Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 87/w24

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 24, Edition 87

Here’s your latest edition of Dubai news, deals & tips, every Thursday, in 10 mins or less.

✈️ Emirates First Class Rewards restrictions

🤑 Skywards+

🛏️ Beware of Max Occupancy in Dubai hotels

🇺🇸 Use AAdvantage for Etihad First Class Apartment

🏨 Media One Hotel (inc offers!)

If I may ask, please could you check out the poll this week and submit your thoughts? It’s a quickie, and it would help a lot in shaping future newsletters. I’m just keen to know if you’d like the same sections every week, even with little content, or rather just have a few sections that are more packed. The former, I can ‘rotate’ content and do a deeper dive such as with Emirates this week.

PS. Apologies it’s a day later than normal; unforeseen circumstances and all that. If I had tried to keep to schedule, it would have been a bit rushed and lighter and I’d rather not have that.

PPS. You can always email me here also.

Please note: some links in this newsletter may be affiliate links, and will be denoted with an asterisk (*). This is a link to a partner site that may pay me a commission - at no further cost to you - and if so, helps to support me & this newsletter. For more info, please see Disclosure and Policies

EMIRATES

ICYMI: Emirates First Class Awards Are More Restrictive

As one of the premier first-class experiences in the skies, Emirates First Class has long been regarded as a pinnacle of luxury air travel.

Emirates have been making it harder for redemptions by restricting access to partner programs such as Japan Airlines Mileage Bank and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Now they’ve further restricted award redemptions in First Class to Skywards Elite Members.

Partner loyalty programs such as Qantas Frequent Flyer or Air Canada’s Aeroplan can still access first class award redemptions (for now!), although expect to pay more than via Skywards.

If you happen to be sitting on (or transferring/buying) heaps of Skywards Miles and don’t have Elite status in Skywards, you can still redeem them for Business Class award seats in Business, then upgrade to First Class.

Emirates also offers a paid loyalty program called Skywards+, which could be worth considering if you will be flying a few times with them.

There are three levels to the Skywards+ program, Classic, Advanced and Premium at $400, $700 and $1,000 respectively.

The benefits can include :-

• award discounts

• lounge access

• increased baggage allowance

• reduced Cash + Miles rates

• bonus miles

As always with these kind of deals, it’s worth ‘slicing and dicing’ all the different options available (e.g. is it worth paying for the lounge access ad-hoc, or via Skywards+) because sometimes ‘paying more to get more’ can work out.

I often mention ‘Fifth Freedom’ flights, as they can sometimes be a great way to fly a particular airline without travelling to/from their home country. For instance, Singapore Airlines until recently flew Manchester to Houston and Barcelona to Milan, and still fly Frankfurt to New York along with Los Angeles to Japan.

Emirates have several Fifth Freedom routes such as Miami to Bogota, Barcelona to Mexico City, Athens to Newark and Milan to New York. Here is Frequent Miler’s review of the latter on a First Class A380.

So whilst you may love Dubai, just know that you don’t need to fly there every time to just fly on Emirates.

ETIHAD

Etihad Are Giving Away Nine Million Miles

SAS recently ran a promotion called Euro Bonus Million Mile Challenge (for more on this listen to the Landings and Layovers podcast episode below).

In true GCC style, not to be outdone, Etihad are running a similar promotion that will award up to five million miles in their challenge for the first person to visit their 15 new destinations.

However, before you pack your bags and head out, do read this Head for Points article about it and Etihad Guest for a balanced analysis about the program, and the dreaded devaluations.

🔗 Etihad Win 5,000,000 Miles

I’ve probably mentioned this previously, but a good way to book into Etihad is via AAdvantage, the loyalty program of American Airlines.

It can often work out cheaper and better value, and there are some particularly interesting opportunities for redemptions in the A380 First Class Apartment, especially to destinations like Paris and Singapore with wide-open space for bookings.

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

Before Booking Hotels for Family/Group Travel, Check “Max Occupancy”

Dubai offers a wider range of room categories in hotels than most countries, often for cultural reasons. For example, GCC travellers may bring maids with them, or families may want separate rooms for a group, so multi-bed rooms with two, three, or four bedrooms are available in many hotels.

Dubai can also be very binary and strict when it comes to something called ‘Max Occupancy’ of hotel rooms.

When booking for a group, it is important to understand the Maximum Occupancy of a room. Check this by going to the hotel's official website (such as this one for Grosvenor House), not third-party booking sites or OTAs like Agoda.

Look for the page on rooms and suites and check the exact room category you are considering booking, usually under a pop-up or drop-down such as ‘Room Details’.

The Maximum Occupancy is important not only for financial reasons but also for health and safety. Hotels need to control how many people are in a room when booking and checking-in, especially in the event of an incident such as a fire.

Entry-level room categories in Dubai hotels may have a Maximum Occupancy of only two or three people. When considering people, ages are not always taken into account. For example, a couple and a baby could be considered as three people.

The Maximum Occupancy is generally based on the actual bodies in the beds, rather than ages. Ages come into play when making a booking often more because of dining packages, such as supplements for breakfasts or Half Board

Tip: Think About Your ‘Preferred Sleeping Setup’ When Researching Rooms.

Whatever you do, don’t just pump your dates into a search and accept the room category without checking Max Occupancy. Equally important is to look at the main, official website details of the room category and check the provided beds, along with any ‘small print’ for additional beds.

Because there are a wider range of room categories available, if you expect to have separate beds to the standard layout, then Dubai hotels will expect you to book the appropriate room category - even if this is more expensive.

Rooms may sometimes say things like rollaway or sofa beds are available on request, which may not confirmable without an upcharge.

An added complication to this is your booking channel; if you’re on a direct booking you could have more goodwill on special requests such as extra beds, but on a third party booking you have one more level of communication - which often brings complexity.

This is why I’d suggest thinking about ‘Preferred Room Setup’ (PSS) before looking at rooms. If you have children or significant others that need additional beds, or even more bedrooms, whatever you do, don’t assume you will get your ‘PSS’ expectation unless it matches exactly what the standard room details list and your rate condition allows.

In terms of cost, be aware that sometimes it’s not pro rata more expensive to have multi-bedroom rooms (eg 2, 3 bedroom) than say, 3 standard rooms. It’s often a case of ‘slicing and dicing’ different options and setups, ie all in one room, or split across multiple separate.

Note that some chains such as Hilton will offer confirmed connecting rooms on direct bookings, so effectively two standard rooms can be interconnected with a door. I also see some suites often will have interconnections, so hotels can be more flexible on allocation to groups by adding the adjacent suite to increase capacity.

The Risk of Ignoring Max Occupancy When Booking Hotel Rooms in Dubai

There are two reasons Max Occupancy is essential to grasp :-

1. If you book via a third party, or even direct, if you arrive at a hotel and your group exceeds Max Occupancy for your booked room, you could face a challenge at check-in. It may not be enough to say you booked via a website that allowed you have 3 kids in one room as well as parents, and that may then lead to upcharges or disagreements.

2. If you are allowed to book a room on a standard setup, without confirmed additions eg rollaways, you may be left with the most generic room setup which could be a King, and then everyone’s all in one bed.

As an example of what can go wrong, please read this thread from Trip Advisor Forum. Bear in mind that was also on a direct booking and for a guest with status.

Some hotels in Dubai may be stubborn enough to suggest it’s not for them to provide beds for all if a group or family expects more than the standard setup for their booking. In fact, that thread relays direct communications from a hotel being aware some guests may have family members sleeping on floors or ‘two in one bed’!

Conclusion

Yes, this sounds like one of those “we shouldn’t have to do this” or “this is why we would use a travel agent”, but the truth is, it can go wrong.

It can also impact pricing to do it correctly, which may be why hotels may play hardball if they suspect guests are underbooking room categories (ie picking a smaller room or with less beds) for their requirements.

It can only get more complicated the more parties are involved in the booking, ie if it’s between you and a hotel (direct) or you to an agent to a supplier to a hotel (indirect). Some websites will deliberately allow underbooking on a room, ie a group could be booked into a room that is below their ‘Preferred Sleeping Setup’.

This is why the tip would be :-

• think about your Preferred Sleeping Setup firstly.

• Check the Max Occupancy of the room before confirming your booking on the official website of the hotel.

• If you need anything other than the standard setup, ie rollaways or extra beds, be sure to double-check directly with the hotel if this brings a cost and if it’s confirmable, or just ‘on request’. The latter brings a bit more risk, because it may or may not be possible.

If you’re looking at Dubai Marina/The Walk, there are several hotels around that will offer multi-bed rooms and suites, such as :-

• DoubleTree Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Beach

• Delta Hotels Jumeirah Beach

• Grosvenor House

• Hilton The Walk

Just a quick thing to note - there is a difference in a hotel offering a multi-bed room, and a hotel that may offer a studio or apartment with several bedrooms, as the latter may provide additional facilities such as cooking or even laundry. Grosvenor House for instance offers rooms, suites, apartments and Residences!

HOTEL TIPS

Under-the-Radar Hotels: Media One in Dubai Internet City

You’ll be aware I often prattle on about location in helping to choose hotels. The downside to this approach is sometimes there’s a decent hotel in an area not many would consider, that could be ‘under the radar’ and worth considering.

One such hotel is Media One Hotel in Dubai Media City. It’s actually the hotel a company that I would go on to work for in Dubai accommodated me in for my initial interview (though that soft spot isn’t why I’m mentioning it).

Media City is a predominantly commercial area of Dubai, adjacent to Marina just past Al Sufouh and Mina Seyahi. Many media and internet companies are based here (hence the name) and Dubai Media City Park regularly hosts concerts at its amphitheatre. There isn’t much to attract tourists or to walk around to, but it’s close enough to be a cheaper alternative to staying in Marina yet still being a short taxi ride away.

Media One is a very funky type of hotel, with some nice design touches, and has several great food and beverage outlets. Garden on 8 is a terrace that’s terrific for watching sports events, and bars like Qwerty often have promo nights. Entry level rooms can be a bit ‘compact and bijou’ (ie - small!), though with some cool furniture.

Entertainer Dubai (use promo code EDSD25 for 15 discount) provides Buy One Get One Free offers both in the outlets, but also via Entertainer Hotels. This latter offer is not as well known as the food offers, but it’s One Free Night for a Paid night (often at Best Available Rate) and has three vouchers, so 3 paid nights get 3 ‘free’ nights.

Here is the Entertainer page for the hotel, listing the Hotel Offers and the three Room Only ‘Free Night’ Vouchers. Entertainer also currently has offers for :-

• Jato

• Qwerty (also includes British Curry Night, Sunday Roast as well as drinks offers)

• Ciao Bella

• Garden on 8

• Coco Lounge

Whilst it’s a cheap enough hotel to start with, getting a free night gives a good discount and has the added benefit of saving money in the on-site outlets.

It’s also a good spot for long-stay travellers as they offer long-stay rates that include internet and other benefits. It’s not an ‘out and out’ tourist-centric hotel, but it’s very good for business travellers or short stays that may be looking for value and a nice, easy stay with some decent drinks and food options and useful meeting spaces.