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Moving to Dubai
- Thread starter debudubai
- Start date
are you still around to share some practical experience which you must have gained after you posted your thread?
If you are referring to Virgin, you can use Apple Pay or use any card you have - no issues there. You'll just be charged in AED.
some services can only be bought by gcc credit cards afaik etisalat postpaid, paying for ejari.
But regarding consumer experience, all foreign cards work. You just need the highest limit possible since the shopping experience is thru the roof.
Anyway, since exchange rates for everything else than USD suck there, if you have EUR, GBP etc. it's advised to pay everything by card as the fees will be lower than if you exchange the money at the exchange office/bank.
The spreads for EUR, GBP are now almost 10% while on USD is about 0.5% (meaning that you'll loose about 0.25% for exchanging USD but for exchanging EUR or GBP you might lose 4-5%).
Rates if you pay with debit cards are much lower.
The spreads for EUR, GBP are now almost 10% while on USD is about 0.5% (meaning that you'll loose about 0.25% for exchanging USD but for exchanging EUR or GBP you might lose 4-5%).
Rates if you pay with debit cards are much lower.
how much is advisable to budget in Dubai for first month ?
My estimates are
Airfare + accomodation + groceries + phone + internet + commute to and fro banks and office + $2000 surplus
But not sure about additional costs and the items ( and possible fee + duty )
My estimates are
Airfare + accomodation + groceries + phone + internet + commute to and fro banks and office + $2000 surplus
But not sure about additional costs and the items ( and possible fee + duty )
Depends totally on your lifestyle.
Airfare: 200$ Economy/3k$ Business
Accomodation: from 5-6k$/month Airbnb/Short
Groceries: 1k$
Phone/Internet: 100$
Commute: Uber 500$
You can stay at hotel serviced apartment's for less than $5-6k.
(I stayed this year at Radisson 1BR premium suite for 10k AED/month but at a distant location)
Just look at hotels for long term stay option offers (or ask them if they can provide).
I also stayed a month for (560 AED/day) or about $4,5k in a massive 90sqm2 serviced apartment in Dubai Marina.
Depends on what location are you after and what comfort are you looking to get.
If you plan on driving:
Rent-a-car: ~2,000 AED gets you cars small SUV like Duster, Creata or Kicks or ~3,300 AED you can get Outlander, Sportage, Xtrail, Koleos
Petrol: ~200-400 AED (depends on usage)
Salik: ~100 AED (road tolls, depends on where you are and how often you drive on SZR)
You also need to include parking (some public ones are paid using SMS and costs 3AED/hour, crappy garages in buildings are 5-10 AED/hour, better parking at Blue Water islands, JBR etc are 20 AED hour or you get 3 free hours if you spend 100 AED in restaurants there just give them a ticket to validate it when paying the bill)
If you have emirates ID you (you are a resident) you need to swap your driver's license.
It usually costs ~1,000 AED (details New to the UAE? Here is how to convert your driving licence to a UAE driving licence).
It's one time fee and the first drivers license lasts 2 years and after that one the renewed one lasts 5 years (and is super easy to renew at the ATM-like machine, literally takes 2 minutes).
(I stayed this year at Radisson 1BR premium suite for 10k AED/month but at a distant location)
Just look at hotels for long term stay option offers (or ask them if they can provide).
I also stayed a month for (560 AED/day) or about $4,5k in a massive 90sqm2 serviced apartment in Dubai Marina.
Depends on what location are you after and what comfort are you looking to get.
If you plan on driving:
Rent-a-car: ~2,000 AED gets you cars small SUV like Duster, Creata or Kicks or ~3,300 AED you can get Outlander, Sportage, Xtrail, Koleos
Petrol: ~200-400 AED (depends on usage)
Salik: ~100 AED (road tolls, depends on where you are and how often you drive on SZR)
You also need to include parking (some public ones are paid using SMS and costs 3AED/hour, crappy garages in buildings are 5-10 AED/hour, better parking at Blue Water islands, JBR etc are 20 AED hour or you get 3 free hours if you spend 100 AED in restaurants there just give them a ticket to validate it when paying the bill)
If you have emirates ID you (you are a resident) you need to swap your driver's license.
It usually costs ~1,000 AED (details New to the UAE? Here is how to convert your driving licence to a UAE driving licence).
It's one time fee and the first drivers license lasts 2 years and after that one the renewed one lasts 5 years (and is super easy to renew at the ATM-like machine, literally takes 2 minutes).
Thanks thats very insightful
Total $7500 seems very reasonable for less than a month's stay in Dubai if you want to get ID, bank account etc setup using @Barbara Roessle inst, that costs around $5500, and I guess $1500 to use as an initial deposit in banks
Total $7500 seems very reasonable for less than a month's stay in Dubai if you want to get ID, bank account etc setup using @Barbara Roessle inst, that costs around $5500, and I guess $1500 to use as an initial deposit in banks
Last edited:
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