractive.

[SQ LPP]

It's a pity TG has no showers on their aeroplane (I may not need a 12-hour shower but at some point, I will need one to show consideration for the sake of my fellow passengers who I'm sure will not want the stench of someone smelling of a Turkish kebab + Dubaian camels). I hope there is somewhere / some locker to store my luggage, as I really do not want to be dragging along two cabin-sized bags and a chocolate cake for the lady halfway across the desert.

Just an advance warning, European is more strict with carry on even though you are flying in C. You have 2 cabin size bags plus a cake. I would be pessimistic about it. Another think to consider is the fact that you will stop in two places which are hot (no not hot dot dot dots... but hot temperature wise ). What do you think will happen to your sacher torte?
I suspect that you are using miles for the trip. Why not researching more for a better connection and a better weather for your cake?

Money-wise, having expenses is definitely important. However in a city of oil-millionaires/billionaires, my own funds could well be extinguished faster than I could imagine! I may need the hidden Swiss bank account numbers + access codes of that evil CGK or risk returning back to Singapore on one of my ships...

I would say you have a misconception here. We all live to adapt and to adjust. You visit a place where everything is expensive, then the solution would be to adjust what you have to make it works to reach your goal. I remember you post what kind of car you have, also what kind of car you want to drive for Oktoberfest. Well, kid, it will be damned expensive to do that in the expensive country. Take a public bus, for example.

I don't know your background, but just imagine here. Do you know that many young college students in the US or Canada (the two countries I have lived) do not have much money? Not all their parents are rich. How could they spend time in Europe or even the UK which are very expensive? They take public transit when they are on their holiday in Europe or UK.

My point is, that you don't have to be filthy rich to visit Dubai for 12 hours. If there is a will, there will be a way.

[phaleesy]

I am so glad to see so many helpful souls here. At any other place, the OP would have been told off.

Told off by overzealous moderators and unfriendly fellow-members?

I, too, am glad that we have none of the former.

[Kyo]

aerosmith: Very helpful (our posts must have crossed as I might have left the browser open in this thread for awhile whilst typing out this reply) - excellent fallback option.

nickbot: Actually I re-read that again and gleaned a bit more information from it. I may well sign up for Diner's as a result...

SQ LPP: It's a pity TG has no showers on their aeroplane (I may not need a 12-hour shower but at some point, I will need one to show consideration for the sake of my fellow passengers who I'm sure will not want the stench of someone smelling of a Turkish kebab + Dubaian camels). I hope there is somewhere / some locker to store my luggage, as I really do not want to be dragging along two cabin-sized bags and a chocolate cake for the lady halfway across the desert.

Also thanks for pointing out the 10:40 departure (I didn't book that one because I wanted some time in Dubai, since I'm there already, and there just happened to be availability - of course, I checked first).

Money-wise, having expenses is definitely important. However in a city of oil-millionaires/billionaires, my own funds could well be extinguished faster than I could imagine! I may need the hidden Swiss bank account numbers + access codes of that evil CGK or risk returning back to Singapore on one of my ships...

SQFAN: Whilst I'm not certain how being an Australian (or any other nationality) would affect the Dubai-an experience, indeed, I do live by the principle of "If you don't know, ask". That's why I'm asking the gurus on SQTalk (and in the two months since I've joined officially, I have learnt a lot more than in the 2-years odd that I've lurked here, not to mention I've met some really wonderful and friendly people in real life).

People say that guys hate asking for advice - something to do with their egos, but I'll be the first to say I'd rather be safe than sorry in a foreign land. Also, I am happily secure in my sexuality that I have no problems asking... hehe

Seriously, I'd say this forum has some of the friendliest people I've ever met in an online community.

I also actually help to admin one myself, and the community here sure is a whole-lot gentler, for which I am ever grateful! Click here to see what I mean (the 10th result on Google search). The forums on that site had a link/thread two years ago that caused me to stumble upon SQTalk in the first place...

jhm: I will definitely ask - it may increase my chances of losing my luggage exponentially, though... I may just do some research on DXB / call up the airport to see if they have lockers large enough to store luggage suitable for my purposes whilst I run around.

As for the Burj - well, I'm only there for a very short while, and to be honest, I was not thinking that Dubai would be one of my stopovers, more like I had no other alternatives in order to return to Asia... am sure you know what I mean ... since I am there anyway, $75 or even $100usd for an experience of a life-time seems a 'must-do' thing for me. I've probably spent more on even less trivial things. And I am sure it will add +100 reads on my TR after this crazy VIE DO is over!

The High Tea at the Peninsula Hong Kong comes to mind... and their teensy cucumber sandwiches, heheh

All the above was said in a good-hearted spirit, and I certainly do hope nobody takes it the wrong way also. I'm really a LOT better off in terms of knowing DXB than I was 24 hours ago, so I am happy to have asked.

[jhm]

Therefore, I don't think I can check this in at VIE and expect it to go all the way through on 3 different airlines to Bangkok, some 2-3 days later, right?

You can always try asking. All your flights are on *A and none of your transits require an overnight.

Luggage interlining on 3 different airlines (on different alliances even) isn't that unusual.

SQFAN: I might be travelling on J, but Dubai isn't exactly known for being affordable. At all. In fact, rather the opposite... don't they charge something like $50 or $75usd just to have coffee at the Burj Al Arab (which I also have to visit for sure).

Well, if you like totally over the top, tacky and tasteless decor... And want to pay through the nose for the privilege...

I don't think all hotels are very expensive, e.g. I stayed at the LM Dubai (with a free shuttle service to the airport) when I transited through DXB.

[SQ LPP]

SQ LPP: The appeal is showering myself off before going on board the TG flight to Bangkok (I don't think I will smell too good after 3 days otherwise).

Are you going to shower from 5am till 5pm?
The thing that you have checked now should be "is there any left luggage at DXB." With that, it makes it handy to see the sight. Come back at 3pm and you still have plenty of time to shower, at the lounge or perhaps there is paid facility as well.

Regarding expenses, well of course you need some. But you have to make priority as well as adjusting your budget. And hopefully you catch my drift here.

[nickbot]

Not sure if this is of any use (you've probably seen it via Google search)