Over #FTUDC this past weekend, I met up with many of my readers, fellow bloggers, twitter followers, and made new friends along the way. #FTUDC was pretty much a DO in itself. I’m usually not a big fan of travelling in groups (2 or more people), but I recently traveled to South America with a friend on an amazing vacation mileage run. My lifelong dream is actually not to travel to the Maldives, but a visit to Dubai and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is pretty much up there. Ever since I visited Israel for the very first time this year, I fell in love with the Middle East.
Let’s face it, summer fares in August are ridiculous to any destination, but that’s where miles and points come into play. I know it’s a bit far-fetched to plan something 15 months in advanced, but I think it’s good notice if you want a great turnout.
Disclaimer: The Summer 2014 DO is not affiliated or sponsored or endorsed by First2Board.
I am inviting you on a Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Oman Summer 2014 DO if you’re interested in coming along. The length of the DO will be 10 nights and 11 days from Friday August 8, 2014 – Monday August 18, 2014. I am very detailed oriented so I will give you a day-by-day breakdown of activities and hotels in a future post. Right now, this is just a rough draft and is all tentative. By all means, you do not need to follow the itinerary or stay at any of the mentioned hotels as you can venture off into your own since this is not a prepaid or sponsored group trip.
Flights: You will need to book your revenue or award ticket to Dubai (DXB airport code) and arrive on August 8, 2014. We will start our adventure the next day since we will all be jet-lagged from that long flight. Bear in mind that award tickets are not yet bookable for August 8, 2014 yet. You can begin to start seeing award availability starting on or around September 6, 2013.
Car Rental: I priced out a mock car rental for 11 days using this summer’s August dates and the rough estimate came out to 677 AED ~ $184 USD which is pretty cheap. Majority of our excursions includes driving around the UAE and Oman. Driving from Dubai to Abu Dhabi only takes an hour and a half so it’s like a short drive from Los Angeles to San Diego. I will be renting a car and will likely only fit 5 people (including myself). I will definitely need a few more drivers if there is a huge turnout. Please feel free to comment if you are willing and able to drive. Costs will be split up among-st the group including fuel and any extra insurance (if needed), GPS rental, etc. If there were 5 to a car, that would be $36.80 per person at a minimum excluding fuel & extras.
Hotels: It would be pretty difficult to travel together if we stayed at different hotel chains in the same area. I am Starwood loyal and will be booking 90% of the nights in reasonable priced hotels. Right now, we’re looking at ~$1200 for one person for the entire trip in terms of single occupancy. Costs can go down if people room together. Squeezing 3-4 people into a suite is do-able and can cut hotel costs tremendously. $600 per person for double occupancy and quadruple occupancy would yield $300 USD per person.
Food: Food is really cheap in the UAE. Food shouldn’t be an issue in terms of cost since we do have to eat every day. Budget in at least $30 daily for food so ~ $300 USD but I’m sure it will be way below that.
Itinerary:
August 8, 2014 – Dubai, UAE – Arrivals (spend a night at the Le Meridien Fairway Dubai for 300AED ~ $81.68 USD)
August 9, 2014 – Dubai, UAE – (spend a night at the Four Points by Sheraton Downtown Dubai for 400AED ~ $108.90 USD)
August 10, 2014 – Dubai, UAE – (spend a night at the Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai for 500AED ~ $136.13 USD)
August 11, 2014 – Abu Dhabi, UAE – (spend a night at the Aloft Abu Dhabi for 325AED ~ $88.48 USD )
August 12, 2014 – Abu Dhabi, UAE – (spend a night at the Le Meridien Abu Dhabi 359AED ~ $97.74 USD)
August 13, 2014 – Abu Dhabi, UAE – (spend a night at the Le Royal Meridien Abu Dhabi for 475AED ~ $129.32 USD)
August 14, 2014 – Al-Ain, UAE – (spend a night at the Al Ain Rotana Hotel for ~$104 USD a night)
August 15, 2014 – Suhar, Oman (spend a night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for ~$140 USD a night)
August 16, 2014 – Fujairah, UAE (spend a night at the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort for ~$204 USD)
August 17, 2014 – Dubai, UAE (spend a night at the Le Meridien Fairway Dubai for 300AED ~ $81.68 USD)
August 18, 2014 – Dubai, UAE – Departing flights
Summary:
Flights – You will need to find your way there. Personally, I would find Saver fares on United and you can travel one-way for 40,000 miles in coach and 60,000 miles in business. Don’t forget free one-ways! Taxes are only $10.40 on an award ticket which is extremely low.
Car Rental – $36.80 minimum per person if there are 5 people to a car (excluding GPS rental, fuel, parking fees, extra insurance)
Hotels – $1200 for single occupancy, $600 for double occupancy, $400 for triple occupancy, and $300 for quadruple occupancy. Triple and quadruple occupancy is pretty farfetched, but if you want to sneak people into the room, it is doable.
Food – I would budget $30/day, so for 11 days = $330 which is pretty farfetched.
Activity Costs – This is the unknown as of this moment.
Total out of pocket costs at a bare minimum – 80,000 United miles for a round-trip saver United coach award + $20.80 in taxes, $36.80 car rental, $600 in hotels (2 people to a room), and $330 in food. In summary, 80,000 United miles and $987.60 would be a bare minimum when rooming for two.
Again, I just want to emphasize that this is just a rough draft and the dates, hotels, and activities are all tentative as of this moment. I want to get a rough idea of how many people are interested in coming along with me. Leave a comment if you’re interested along with suggestions.
Disclaimer: The Summer 2014 DO is not affiliated or sponsored or endorsed by First2Board.