Stopping Over in Dubai? You May Get a Free Hotel Stay from Emirates
Starting Dec. 1, Emirates Airlines will be offering free hotel stays to some passengers with stopovers in Dubai.
It doesn’t matter if you’re flying coach or first class. If your stopover is between 10 and 24 hours, and you meet a few other qualifications, you’ll get to enjoy a refreshing nap at a hotel on the airline’s dime.
The Gift of Rest: A Free Stay at a Dubai Hotel
The deal comes with a few stipulations. Your chosen flight must offer the best connection time available. This means if you have an eight-hour stopover, but another flight is leaving Dubai for your destination five hours earlier, you won’t qualify. You’ll also need a negative PCR covid-19 test to enter Dubai. If you don’t have one, or you can’t enter Dubai for some other reason, you’ll gain access to an Emirates lounge at the Dubai International Airport instead.
If you do qualify for the free hotel stay, you’ll get one night at a four or five-star hotel. You’ll receive a UAE visa on arrival. Emirates will also provide your airport transfer, and you may even get a free meal at the hotel.
A Return to Normalcy: What Will Travel Look Like in 2021?
By next summer, Emirates hopes to have its full list of flights in operation. The airline, which offers the most long-haul flights in the world, canceled routes and reduced flight frequency back in March. It was necessary due to reduced demand and increasing travel restrictions. As of now, the airline has brought back many of its routes.
Some experts believe the restrictions will begin to lessen by next summer. Social distancing will still be a big part of everyday life, and there will be other limitations. However, as officials begin to distribute the vaccine, we should see a decline in the severity of the pandemic. How this will affect the travel industry remains to be seen. Considering the virus won’t disappear overnight, many people may still feel uneasy stepping aboard a plane. Therefore, some of the airlines are considering making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory to board an international flight.
One the other hand, after a stressful year of lockdowns, a lot of people may want to get out there and see the world. The pandemic has been a harsh reminder that life is short. People want to explore and have experiences while they still can. Hopefully, efforts to control the virus will be successful, and they’ll have the opportunity to do so.
