Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 23/w12

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 12, Edition 23

As there are a few decent promotions around, this week will mainly be about them. Hope they work out for you!

Do share your thoughts on this week’s newsletter using the comments button below ⤵

If you’d rather drop me an email, just click here - I’m always eager to hear your thoughts, suggestions and feedback (good or bad!).

7 things worth knowing this week ⤵

🕴️Nakheel, Meydan > Dubai Holding

🐫 Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Al Maha, Platinum Heritage

🏨 15% off BookingCom

💸 Buy Bonvoy, Virgin Points with bonuses

🏨 25% Discount with IHG Hotels

🏨 Jumeirah Flash Sales & Special Offers

🤑 Reminder: Ramadan Entertainer promo codes

🚨 please note: some subscribers may be encountering deliverability issues, i.e. not all editions are being delivered to inboxes.

Please be sure to move this to your inbox (if it’s in ‘Promotions’ on Gmail) or mark as ‘not spam’ or ‘trust this sender’.

You could also add [email protected] to contacts or just reply to this email (even if it’s blank, or just saying ‘yo’) as this helps also 👍

DUBAI NEWS

Nakheel and Meydan to incorporate into Dubai Holding

As reported by Emirates 24/7, Nakheel and Meydan will incorporate into Dubai Holding Group, under the leadership of Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Nakheel are the developers of many Palm Jumeirah projects, and Meydan is the hospitality and lifestyle company most famous for Dubai World Cup and equestrianism.

Dubai Holding Group already encompasses many existing businesses within Dubai namely Tecom Group and Jumeirah, the hospitality company.

THERE’S MORE TO DUBAI THAN BLING

Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR)

Here’s a great article about Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve from The Independent.

Strictly speaking, it could be considered Sharjah rather than Dubai, but it’s a great place to visit to see the desert and wildlife roaming free.

As the UAE’s first national park, the focus is on sustainability and conservation, so if that’s your thing, it’s a far better option than some of the ‘tourist trap’ desert trips. There are also plenty of responsible activities to undertake, ranging from hot air balloons to sand boarding to dining.

Learn more about DDCR from the official site, Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve

Insider Tip

For an elevated experience far past the typical ‘Desert Safari’, check out Platinum Heritage, the only operator allowed into DDCR and their ‘Heritage’ Landrovers are amazing.

Of course, you can’t beat an overnight stay in the desert, and Al Maha is far away the most ‘experiential’ way to do it. There are several desert resorts across the Emirates, but Al Maha is streets ahead. Costly, but well worth it.

OFFERS: HOTELS

15% Discount With BookingCom Getaway Deals 2024

BookingCom are offering 15% discount WORLDWIDE with their Getaway Deals 2024 promotion.

The promotion offers “A discount of minimum 15% on bookings made from 13 Mar 24 until 30 Sept 24”.

Terms include:

• Stay dates: 29 Mar 24 - 30 Sept 24.

• Discount applies to participating properties indicated by the “Getaway Deal” badge on the search results and room selection pages.

• Discount applies to the cost of room only (excluding any additional fees or taxes).

🔗 to Getaway Deals page on BookingCom

IHG New Hotels Offer: Up to 25% Discount

IHG have launched a promotion aimed at newly opened hotels, with up to 25% discount, if you book a minimum three days in advance.

Promotion is applicable for new hotels booked on Book Early and Save Rate across the Middle East, India, Africa & South Asia. IHG Rewards members can receive an additional 3% off.

Holiday Inn Business Bay is included in the promotion, as well as The8 Palm Dubai Beach Resort, Voco Monaco Dubai and Staybridge Suites Dubai Business Bay.

🔗 👉️ IHG Book Early and Save Rate for up to 25% discount

Jumeirah Flash Sales & Special Offers

Here’s a quick reminder to keep your eye on Jumeirah, as they often will run flash sales, usually for their email list and Jumeirah One members.

There is a Special Offers page on Jumeirah’s site, and you can always keep checking it every few days. Beware though - there are often hundreds of promotions, and not all are for hotels.

Flash Sales are often 40% off - but this needs setting against reality.

Jumeirah hotels are often over priced. Some of the flash sales are to tickle early bookings, and rates may not be cancellable.

A recent example was loaded up with only a few days validity for booking, and even then it was for off-season, so sometimes that ‘deal’ isn’t always a deal.

To keep it easy (for me!) have a look at this thread on Trip Advisor Forum for more information, and then there’s always the Deals Thread on the same Forum.

note - On TA Forum, you can sort the thread/replies by ‘date’ ie newest first.

Are these offers of any interest to you?

Will you be booking any?

👇👇 Have your say by commenting below 👇👇

BUY POINTS

When Buying Points or Miles Makes Sense

If you read any of the travel bloggers, they will often fall down a rabbithole about the relative merits and values of points and miles.

Whilst value is often in the eye (or wallet) of the beholder, my take on buying points and whether it makes sense is this - if it’s convenient for you to do so, then do it when there’s a good bonus on.

Of course, speculatively purchasing points can be a gamble, so I’d wouldn’t advocate doing it without a bit of research namely:-

• what the going rate for buying is

• what points/miles and loyalty program work best for you

• most importantly, when you have a clear redemption opportunity in mind.

There’s a common argument in the loyalty program world about ‘transferable points’ being the most treasured, but I’d counter that to a degree.

Marriott Bonvoy points are, for me, the most common option (to buy) for transferability due to the amount of airline partners (and a bonus of 5,000 in the destination program when 60,000 are transferred out). They’re also good for award nights/redemption stays at Marriott brands too.

However, Virgin Atlantic are also worth a deeper look - even if you’re not thinking about flights on VA. Taxes & charges can dig into the ‘cost’ of redemptions on Virgin Atlantic flights, but one great use I found last year was Virgin Voyages. Last May, Virgin Red ran a promotion to spend 80,000 Virgin points for a one week (all-inclusive food, adults-only) cruise for two on four of their Mediterranean Cruises.

So why am I mentioning this, you may ask?

Simple answer: because it’s a good time to strategically buy points if you’re considering Marriott Bonvoy or Virgin, as both currently have bonuses on (i.e. Virgin also offer a tiered bonus based on the amount you buy).

Virgin Atlantic have just recently halved their redemption rates for some promotional flights as well. Plus you have the chance of getting a cruise - if the same promo runs this year - if you have 80k points banked.

Let me put it another way, if you could spend less than £900 and with those points, book a week cruise on Virgin Voyages for two worth over 2-3 thousand quid, would you be interested? I thought so. I did it last year, and I’m in for it again this year.

Worst case scenario, you could always put some points towards flights to Dubai with Virgin Atlantic. If you’re clever about when you buy Virgin points, you really can make them work for you.

Let’s look at these two offers with some numbers to ‘show working’

Marriott Bonvoy

nb. you have to be a Bonvoy member first - so sign up (for free) if you’re not.

The link will then then take you to the landing page for the Bonvoy page on Points.Com

The current offer is a 35% bonus, when purchased before 31 Mar. Of course, other offers may have different bonuses.

Minimum purchase to obtain the bonus is 2,000 points, which would cost $25.00 for 2,000 + 700 bonus, so 2,700 points to receive.

At the other end of the scale, 100,000 points costs $1,250.00 with a total of 135,000 to receive.

I generally think airlines are a better redemption than hotels with Bonvoy points - providing they’re the right program of course. Don’t overlook that on redemption stays with Bonvoy, you only pay for the cheapest four nights and the fifth is free.

Hotels in Bonvoy could have 3 different ‘costs’ on redemptions, so it’s about finding the right period to book and the right hotel.

Taking Al Maha (as mentioned at the top), it can run up to $1500 per night for cash stays (or more) but it’s possible to get it for 100,000 on points. With this promotion, you could spend $937.50 for 70,000 points + 26,250 bonus.

This is where ‘risk and reward’ comes into play. You therefore have the potential for one night stay at Al Maha for less than the general cash rate, potentially saving what, 37%? The risk is, if you can’t find availability, or if it’s a peak night, the points rate may be increased.

So, it’s all about the bonus miles/points with things like this. If if wasn’t for the bonus, the ‘value’ becomes less attractive.

Virgin Atlantic

The Virgin points promotion is a bonus of up to 70% bonus points when purchased before 31 Mar 24. This is a ‘tiered’ bonus so if you buy a lower amount of points, you will receive a lower bonus amount.

This is the landing page for the promotion on Virgin Atlantic, and as before, you need to be a member of Flying Club to link through to the deal. Again, it’s free to sign up to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

• < 5,000 — No Bonus

• 5,000 - 24,000: 20% Bonus

• 25,000 - 69,000: 40% Bonus

• 70,000 - 124,000: 60% Bonus

• 125,000 - 200,000: 70% Bonus

So, if we use the reference of the cruise needing 80,000 points, you would buy 58,000 Virgin Points for £870.00 and receive a bonus of 23,200. This would drop 81,200 Virgin Points and - on last year’s promotion amount at least - be enough for one of the 4 Med Cruises.

Have a look at this page for typical redemption costs, but don’t forget the taxes…. 75,000 in Premium to Dubai seems okay but add on the cost of the purchased points to the £814 in taxes!

🔗 👉️ Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points 

🔗 👉 Buy Virgin Points

ENTERTAINER

REMINDER: Entertainer Promo Codes for Ramadan

Whilst there is a promo code for 10% off Entertainer 2024, please note that for Ramadan there are a couple of changes, as of today.

1. The promo code is not valid for Entertainer GCC during Ramadan.

2. However, the promo code is valid for Dubai 2024 - so now’s the time to purchase Entertainer Dubai 2024 as the 10% discount will only be available during Ramadan.

3. The promo code EDSD24 will work for all other Entertainer 2024 products as normal (ie Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman etc.)

More info here 👉️ Entertainer 2024 Promo Code EDSD24