Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 29/w18

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 18, Edition 29

So after last week’s blockbuster post about Virtuoso and VIP partner programs, your inbox can breathe out a little this week 😮‍💨

Main news this week is My Emirates Pass has relaunched, and there’s a decent video (I hope) on YouTube explaining it all that you could watch if you really, really, wanted to of course.

6 things worth knowing this week ⤵

🌧️ Rainwatch

📱Flighty: The flight tracking app I swear by

💸 My Emirates Summer Pass is LIVE

🛬 Dubai Airport to move to DWC - new plans

👩‍✈️ British Airways wide-open Avios biz class availability

🚢 Virgin Voyages - potentially a great bargain if you’re after a cruise

If you enjoy this newsletter, have any feedback or suggestions or just way to say 👋, feel free to drop me an email by clicking here 

RAINWATCH

Just A Little Bit About The Rain (Again)

Weather alert levels, tips and everything else you need to know as rain returns to the UAE (Time Out)

I’ll now hand over to Khaleej Times for their live updates

APPS

The Flight Tracking App I Swear By

With all the recent flight disruptions, I thought now may be a fitting time to mention a great flight-tracking app I use.

Whilst flight apps are a bit two-a-penny, the one I pay to use (there is a Free tier, don’t worry) is Flighty (Apple/IOS).

Where I find it especially good is getting more information, faster and better, than the official sources. For example, gate information is often updated on the app faster than the official airport boards (in my experience).

It’s also good to see the inbound flight, where the plane is coming from, any disruptions etc. in ‘real time’.

An added bonus is it can sync to TripIt, which I use to keep track of everything travel related (flight bookings, hotel reservations, hire car info etc.). I may cover TripIt in a future edition, as it’s the first travel app I’d always install and I’ve used it since launch eons ago.

You don’t need to have a flight app, but for a few quid it can save a lot of hassle. Plus you can always unsubscribe on the months you’re not flying ….

🔗 Flighty (official site)

DUBAI DEALS

My Emirates Summer Pass 2024 - Boarding Pass Discounts

The ‘My Emirates Pass’ promotion has relaunched as of 01 May 24, and is now seemingly called My Emirates Summer Pass 24.

If you are a passenger on Emirates between 01 May 24 and 30 Sep 24, keep hold of your boarding pass whilst in Dubai and you can avail of discounts across categories such as:-

• Leisure (attractions, tours, beach passes)

• Dining Experiences

• Mind & Body (spa, dental etc.)

• Retail

Please check out my YouTube ‘explainer’ video below, as it covers several merchants of interest but also gives my comments and tips.

It also helps me and my fledgling YouTube career. Apparently. As does liking, sharing, commenting on the video and subscribing to the channel 😉

If you prefer the written word, check out my post on Eat Drink Stay Dubai for my picks from My Emirates Summer Pass 2024.

🔗 My Emirates Summer Pass 2024 (Emirates main site)

🔗 My picks from Emirates Summer Pass 2024 (Eat Drink Stay Dubai)

AIRPORTS

Dubai Announces New Plans For Al Maktoum (DWC) Airport

Hands up who’d forgotten about DWC airport until it was recently used as a ‘holding area’ for flights disrupted by the last rains?

Well, Dubai has done what it does best - and announced new plans about how it intends to consolidate air operations at a new mega airport (it’s the law apparently to use ‘mega’ when talking about projects in Dubai) at DWC.

Dubai to scrap dual airport operations once move to mega-hub at Al Maktoum is complete (The National)

Plans revealed for Dubai to move its busy international airport to $35 billion new space (Independent)

FLIGHT DEALS

British Airways Release Business Class Avios Availability

Wide-open Business Class award availability on British Airways from January to March (Head for Points)

BONUS CONTENT (NON-DUBAI!)

A Great Way to Bag Virgin Voyages Cruises for Less £££

I won’t dwell on this too long as it’s not Dubai-related, but it’s such an opportunity it could be worth considering.

Keen-eyed readers may remember I advocate buying points/miles at certain times, especially if they can provide good value. And this is one of those times.

Long story short, you can still buy Virgin points and then use those points for promoted Virgin Voyages Cruises. I did this last year, and spent 80,000 Virgin points on a 1 week all-inclusive, adults-only Med cruise, and would heartily recommend them.

So if you’re sat on a stash of points (Virgin or transferrable ones such as Bonvoy or American Express), this could be worth your consideration. As a datapoint, you can presently buy 100,000 points for £1500 (sadly there is no bonus at present).

What’s interesting this year is for an increased amount of points, you can reserve the busier times of year. Last year, for instance, they promoted the July and then August sailings, whereas this year they’re promoting as late as October.

These are the latest deals. More may be added, or not.

Flash Sale: Seven Nights In The Med Departing From Barcelona In May

Seven Nights In The Mediterranean Between May And October

Five Nights In The Caribbean Between June And September

Transatlantic Voyage From Barcelona To Miami

Tip would be if you’re interested, get on them quick as they can be exceptional value. For reference, last year’s cash cost for the cruise was almost 3 grand, and I bought the points I redeemed on a 70% bonus , or around £800 all told.👏

Even if you’re not interested this year, it could be worth keeping an eye out for bonuses on point purchases with a view to a strategic purchase for next year. In other words, why buy only 100,000 now when the bonus can get up to up to 70% later on?

Buy the points you need here 👉️ Buy Points (Virgin Atlantic)