Is Dubai airport open 24 hours?

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

We are in the process of booking our return airfares from Venice to Brisbane on Emirates. We will have to change planes at Dubai airport and we will have a stop over of 11 hours from 11.30pm to 10.25am. Are the facilities and shops open for people in this position? Do you know if there are comfortable areas for us to relax?

 

We have previously done 10 hour stop overs in LAX airport on 2 previous occasions which we absolutely hate because it is such a crap airport with no facilities for the traveller.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[ab0si]

Check out the reviews at http://www.sleepinginairports.net/mideast/dubai.htm#.Tp9-od6AqU8

 

Certainly much better than LAX. But, then, other than a root canal most things are.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Check out the reviews at http://www.sleepinginairports.net/mideast/dubai.htm#.Tp9-od6AqU8

 

Certainly much better than LAX. But, then, other than a root canal most things are.

 

Thanks so much for that. Now I feel a bit better. Free WiFi and a free meal if we are flying Emirates (which we are). Sounds 100% better than LAX!

[frugaltravel]

Check into getting a lounge pass. A couple of the lounges, especially the "business class" lounge used by many airlines is amazing in many respects - food, showers and more.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Check into getting a lounge pass. A couple of the lounges, especially the "business class" lounge used by many airlines is amazing in many respects - food, showers and more.

 

Will do - thanks for your advice. :D

[celle]

Check into getting a lounge pass. A couple of the lounges, especially the "business class" lounge used by many airlines is amazing in many respects - food, showers and more.

 

There's also a very nice airside hotel, if you feel like paying for it - we spent 11+ hours in Dubai airport and were very glad of the opportunity to shower and then rest in a real bed.

[Sandylee]

Dubai airport has quite a few shops and areas to sit/eat, and they stay open 24 hours as far as I can tell. It's way nicer than the US airports I have been to. But it's a bit short on *comfortable* places to relax if you don't have lounge access, and it can also get quite crowded. The new terminal (3) is less crowded than the old (indeed it has what seems like miles of empty space that you have to trek through), and it has more chairs that you can lie back on.

 

Emirates are unlikely to give you lounge access, but you can pay a fee to go to the Marhaba lounge. Look it up on the Dubai airport website.

 

The airport hotel is nice, but expensive. With 11 hours, you could do well to go to the fancier Meridien hotel just outside the airport. Immigration/customs is usually a breeze in Dubai, hotel limo to the hotel and you're there, for under half the price of the hotel in the airport. I have done this with a shorter stopover and been glad I did, it's really not much trouble. For $100 or so, you could have a nice 8-hour sleep, a swim in the pool and a good breakfast before heading back to catch your flight.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Thanks for your help everyone. On investigation we have found that it costs no more to split the trip and have a longer stopover so we are staying in Dubai for two nights and then going home. Dubai sounds interesting! :D

[Globaliser]

We are in the process of booking our return airfares from Venice to Brisbane on Emirates. We will have to change planes at Dubai airport and we will have a stop over of 11 hours from 11.30pm to 10.25am.

Leaving aside Dubai airport, you do know what you're letting yourself in for on that non-stop flight from Dubai to Brisbane, don't you? A 10-abreast 777 for a flight that's 14:15 long?

[Sandylee]

Australians are used to that sort of thing ;-)

[Globaliser]

Australians are used to that sort of thing ;-)

You can't do anything about the duration, but you can certainly do something about the comfort!

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Leaving aside Dubai airport, you do know what you're letting yourself in for on that non-stop flight from Dubai to Brisbane, don't you? A 10-abreast 777 for a flight that's 14:15 long?

 

Used to it, have done it 5 times in the last 18 months going from Aust to USA. We live in Australia..... if we want to go anywhere we have to do the time!

[Globaliser]

We live in Australia..... if we want to go anywhere we have to do the time!

I know about the time. I'm out in Oz/NZ frequently myself; it's almost 24 hours from London to the east coast and one more flight if I'm off to Auckland or Wellington.

 

I just wouldn't do the time in a 10-abreast 777, and I don't think there are any of those flying between Oz and the US at the moment.

[frugaltravel]

I just wouldn't do the time in a 10-abreast 777

 

But the OP isn't you :D

[Globaliser]

But the OP isn't you :D

No - I just wanted to make sure that the OP doesn't get a nasty surprise when they get on board that 77W!

[Fattony]

I've been in over 40 countries and at least a couple of hundred airports and can say I've been in far worse than LAX. I can't think of any airport where I'd actually want to spend 10 hours, especially overnight (in those where you're actually allowed to stay, of course). In most airports I've been in, stores and most restaurants (and all airline clubs) close for the night. Dubai may be an exception. At least there are lots of inexpensive yet decent hotels near LAX (especially using Hotwire, Priceline, etc.). I'm in Brazil right now and cannot think if ANY airport where I'd spend the night. But, then, my tastes, and my tolerance for sleeping (or just walking and lounging) in airports is obviously different than OP's. Sounds like they made a wise decision on their flights.

[celle]

I know about the time. I'm out in Oz/NZ frequently myself; it's almost 24 hours from London to the east coast and one more flight if I'm off to Auckland or Wellington.

 

I just wouldn't do the time in a 10-abreast 777, and I don't think there are any of those flying between Oz and the US at the moment.

 

Agreed. Last week, we flew (with Emirates) from Heathrow to Dubai on a 777 and then Dubai to Sydney on an A380. While both planes have the 10 abreast (3-4-3) configuration in Economy, the A380 was far more comfortable, having the extra seat width. I'd be reluctant to do DXB-SYD in a 777.

[greatam]

And for the next six months, be prepared for HUGE amounts of American contractors returning from Iraq at the Dubai airport.

 

World came down last week from the US Military that about 85-90% of American contractors working in Iraq will be leaving before Xmas. There are still over 45,000 US contractors working in Iraq, with only about 8-10,000 doing security work. This does not count actual DOD employees that work primarily with the State Dept and US AID.

 

The plumbers, electricians, clerks, cooks, logistics planners, HVAC guys, carpenters, truck drivers, mechanics and heavy equipment operators are all being sent home. And Dubai has been and will continue to be the in/out processing place for those going home. What is the USA going to do with ANOTHER 100,000 unemployed tradespeople when they start sending more and more contractors home from Afghanistan? Guess all the carpenters/electricians/plumbers will have to go back over seas as security because they sure aren't going to get much of a job in the USA.

 

While partying hardy is NOT allowed in Dubai, since this is the end of overseas work for a lot of these guys, there will be a lot of half looped, over the top behavior.

 

Just an FYI.

[Globaliser]

Last week, we flew (with Emirates) from Heathrow to Dubai on a 777 and then Dubai to Sydney on an A380. While both planes have the 10 abreast (3-4-3) configuration in Economy, the A380 was far more comfortable, having the extra seat width.

Indeed.

 

B777 cabin width = approx 5.87 m or 231 in

A380 cabin width = approx 6.58 m or 259 in

 

So the A380 has about 71 cm or 28 in more width, yet still the same number of seats across.

 

I prefer airlines that have only 9 abreast in the 777.

[FlyerTalker]

I prefer airlines that have only 9 abreast in the 777.

Which, of course, leads to the value proposition question.....If one has a choice between an airline with 9 abreast or 10 abreast, and assuming all other factors are equal, what price differential would you pay for the wider seat? A classic cost-benefit situation. (BTW, not asking for your answer, just posing the rhetorical issue.)

 

However, I suspect that the great mass of flying public just go straight to the bottom line and pick the cheaper price. Little consideration of the value proposition involved with different seating arrangements.

 

What would be interesting (in an abstract kind of way) would be to survey people after a long flight on a 10 abreast 777 and ask what, in retrospect, would they have paid to get a wider seat.

[Globaliser]

However, I suspect that the great mass of flying public just go straight to the bottom line and pick the cheaper price. Little consideration of the value proposition involved with different seating arrangements.

 

What would be interesting (in an abstract kind of way) would be to survey people after a long flight on a 10 abreast 777 and ask what, in retrospect, would they have paid to get a wider seat.

It's the modern way: Pay [as little as possible] now; bitch [as loudly as possible] later.