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Dubai cheap flights special offers

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UAE Abu Dhabi Dubai budget flights and cheap deals

How to find cheap flights to and from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, in the UAE with budget airlines such as Air Arabia, FlyDubai, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Wizz Air. Or special offers from other airlines including Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways.

This is not a list of current special offers and flight deals to and from Abu Dhabi (AUH), Dubai (DXB, DWC), Sharjah (SHJ) - there are so many sources on the internet claiming to do that. This is information to help you find the best travel deal, or at least have some idea if the website or travel agent you are dealing with really is giving you a good deal.

Online travel agents
Airline reviews and ratings

Read about particular airlines on the website www.airlinequality.com, which usually has a good selection of customer reviews from passengers. Take the occasional negative one with a pinch of salt but take note if there are regular negative reviews of a similar theme.

Cheap flights to Dubai

For cheap flights to and from Dubai, try the more obscure carriers (probably less safe and-or less comfortable), or look for special offers from your travel agent. Emirates Airlines often do promotional flight and accommodation packages from Europe that are good value for money - especially as it's often difficult and/or expensive to find a hotel room in Dubai.

Note that taxes, fuel surcharges and service fees can often make up a significant proportion of the total cost, and are often not quoted in advertisements for cheap fares from Dubai. Allow an extra several hundred dirhams depending on where you're going.

Cheap flights from Dubai

TL;DR ... or if you're in a hurry: Try FlyDubai and Air Arabia first if your chosen city is one of their destinations. A direct flight is always much less hassle than adding stopovers. Then try Qatar Airways, the fare is unlikely to be cheaper but they are a full service airline for prices not much higher than budget airline airfares, and if you are going to do a stopover, Doha is a good choice since there are many flights per day between DXB and DOH so you're unlikely to be waiting more than a couple of hours between flights.

Websites advertising bargain fares or last minute fares may have some good package deals when flying to Dubai from other countries but for residents living in the UAE, it's rare to find a "flight only" that's cheaper than dealing with the airline directly. Sometimes airlines will have a small discount or extra airmiles if you book online. Travel agents in Dubai won't have flights much cheaper (if at all) but may have a better chance of getting you on to a heavily booked flight if you have a good relationship with them. Of course, they can save you time by doing all the searching for you, as well as arrange hotel, car hire and excursion packages. Don't get wound up when they say they'll call you back but don't. That's SOP in Dubai. Call them when you want to know what's happened to your booking.

For cheap flights from Dubai to other destinations try one of the following (watch out for extra taxes and fuel surcharges of several hundred dirhams which are sometimes included in the first price you see, sometimes added on at the end):

Other airlines to try, sometimes cheaper than Emirates or Etihad but not exactly budget.

The airlines in that list have reasonably large networks and often sell cheaper fares than other airlines on the same routes. There are other airlines flying out of Dubai that have even cheaper fares - they're normally ones you haven't heard of and/or fly out of Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport.

The well-known airlines will have cheap fares but only at off-peak times, to odd destinations that no one wants to go to, or when launching a new route (occasionally things can go a bit wrong - Emirates were about to launch a new route to Copenhagen when those infamous cartoons made the headlines, so the launch of their Denmark flights were postponed a few years). Airlines advertising promotions in the UAE include Air France, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Singapore Air, Royal Brunei, British Airways to name a few. Other airlines have promotions also but it's more likely your travel agent will know about them. Emirates Airlines do monthly online special offers and also Cash + Miles deals for Skywards Air Miles customers, which have cheap prices to places you never thought you'd want to visit.

For bargain hunters looking for no-frills airlines like Ryanair or EasyJet, try Air Arabia flying out of Sharjah International Airport; Fly Dubai, Jazeera Airways, Norwegian Air Shuttle from Dubai International Airport (DXB); Wizz Air from Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). Their prices are often cheap if you book well ahead, but not usually if you're trying for a last minute booking. At least that's what they say, however sometimes it seems that the reverse is true - perhaps when there's an empty plane they reduce seat prices significantly a week or two before the flight.

Special offers for flights from Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi

List of Dubai latest airfare deals moved to separate page. For latest offers not included that you know of, add them to the Dubai flight deals topic in the forum.

Last update Thursday 23-Oct-2014
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