# Cheapest flights to Dubai



## denise1234 (5 Jan 2007)

Thinking of going to Dubai at Easter for about 10 days. Been looking at Aer Lingus site and to go direct at that time is about 700 euro. 
Then found some prices with other airlines to fly with 1 stopover - either Paris, Amsterdam, Heathrow or Istanbul. Price was about 550 i think. 
Are there any other airlines apart from Aer Lingus which fly direct or are there any sites where i can compare prices of a few airlines? 
Has anyone done the stopover thing? If so, which is least hassle. Friend of mine stopped in Paris CDG and said was nightmare, airport so expensive and massive queues everywhere. Don't know about other ones. 
We were thinking of staying in either Palm Hotel or Metropolitan Hotel so any opinions on these welcomed also! Cheers


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## SOM42 (5 Jan 2007)

There are no other direct flights from Ireland to Dubai other than the Aer Lingus option.  TBH  you probably wont do better that €550 with any of the major airlines.  You could look at going via Franfurt with Aer Lingus and Emirates.  CDG can be a nightmare with Air Lingus but may be slightly better with Air France depending on which Terminal you are departing from.


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## mell61 (5 Jan 2007)

try gulf air, they fly direct to BAhrain 2 or3 time a week from dublin, and you connect there for the 1 hour flight to Dubai.
They did have a promotional fare a few months back of Eu300 incl tax, but seem to average around the Eu500 mark.    I've flown with them about 5-6 times in the past 10 years and they provide a good service.     On one occasion when the London flight was delayed, wth about 20-30 connecting passengers for Dubai, they held the flight until we were all boarded!


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## fionahere (5 Jan 2007)

I stayed in the Metropolitan Palace hotel in November... Its a sister hotel of the Metropolitan. Got taken to the Metropolitan by mistake by the taxi driver.. The Metropolitan seemed quite a way out from Diera the old part of Dubai but near enough to Jumeriah Beach, the Mall of the emirates..
Couldn't comment on the Metropolitan but the Metro Palace was graded as 5* but more like a 4*. That said it was a lovely hotel, staff very courteous and helpful. Chauffeur driven cars once you stepped outside the hotel for a little more than a taxi, which you could be waiting forever for... 
and Traffic in Dubai is a nightmare.. just to prepare you.. and everything is a drive away.


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## denise1234 (5 Jan 2007)

mell61 said:


> try gulf air, they fly direct to BAhrain 2 or3 time a week from dublin, and you connect there for the 1 hour flight to Dubai.
> They did have a promotional fare a few months back of Eu300 incl tax, but seem to average around the Eu500 mark. I've flown with them about 5-6 times in the past 10 years and they provide a good service. On one occasion when the London flight was delayed, wth about 20-30 connecting passengers for Dubai, they held the flight until we were all boarded!


 

Checked that site and only flights could find were from Dublin to Heathrow to Bahrain to Dubai. Price was over 2 grand! Maybe I did something wrong .... 
Do they def go direct from Dublin to Bahrain or is Heathrow always a stopover?


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## Billo (5 Jan 2007)

"and Traffic in Dubai is a nightmare.. just to prepare you.. and everything is a drive away."

One good point is that the taxis charge by the mile travelled, so while you are sitting in traffic the meter does not move.

Rgds
Billo


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## edo (5 Jan 2007)

Aerli lingus is your only  option direct . all others via london , paris , frankfurt or Amsterdam

My best advice to you would be to contact a long haul travel agent - M Stein, Club travel etc etc - and ask for "consolidated" Fares to Dubai - these are apex fares that have to be bought a bit in advance usually 7 -14 days and can be quite reasonable . Not all airlines have gone down the Aer lingus route with the best fares on their website - they still sell lower priced blocks to agents.

I used to travel to Dubai with Qatar Airways - BMI to London Heathrow and onwards via Doha to Dubai with Qatar - it was five or so years ago now but I could get there for about 300-320 quid return.*

Contact a travel agent

* ex dublin inc tax
Best of luck


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## mell61 (9 Jan 2007)

denise,
check around the dates you want to go, Gulf Air only fly on a couple of days a week from dublin, so if thats not the day they will give you alternative routing, ie via london.
But do keep in mind that easter is a busy period, so if you could move your dates around a bit you may get lucky.
(I looked at 11-21 Apr and got a price of Eu401.56 with flight dub to Bah...)
As a back up if you are looking for a package I have used united travel in stillorgan and they usually were Eu100-200 cheaper than some other travel agents (usually the only difference was airlines).


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## denise1234 (16 Jan 2007)

Hi, Just looking up flights now and found some good deals, I think. Just need few things clarified, if anyone can help.... 

Firstly, flight leaving Dublin with Aer Lingus arriving in Amsterdam at 12.15, then connecting KLM flight leaving at 13.50. Is this long enough? If first flight delayed etc? 

Also, bit confused about flight prices. One says 
FLIGHT PRICE (N)  *€411.00* , another
FLIGHT PRICE (N)  *€422.00*  and a 3rd
FLIGHT PRICE (P)  *€430.00* 

They all seem to be the same flight. Exact same times for all departures and arrivals. Do the letters N and P mean anything?


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## soy (16 Jan 2007)

denise1234 said:


> Hi, Just looking up flights now and found some good deals, I think. Just need few things clarified, if anyone can help....
> 
> Firstly, flight leaving Dublin with Aer Lingus arriving in Amsterdam at 12.15, then connecting KLM flight leaving at 13.50. Is this long enough? If first flight delayed etc?



Yes, Schipol is proably the best airport in Europe for transfers. I think 50 mins is the 'official' transfer time but you can usually connect in 30mins. 
If you book this fare as a through ticket (KLM codeshare with Aer Lingus on DUB-AMS), then even if you did miss your connection through some disaster, they would put you on the next flight to DXB at no extra cost. This does not apply if you book 2 seperate tickets, ie DUB-AMS and AMS-DXB.



denise1234 said:


> They all seem to be the same flight. Exact same times for all departures and arrivals. Do the letters N and P mean anything?



These are just fare classes, there are different terms and conditions regarding changes and re-reoutings etc. with the different classes.


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## denise1234 (12 Feb 2007)

got a cheap enough flight in the end. €613 including taxes and charges. going via amsterdam both ways with short stopovers.
got it on www.travelnet.ie (think office is based in cork)


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## el diablo (26 Jul 2007)

has anyone flown direct from Dublin to Dubai with Aer Lingus.?   I'm a bit wary of flying with them long-haul.  They seem to have to cheapest flight for end of August (€514 return).

any suggestions?


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## HighFlier (26 Jul 2007)

Aer Lingus to Dubai is fine. Only thing is the flight times. Going out late afternoon and arriving at dawn means if you want to get into your hotel you must book to stay the night before.

Coming home flight time 07.00 whuch means being at the airport at 05.00 so up at 3.30 am.

Another option is the new Etihad flight Direct to Abu Dhabi with much more convenient flight times. Nice new planes and good service.

You can then get taxi or coach transfer to Dubai (about one hour) or stay in Abu Dhabi which is much nicer anyway!


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## moondance (26 Jul 2007)

Just another question - how long does the direct flight from Dublin to Dubai take?


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## ClubMan (26 Jul 2007)

Maybe try some of the meta/aggregator flight search sites mentioned in the travel key posts thread?


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## HighFlier (26 Jul 2007)

8 1/2 Hours out . 9 hours back


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## HighFlier (26 Jul 2007)

Clubman,

Best airline search site I have found is www.amadeus.net

Its an offshoot of the Amadeus booking system the travel agents use.


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## el diablo (26 Jul 2007)

HighFlier said:


> Aer Lingus to Dubai is fine. Only thing is the flight times. Going out late afternoon and arriving at dawn means if you want to get into your hotel you must book to stay the night before.
> 
> Coming home flight time 07.00 whuch means being at the airport at 05.00 so up at 3.30 am.
> 
> ...


thanks for the info,  actually the flight times for Aer Lingus are : depart 12:15pm arrive Dubai at 22:45 which is not so bad.  
Maybe I'll have a look at Etihad also.


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## el diablo (27 Jul 2007)

HighFlier said:


> Clubman,
> 
> Best airline search site I have found is www.amadeus.net
> 
> Its an offshoot of the Amadeus booking system the travel agents use.


I tried the Amadeus site and there does seem to be a number of choices but it won't let me choose a flight.  I tried with IE7 and Mozilla Firefox but it doesn't work properly with either.  any suggestions?


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## ClubMan (27 Jul 2007)

Try one of the other meta/aggregator flight search sites in the key posts thread.


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## el diablo (27 Jul 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Try one of the other meta/aggregator flight search sites in the key posts thread.


just booked a flight with Aer Lingus.  €513 return to Dubai.


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## serotoninsid (27 Jul 2007)

HighFlier said:


> Clubman,
> 
> Best airline search site I have found is www.amadeus.net
> 
> Its an offshoot of the Amadeus booking system the travel agents use.


@HighFlier - have you actually booked anything off this? I can get it to throw up flight availability - but don't see any option to take the process any further ie. check price and book.?


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## HighFlier (27 Jul 2007)

No, not for booking because its the travel agents site and it would take away their commission. I just meant that for checking out options I found it to be the best by far.

Once you choose your flight then any number of online ticket bookers will book it for you but I dont use them for flight selection as the dont give you all the options.


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## ClubMan (27 Jul 2007)

That's what I've used some of the other sites (in particular _Orbitz _and _Eurobookings_) for too - checking what's available and then going to the individual airlines' websites since you often get a better deal than booking through the aggregator site. Bear in mind that such sites may not search all airlines' offerings (e.g. some may omit _Ryanair _and other budget airlines).


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