Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 92/w29

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 29, Edition 92

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

😎 Surviving Summer in Dubai

🤩 Earn Bonvoy points without stays: bars, restaurants, spas

🍹DXB Airport Lounges

💡 Dubai deals: how to avoid customer service issues

💸 £1,056 Business Class UK to Dubai

❌ Wizz Air Abu Dhabi suspends operations from 01 September

🏨 Dubai Staycations roundup

🍻 Happy Hours in Dubai

🛫 Buy Emirates Skywards Miles +30% bonus

PS. 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

DUBAI NEWS

How to Survive the Summer in Dubai

All you need to know if you’re visiting the UAE during Summer, according to The National.

The two main things to know about Summer in the Dubai are:

1. Manage expectations on what you can do in the heat and climate and what may be open - especially regarding hotels and attractions, which may reduce some operations.

2. Shop around (even more than normal!) for deals, as there are many, many promotions such as staycations, Dubai Summer Surprises and many more.

Yes it’s hot, scorchio hot, and even the locals often decamp to Europe or cooler climes en masse. Conversely, it’s getting more popular for tourists to visit Dubai and the UAE during the Summer, given it’s often cheaper and during school holidays, so here are a few tips to help prepare you for the heatblast!

• Try to acclimatise slowly. Ducking into shops every 5 minutes can be counter-productive.

• Don’t become dependent on the blizzard levels of aircon. It is sometimes helpful to carry anti-histamines as too much aircon may bring chest issues, even mild forms of ‘flu’ and other ailments.

• Wear appropriate clothing including headwear, sunglasses, sunblock etc.

• Keep hydrated - and consider adding salt/electrolyte supplements to water.

• Top Tip - get a handheld spritzer/spray, put it in the fridge (or better still, freezer to get really cold!) and spray over face infrequently. If you’re sunbathing or resting, get a microfibre travel towel or flannel, soak it in cold water and keep on top of your head and/or face. The moisture will help cool you quicker and keep hydrated.

• Make use of natural shade and breezes whilst walking. Ideally, plan your journey to include rest breaks, as whatever you think you may be able to walk in the heat, halve it.

• Be conscious that the hours from noon until 3pm are often the hottest; even local workers have to rest if they’re working outside during those times.

🔗 Dubai Summer Surprises

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Lounges at Dubai International Airport (DXB)

Whilst everyone knows how good the Emirates lounges are at DXB, not everyone can get into them.

Airport lounges can be good value, especially if they have a decent spread of food and drinks, but also things like showers and quiet areas for rest.

Not only are there many alternative lounges you could try for, there are many different ways to get into them. Some may offer paid access for a one-off fee, via credit card benefits or membership plans such as Priority Pass, Loungekey and Dragon Pass.

Revolut* on certain plans will offer discounted rates for airport lounges. Metal offers passes for £20 for instance. There will often be promo codes for different providers. You may also find certain airport lounges may offer discounted rates for certain cards such as Visa.

There are also apps such as Loungepedia that can help you search a particular airport to find lounges.

Note - be aware that even if you have ‘free’ access to an airport lounge that also offers paid/contract access, there may be rules on occupancy levels so it’s sometimes best to reserve access in advance for a small fee to avoid disappointment.

FOOD AND DRINK

Here are six ‘must visit’ Happy Hours in Dubai, according to What’s On.

One of those is the recently-opened Brewdog at Bluewaters, which they also reviewed here.

Here’s a very good round-up from Time Out, that lists Happy Hours by days also.

TOP TIP - Dubai bars will often have two Happy Hours, one early evening and another very late on, often in the last couple of hours before closing.

If you’re looking for somewhere more chilled and intimate, how about trying one of Dubai’s many cool ‘Speakeasies’?

Amusingly, the article refers to “Coolest Speakeasy Bars in the Middle East”, yet all seem to be in Dubai 🥰

ABU DHABI

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to Suspend All Operations From 01 September

I know we tend to focus on Dubai and Abu Dhabi can be a bit ‘niche’ comparatively, but this could be important as more and more people are flying into Abu Dhabi (AUH) to save money.

As of 01 September 2025, Wizz Air will suspend all operations of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi as part of a “broader strategy to refocus on its core European markets.

Wizz Air provided this response on X about cancellations and refunds whilst it appears Etihad appears to be benefitting the most from the gaps. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi offered more than 300,000 seats across 1,300 flights monthly.

Aeroroutes have updated Etihad’s network additions, which mainly fill the void from Wizz Air Abu Dhabi’s suspension.

HOTEL OFFERS

UAE Summer Staycation Offers

As Summer continues to burn down, Staycation Offers are plentiful.

Many hotels aim ‘staycations’ at Residents and GCC travellers, but sometimes deals are also available for tourists. As always, do check the small print and also, shop around, as it’s not always true that staycations always offer the best deals.

Some may offer % discounts, whilst others may offer ‘add-ins’ such as attraction access, or dining benefits.

FLIGHT DEALS

£1,056 Business Class UK to Dubai with ITA Airways

Loyalty Lobby found this “airfare of the day” with ITA Airways in Business Class from London City (LCY) to Dubai (DXB) via Rome Fiumicino (FCO) for £1,056.

Whilst it’s non-refundable, it’s still a superb price for a Business Class round trip flight to Dubai, and stopovers (ideal for a quick city break!) in Rome can be included.

There are often decent price points of around £1,500 for Business Class fares to Dubai, though they often need a ‘positioning flight’ to get to as they are from cheaper departure points in Europe.

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

Want Deals? Be Wary of ‘Customer Service’ in Dubai

One of the many great things about Dubai is the high levels of service, especially in hospitality. However, there’s also something to be aware of, especially if you’re looking to avail of deals, offers and promotions.

Often, the trick to ensuring a rewarding use of an offer or promotion is understanding the ‘small print’ i.e. terms and conditions, and ensuring you leverage them to your advantage.

That’s all well and good on your side, but what if the merchant or outlet has a ‘Computer Says No” approach (see the video below from Little Britain TV show)?

Let’s back up a moment and understand why issues like this can happen in Dubai. It’s nothing personal, but sometimes the staff you may face when trying to redeem an offer or promotions can seem to be a challenge.

It could be they are not well trained, or not fully informed about the offers, or sometimes the establishment may be adverse to’ playing ball’ on the offers and try to make it hard work.

It’s nothing personal and not always ‘bad faith’, but the usual reason is the simplest one - whilst Dubai does great on PR, sometimes implementation and operations don’t always follow suit.

Sometimes the people you may face - e.g. wait staff, ticket desks, attendants etc. - or not hired for their discretion or judgement, but how they follow instructions - the ‘Computer Says No’ approach, shall we call it?

Real-Life Example: My Emirates Pass

This is going to sound ironic, but could you imagine you may face rejection using something like My Emirates Pass (an offer for Emirates passengers to use their boarding pass for discounts) with another Emirates company?

Well it has happened in the last week or so. A reader tried visiting MMI to avail of their 10% discount on ‘drinks’, only to find the outlet wasn’t even aware of the discount!

This may sound unbelievable anywhere, especially somewhere as customer-focussed and ‘switched on’ as Dubai, but it can and does happen.

The challenge is though, what to do about it.

• One could debate it on a local level with the person involved, or ask for an escalation and hope someone else is available who is more conversant with the offer.

• One could contact the merchant’s (e.g. MMI) management or executive team directly, or even My Emirates Pass (which has an email address for complaints)

Neither are ideal, because they may not work immediately. The My Emirates Pass email complaints says to allow 48 hours for a response, for instance.

I’m also aware of other places that have had issues with My Emirates Pass, be it the ‘gate price’ of Aquaventure being variable or Dubai Parks/Legoland quibbling.

Sometimes it can seem that it’s the ‘attractions’ that are the biggest culprits, but that may also be a function of there being so many different deals and offers around for those type of places.

How to Minimise Customer Service Issues Like This

First and foremost, remember - it’s nothing personal. People are just ‘doing their job’, even if not as well as may be expected.

Most of all, keep cool. Don’t turn one issue into two, and potentially get into further trouble because you’ve gone all Michael Douglas in “Falling Down”.

If the issue is the person, you can always ask for an ‘escalation’, i.e. ask to speak to a manager or supervisor. Remember to stay calm, polite, respectful and professional - “you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar”!

This may sound obvious, but before getting into any debate, ensure you are 100% correct in your assertion. Be sure to have not made any mistakes or misunderstandings on terms, and make your case clearly and succinctly.

“Measure Twice, Cut Once”

I’ve kept this until last because whilst it’s the simplest one, it’s also the most overlooked.

Many potential issues can be avoided by simply being proactive. I use the old adage, “measure twice, cut once” because it works. What it means is to do more work up front (i.e. twice, e.g. know the rules and proactively call the venue to check) to then not have any hassle and it work first time when you need it to.

Call a venue - speak with them, rather than email or social/DM - and ask if you can use the offer, how it works, and any other questions. Ask for the person’s name, so that should you face an issue, you have a reference you can use. This is why I will often recommend calling a venue before using an Entertainer voucher, because you can tell a lot by their response whether it will be easy or not.

Of course, it seems excessive and unnecessary to phone somewhere to see if they may anticipate any issues redeeming offers they are part of, but sadly, the truth is some venues are worse than others.

Attractions for instance, often don’t have a dedicated customer service centres, but may rely on chat bots or relatively inexperienced agents answering calls/socials. At worst, they may just follow a script and not be able to apply any insight or discretion, or at best, they may just say they can’t help. This is when you need to escalate in a calm, polite and respectful way, whilst staying patient, and you will often find it pays off.

EMIRATES

Buy Skywards Miles With a 30% Bonus

If you’re looking to top up your Skywards balance, or have a strategic plan in place to buy Miles via Skywards, now could be the time.

Emirates Skywards are offering a 30% bonus on buying or gifting miles between 08 July and 22 July.

Note - You will need to gift of buy a minimum of 5,000 Miles to receive the bonus.

Emirates have been ranked ‘Most Recommended Global Brand’ for 2025 in a YouGov Poll.

Scoring 88.4% on a ranking which measures the percentage of a brand’s customers who would recommend it to a friend or colleague, Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said …

LOYALTY PROGRAMMES

Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points at Restaurants, Bars, Lounges & Spas

Earning loyalty points and miles such as Marriott Bonvoy Points can be a great way to save money on travel, especially when it’s on something you would generally be doing anyway.

Whilst it’s possible to strategically buy points and miles, or earn for hotel stays, it’s worth knowing that you don’t even need to be staying at a Marriott property to earn points. By presenting your Membership number, you can earn points on cash spend as a ‘walk up’ customer at participating venues in Dubai and the wider UAE.

Note - though the screenshot below states “dining and spa”, it also works at lounges such as Siddharta Lounge or bars such as Buddha Bar. That is, you don’t have to dine (eat) to earn, you can just ‘drink’.

This is what is known as “off folio earn”, in other words you are earning points via being a member of Marriott Bonvoy when you’re not charging your spend to a ‘folio’, i.e. an incidentals charge whilst staying as a guest (a.k.a. “charging to the room”).

For example, I could potter into Vault at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai (a great drinks spot, BTW, especially during Happy Hour) as a non-staying guest, present my Marriott Bonvoy number and earn on every dirham spent on the bill.

The Earning rate is 5 Bonvoy Points for every US dollar spent, which means you’re getting 5 Points for every (approx.) 3.675 AED*. So if you spend 36 AED on a drink, you’re spending just under $10 so will receive 5 x $10, or 50 Marriott Points (or 48.98 to be exact, so it will ‘round down’ to 48 Points.

If we say an average spend per visit to an restaurant may be say, 1000 AED, then that’s around 5 x $272.26 or 1,361 Points. Or in other words, if you were to repeat this around 44 times, you’d have around 60,000 Bonvoy Points!

*Note - when spending locally, Marriott Bonvoy may not use the actual currency/forex rates, and these calculations are based on the ‘pegged’ rate of 3.675 AED to 1 USD.

For reference, searching for a one way award flight UK to DXB on Emirates at Saver fare basis is around 17,500 Skywards Miles + £181.66. Or, 39,000 Skywards Miles will upgrade to Flex Plus Economy cash fare to Business Class.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers at 3:1 to Emirates Skywards, so 60,000 Bonvoy Points will give you 20,000 Skywards. Additionally, for every 60k Bonvoy transferred out to many airline partners, you will receive and additional 5,000, so 60k would equal 25k in Skywards.

Alternatively, you could use Bonvoy Points for award or redemption stays at Marriott properties, as these typical rates from an earlier article on buying points and miles show.

Comment

Whilst these amounts may seem ‘small beer’ they do add up, especially when used with things like regular promotions for bonus miles, strategically buying points and miles, but also earning for hotel stays.

On the latter point, if we presume a ballpark figure for a Marriott night in Dubai may be around 600 AED, that’s a spend of 163 USD, which would give around 800 Marriott Bonvoy Points. Additionally, if you have Elite Status in Marriott Bonvoy, you will earn increased rates and bonus percentage Points depending on your Tier level.

🔗 Marriott Bonvoy Unlock Unparalleled Rewards: 5 Points per $