Blog

How to Pay in Dubai – Cash or Card

How to Pay in Dubai Cash or Credit Card

Tourism as a key player in Dubai’s Economy, services to the tourist in Dubai are at high standard in favors of tourists, all the options like card payment, cash payment and travelers cheque(in some extend) are available to pay for tourist services, shopping  etc. but wise use of this option can benefits you

UAE Currency

Currency in United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) is Emirati Dirham (AED), and is permanently pegged with US dollar with an exchange rate of 0.27, one USD is equivalent to 3.67 AED, cash and credit cards (Master, visa, AMEX and Union Pay) are widely accepted by all the merchants and hotels except some small merchants

Cash

You can bring up to AED 40000 ($ 10890) as cash to Dubai without declaration and hassles, but some reports show it is up to AED 10, 0000 ($ 27226) make sure you check with UAE local embassy if you are planning to carry huge cash, but it is not good to carry huge amount of cash when you visit, carry little amount like $ 300 to pay for your airport transfer or to buy some foods etc.   If you choose to carry cash bring hard currencies such as US dollar or Euro many shops, restaurant and hotels accept this currencies. You will get better exchange rate in Dubai than in your own country you can find many exchange house and banks to change your money

Exchange House and Banks

It is always good to change your money at exchange houses than banks. They don’t have long queue, open later till 9 pm, are available on weekends Friday and Saturday and offer better rate than banks, try to change money at exchange house outside the airport and major tourist destination for better exchange rates ( Al Ansari Exchange & Al Fardan Exchange  houses have good exchange rates).

Most banks are closed on Friday and is open till 5.30 pm, and they charge commission also unless you exchange big amounts, the most popular banks are ENBD (Emirates NBD), NBAD (National Bank of Abu Dhabi), and ADCB (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank), Mashreq Bank

Credit Cards & ATM

It is always wise to have some cash as backup in the event of credit card or debit card malfunction, all major credit cards (VISA, Master Cards, AMEX, Union Pay, and Diners Club) are widely accepted in shops, restaurants and hotels , some shops has requirement the minimum  credit card payment should be greater than  AED 25 ( $ 6.81), and also some jewelers will charge you 2.5 % as service charge for gold purchase if you pay by credit card, but UAE government has strict law against this, so if you are asked to pay additional 2.5 % no need to accept just talk about the law.

You will find ATM’s on every corner of Dubai to withdraw cash money for small expenses or tipping, these ATM accept all the major bank credit card, usually there is AED 2($0.54) service charge if you are using any another UAE banks  card, but for international banks it depends on your banks charges approximately AED 20($ 5.4) per transaction

Getting Around in Dubai

Transport- Getting  Around

Getting Around  in Dubai – Once you are in Dubai, you have to choose some mode of transport to visit attractions, sightseeing, shopping and to move around from your hotel, planning of your transportation in advance make your trip less hassle free, luckily transportation in Dubai is pretty cheap and diverse. Buses, Metro Train, Tram and water taxis are at your service within the city and beyond.

Public transportation in Dubai has improved a lot in past few years, by connecting metro, buses, Tram and water taxi   public transportation system cover most part of Dubai, to use public transport it is required you have to walk a bit more

How to Pay for Public Transport in Dubai

To pay for public transport you should have NOL card – a smart card that enable you to pay for various public transport mode in Dubai with a single card. You can use your NOL card to travel on Dubai’s Metro, Buses, Water Buses, Dubai Tram as well as parking fees. You can enjoy low cost fares and flexible transfers across different modes of transport, Cash will not be accepted for payments to use Metro, Buses and Water Buses. NOL Cards are available in different option the one that relevant to tourist are silver or gold NOL card, you can purchase the silver and gold NOL card from any ticket vending machine located at metro & bus stations and in some bus stop at a price of AED 25 ($6.81/ Euro 6.43) which include AED 19($5.17/Euro 4.88) e –Purse value and can Top Up, gold card will give you the access to gold class in Dubai Metro at premium charges

Fares of Public Transport in Dubai

Fare of public transport is calculated based on the zone you travelled, Dubai Map is divided in to 7 zones. Each zone contains Metro stations, Bus Stations and Water bus Stations. Your journey can be made using different mode of transportation which are located in different zones. At the end of your journey, you will be charged according to the total number of zones you have passed. For silver NOL card within 1 zone you will be charged AED 3($ 0.82/ Euro 0.77), Within 2 adjacent zone AED 5($ 1.36/Euro 1.29), More than 2 zone AED 7.5($ 2.04/ Euro 1.93) for gold NOL card it will be AED 6($ 1.63/Euro 1.54), AED 10($ 2.72/Euro 2.57), and AED 15($ 4.08/Euro 3.86) respectively

Dubai Metro

Dubai Metro is one of the best mode of transport for tourist and residents, Dubai roads are packed with traffics in peak hours Metro will save your lot of times and is convenient for families and elder people, the driverless Dubai metro is safe and clean each coach is air conditioned. Currently Dubai Metro has two lines Red Line and Green Line, Red Line is the main route which connect from Al Rashidiya to Jabel Ali, Green line connect Al Qusais to Dubai Creek .major attractions like Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina, and Mall of the emirates are on Red line and have direct access to this attractions from metro station. Dubai Metro operate sat-wed from 5.30 am to 12 midnight Thursday and Friday till 1 am, but Friday starting only from 10 am, frequency of train on both direction is 5 minutes.check the dubai metro station map below this post

Dubai Buses

There are some areas that Dubai Metro don’t have services here you have to choose the Buses, and it cover most of the Dubai, travelling in buses is comfortable, safe and convenient but it is quiet time consuming comparing to Metro, most buses route operate from 5 am to 12 midnight but some are 24 hours also, out of the normal hours you have to rely on taxi in some areas, Each bus has a number displayed on the name board with the name of route displayed both in English and Arabic

Dubai Bus route Listbus routes_english_flat

Dubai Water Taxi

A relaxing ride on a water taxi is the most popular way to take the scenic route through an exotic location, Dubai Water taxis are more enjoyable considered as touristic exploration rather than your daily needs of transport, but the water taxi route between Bur Dubai and Deira Dubai is used by thousands of residents every day to cross the creek. Water Taxi operate from 2 terminal Dubai Creek and Dubai Marina

Dubai Tram

Dubai Tram is a new addition to Dubai public transport system it was opened in Nov-2014, Dubai tram service around the 14.5 km along Al sufouh, Dubai Marina and Jumeriah Beach Residence road, operate from Sat-Thr 6.30 am till 1.30 am, and 9.30 am till 1.30 am on Friday NOL card can be used to pay for Dubai Tram, it is expected to extend further to Dubai down town area soon, and other part of Dubai

Dubai Taxi

By far the most convenient but not always the quickest way to get around Dubai is by taxi, they are a lot, operate day and night, take up to four person and fare are cheap compared Europe/USA and can be easily hired on the streets and malls, we heared the story that most of taxi’s in other part of world is rough and looter the customer, but here in Dubai it is different you are 99.9999% protected in taxi fare and safety, all the official taxi can be easily identified and once you get in to taxi driver automatically start the meter you don’t need to ask him to do so, if he fail to start the meter you trip is free you don’t need to pay anything.flag down rate for Dubai taxi is AED 12($ 3.27/Euro 3.09) and meter run at 1.82($ 0.5/Euro 0.47) per kilometer , price will be higher for airport taxi flag down rate from AED 20($ 5.45/Euro 5.15) . carry your destination address with you to make it easy for driver to reach ,Most taxi drivers speak little bit English, he don’t expect any tip unless he help you in somethings.

Dubai Metro Stations and Zone map

Dubai Airport – Flights,Terminal,facilities and information

Dubai has two international airports

Dubai International Airport: (DXB)

is the largest in United Arab Emirates and server as transit hub for entire Middle East and south East Asia, in a week Dubai airport cater 7000 flights to over 200 world destinations and operated by 140 Airlines . Currently Dubai airport stand third busiest in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and it is home to Emirates and fly Dubai flights, Dubai Airport is just 13.4 KM (14 min) from down town Dubai

In comparison to the small airport that was built in the 1950’s, Dubai’s position in the aviation world puts the status of other hubs such as London under threat. The handily central location means that it can be reached from most parts of the world under eight hours, making it an efficient   base for connection flights

Dubai Airport has three terminal

Terminal 1: Terminal 1 of Dubai Airport is the main terminal. Most of the international flights uses this terminal and are where the long-haul flights arrive and depart

List of Airlines fly from Dubai Airport Terminal 1

Terminal 2 : Dubai Airports Terminal 2 is used by regional low cost carriers and budget airlines from CIS and Asian countries, Dubai’s own low cost carries fly Dubai operate from this terminal

List of flights operating from Dubai Airport Terminal 2

Terminal 3 : Dubai Airport Terminal 3 is exclusively for Emirates Airlines, All emirates flight will arrive and depart out from this terminal, it is also considered the most luxurious of three terminal , Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 are connected each other

It is good to have to take the flight from Dubai International Airport if you are first time visitors to Dubai, as it is very close to center of Dubai

More information about Dubai airport can be read here http://www.dubai-airport.info/

Al Maktoum international Airport: (DWC)

It is a new airport, the airport opened on June 2010 for cargo followed by passenger flights in October 2013, and is quite far from down town Dubai 55.8 KM (45 Min) , and is mainly used for cargo operation. Even few flights are departing from there, and is considered to be the biggest airport in future

List of flights operating from DWC Airport Dubai

More information about DWC airport can be read here http://www.dubaiairports.ae/corporate/about-us/al-maktoum-international-(dwc)

Dubai – About Dubai

Dubai, is the most populous and well known city in the United Arab Emirates located on the south east coast of Persian Gulf and is one of the seven emirates that make up the country United Arab Emirates Dubai’s landscape is highlighted by sandy dunes and impressive skyline with world tallest building Burj-Khalifa(At 829.8 m), once a small fishing village and natural harbor along United Arab Emirates. Dubai is now one of the largest emirates with population of 2.4 million (updated 28-Nov-2015 )  and nearly 80% are expats, emerged as most interesting tourist and shopping destination of the world. Dubai’s official language is Arabic but English is widely used as second language. Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali, Taglog and Chinese are also widely spoken

Dubai was settled by 800 members of Bani Yas tribe in 1833 who were attracted by natural harbor that the creek created, took up residence in Dubai creek and occupied houses made from “barasti”(palm fronds). Oil was discovered in the emirates in 1966, money was thrown into infrastructure, schools, and hospitals to build modern Dubai

Dubai has tropical desert climate, summers are extremely hot and humid from March to August with an average temperature 41 ° C (106 ° F) and overnight low around 30 ° C (86 ° F). Most days are sunny throughout the year. Winters are warm and short from November to February with an average high of 23 ° C (73 ° F) overnight low of 14 ° (57 ° F), short and irregular rainfall occur between November to march .The weather between November to march remain warms and considered to be most comfortable climate

Dubai offer large concentration of tourist attractions in United Arab Emirates, and possibly in Middle East It has vibrant and rich cultural history and one of the safest place in the world for tourists and residents, and hold many world records like highest outdoor observation desk, the lift with longest travel distance etc.  10 million visitors are setting foot in Dubai every year and is expected to reach 20 million by 2020, Tourism and trade are the major activities Dubai, and it has been called the “Shopping capital of middle east”. The city draw large number of shopping tourist from within the region and from Europe, America and Far East region, the city is a pioneering model of how people from different part of world can lives together in harmoney

Dubai Visa

Visas

Before you travel to Dubai, please check your visa requirements and you have valid visa if needed. To find out whether you need a visa and how to apply to visit Dubai, check with your local UAE embassy or other diplomatic representative before you travel or alternatively Dubai Tourism Department website http://www.visitdubai.com/en/travel-planning/travel-tools/visa-and-entry-information

Citizen of following countries do not require pre-entry visas to enter the U.A.E

GCC (Gulf cooperation council) nationals does not require any visa to enter U.A.E

More information about U.A.E visa and requirements can be found from below websites

http://www.uae-embassy.org/travel-culture/visas-passports
http://embassy-finder.com/united-arab-emirates_embassies