The Dubai ‘Avios only’ flight in October half-term is wide open, including First – but with a catch

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• StillintheSun says:

  26 Jul26 July 13:03

  Shoot me now but I’m also going to give my highly personal opinion of Dubai. I totally understand why it’s great for a bit of sun if you have kids given that it is a few hours away. However I went once to see what the fuss was about. Utterly soulless tat.

  • Blenz101 says:

    26 Jul26 July 13:29

    Best stick to Orlando for authentic cultural experiences.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:

      26 Jul26 July 13:37

      Haha :D. Tongue-in-cheek, but how old does something have to be before it converts into a defining part of a home culture rather than an ersatz import or creation though? Disney isn’t now much that much younger than the imported UK “tradition” of sticking up christmas trees…

    • Alex G says:

      26 Jul26 July 15:52

      Orlando is as good a place as any to arrive in Florida, where I could happily spend two weeks without going anywhere near a theme park.

      But Dubai? No thanks.

  • Paul says:

    26 Jul26 July 13:53

    Agreed horrible place.

  • NorthernLass says:

    26 Jul26 July 15:04

    But life would be so dull if everyone liked the same thing! I consider myself fairly well-educated and cultured and went with an open mind and really enjoyed it. I gave in to my inner child and had loads of fun gawping at the buildings and having people rush to open doors for me all the time. It wasn’t nearly as blingy or influencer-y as I expected, though I imagine you have to move in those circles in the first place!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      26 Jul26 July 16:28

      And there’s the real truth.

      The no souk comments are tired and boring. It has plenty of soul you just need to leave your beach resort.

      • Steve says:

        26 Jul26 July 19:34

        Visited Dubai, stayed at a beautiful hotel near the Burj, walked and train traveled everywhere. Loved the Burj, the Frame, the Expo and many others. Never went near a beach or resort and will definitely be returning. But it is utterly soulless

        • TGLoyalty says:

          26 Jul26 July 23:21

          That’s not where the soul is

          Dune bashing, desert safaris, falconry, jump on an abra/Dhow, visit one of the proper old Souks,

          Visit parts like Al Bastakiya/Al Fahidi, Diera and Bur Dubai

          Though I see where you’re coming from and do feel Abu Dhabi has more “soul”

        • Bagoly says:

          27 Jul27 July 11:19

          I lived there for 2 years – for sanity I definitely needed to focus on enjoying the things that are special there, and put everything else in the box of “enjoy when back in Europe”.

          What I found wearing was the inability to converse (even to specify what one wanted if not exactly as on the menu) with (South Asian) serving staff.
          Business trips to Singapore were such a relief where the standard of English/view of the world enabled such conversations to be possible.

• Paul says:

  26 Jul26 July 13:57

  Every crew members diary will have those flights and dates highlighted to avoid!!

  • Rob says:

    26 Jul26 July 14:06

    Total opposite. I suspect it will be like your typical Jet2 flight, where everyone is off on holiday and is in a good mood. No-one will complain about kids noise. No DYKWIA business travellers. No ‘one off’ travellers who don’t know how the flight / service / seat works.

    • Neil says:

      26 Jul26 July 21:48

      Oh I don’t know Rob. The guy in 1A could be a bit DYKWIA 😉

  • James says:

    26 Jul26 July 22:33

    Number one crew hated trip is, and always will be, Hell Aviv. A significant proportion of passengers that won’t take their assigned seat, won’t follow instructions, won’t cooperate with special meal delivery according to the passenger list, won’t sit next to women, generally are obnoxious to crew. Second to that are routes with significant similar passenger profile – Canada, New York etc.

    Those flights are vile.

    Other avoided routes are the longest there-and-back routes (Cyprus, Crete etc), the longest 3-day trips (Seattle, Vancouver) – especially where there’s no crew bunks (e.g. 787-10 routes).

    • ChrisA says:

      26 Jul26 July 22:48

      On a BA flight from JNB back to LHR once, I remember a crew member saying that SA was their favourite route, not just due to the type of aeroplane, but as people generally seemed very happy!

• ed_fly says:

  26 Jul26 July 20:44

  Putting aside the hard to value benefit of £35pp cancellation. I’m intrigued to see what take up of the economy cabin is like. Plenty of adult cash fares for £650 availabile on emirates. Makes me wonder how many would book using Avios be cash?

  • NorthernLass says:

    26 Jul26 July 21:40

    Economy does seem to be sold out of avios seats for that whole week – I guess if you’re avios-rich, 240k avios plus £400 for a family of 4 might feel like a good deal.

    • James says:

      26 Jul26 July 22:34

      There will always, thankfully, be people with more money than sense – or those which don’t understand the value of Avios!

• HampshireHog says:

  26 Jul26 July 22:51

  I’m sure there will be seats available at short notice on the return flight. There’ll be a few who are detained at his Emir’s pleasure for the duration for one of the numerous well reported misdemeanours and be unable to return as planned

• swifty says:

  27 Jul27 July 09:24

  Any post that has Dubai in it needs to come with a TW Rob. Marmite, I love the stuff and vegemite as well. I buy off amazon
  ..I’m a despicable human bean…

  • TGLoyalty says:

    27 Jul27 July 09:54

    Im always at a loss on what people actually want to do?

    Irish dive pubs – got that
    Awful tourist trap restaurants – sure you can find them if that’s what you really want.
    Yobs fighting each other every night – missing
    Colonial era buildings – missing
    Museums with artefacts stolen from all over the world – missing
    Narrow Streets filled with scores of people pushing each other around while going in and out of money laundering sweet shops – missing

    Theres Hatta Wadi if you want a bit of organised outdoor activity, Jebel Jais mountain and the surrounding area if you want less organised

    • Londonsteve says:

      27 Jul27 July 13:37

      TG Loyalty, are you paid by the Dubai tourist board? Your effusive defence of the place is a sight to behold. In answer to your question about what people are missing, history and culture to start with. Architecture varies between 70s garbage and anonymous modern glitz. It’s not a pedestrian friendly place, in part because of the oppressive heat for much of the year, but also because it’s a city built entirely around the car; just crossing urban motorways on foot can be a challenge. Other than the metro, public transport is poor, understandably so when you can only realistically live there if you’ve got an air conditioned car. The older areas by the creek are, frankly, a bit of a dump, they remind me of Coventry in a desert populated entirely by South Asians. A sense of sanitised oppressiveness hangs over the place, you feel like you need to watch what you say, avoid public displays of affection towards your other half and be very careful about imbibing too much booze for fear of being seen to be intoxicated. Not that you’d realistically have more than a drink or two at local prices if you value your bank balance. I won’t even stray into the territory of politics, let’s assume as a casual visitor it’s of no interest (although it is to me). I’d far rather visit Prague in the rain, go to the opera and enjoy all the beauty and culture Europe has to offer. Last but not least, Dubai is an environmental disaster when looking at power consumption of AC and its need for water in a climate with no rain. Its business model revolves around imported Asian slave labour housed and transported in inhumane conditions without which it’s unsustainable

      • TGLoyalty says:

        27 Jul27 July 23:03

        I’ll give you walking. It’s not a particularly walkable place but some areas absolutely are city walk, marina, JBR, downtown sure there’s more.

        You need to see it more like a small country with many small towns with different local specialties and reasons to visit them. It’s nothing like a Western European city or town.

        There is a public transport system of metro, tram and buses (used by many workers on a daily basis) and Ubers are so cheap as an international visitor I’m not really sure what the issue is there. You’re never going to walk the 40-50km length Dubai covers.

        I’m not going to go over history again but makes me laugh you mention Prague and it’s what 130 year old opera which is the grand scheme of history is absolutely nothing.

        I think the drinking is your personal hang up not the reality. You can be as drunk as you want just don’t get into a fight and make a complete fool of yourself like many English tourists love to do.

        And showing public affection to your partner well that’s a cultural difference and it exists in all Middle Eastern and South Asian countries, you either respect the local custom or don’t go. But don’t think that’s a reason to say it’s not as “free” as the U.K. as you can enjoy many other freedoms like the safety of yourself and your possessions.

        Guess what else was built on poorly paid imported south Asian labour which was housed in what would now be called slums … all of post war Britain. So don’t pretend it’s something no one else has done and having known Asians in working Dubai and in the U.K. the conditions were/are better there. Believe me they don’t need you to worry about them!

        • Londonsteve says:

          28 Jul28 July 00:15

          I guess our paths won’t be crossing on our respective travels any time soon.

          Just to let you know that Don Giovanni was premiered in Prague in 1787. The opera house is newer, but the age of the building has no bearing on the quality of the performance therein. I guess the same general comment could be made about Dubai, but for the lack of substantive content that appeals to people like me. I respect your robust defence but it doesn’t change the fact that after 5 days I had no memorable experiences that made me feel it was a worthwhile journey.

• Caps44 says:

  27 Jul27 July 20:58

  October half term, Xmas holiday or Easter holiday, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are perfect for family winter sun. We do one of those every year. Marriott BRG gets us usually 30-50% off a 5* beach hotel. Personally think it’s great. Summer holidays is always in Europe.
  I can understand if you don’t have young kids, but for a young family it’s a perfect place.

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