What to do with a 15 hour layover in the Dubai Airport

Because I was availing of a close to free mileage flight during the Easter holidays, I agreed to fly via Dubai with a 15-hour layover.  If you find yourself in the same situation, this post will give you an idea of what you can do.

If you have a long lay-over because it's the only available flight connection, check with your travel agent, if you're eligible for a free Dubai Stopover. If so, they will arrange for your accommodations in an Emirates wing of nearby hotels together with your visa and transfers and they will even give you meal coupons, but if you're travelling on economy, this needs to be pre-booked. In business class, we could just walk up to the counter and they would accommodate us.

If you don't get extended this courtesy, you can still go to the flydubai desks to arrange for a Visa on Arrival packaged together with a hotel. Though this does not make sense if you're just there for a few hours because it costs around US$200 (with the Visa costing US$150 and the hotel at US$50) if I remember correctly.

Since this option did not make sense to me, I explored the airport many times over. The good thing is the airport doesn't sleep, so you actually have a lot of options.

Here's a tip.

Did you know that if you are flying on Emirates and you have a connection in Dubai of longer than 4 hours, you're automatically entitled a Meal Coupon. You just need to show (both) your boarding passes to the transfer counter to claim it. You only get 1 meal voucher, no matter how long your transit time is.

If you want to sleep in a real bed with the security of a hotel room, you have 2 options.

There is an Airport Hotel near all the gates.
This will set you back US$50 per hour at night,
and US$40 an hour during the day.
Reservations not required, at that price,
I don't think they get full.

You can also opt to get a Snooze Cube, a shoebox-sized room
with the security you'll get from a hotel for US$18 an hour.

My mind was computing how much "free shopping" I could get if I didn't stay in a hotel, so I ignored those options.

I decided to eat instead at the Shake Shack - my only MUST VISIT place at the Dubai Airport.

Shake Shack is near the A Gates. You need to take a train from the main
Terminal (B gates) to get here, but it's very easy to do so.
Especially if you have a lot of time to kill.

Menu looks the same as the US.

Tables and Buzzer are the same.

I am happy to see my favorite order on the menu.

2am Snack. Shack Stack FTW.
70 AED (Php850 or US$19)

Cheese filled Shroom Burger oozing with Cheese over the Cheeseburger.

YUMMMMMM...

Every time you fork it, the cheese oozes some more.

After filling my stomach, I looked for a place to nap.

The informative Dubai booth was tempting.
Unfortunately, there's a sign that says no sleeping here.

There are a lot of chairs in the airport. The key to a comfortable nap/ wait is finding the chairs that are reclined and extended so that you can stretch.

Like this.

My bedtime reading.

I was able to nap a bit, till this lady beside me started
snoring in my ear. Super GRRRRRR!!!

Best not to nap near the toilet. It's very noisy when they
clean it. It's actually cleaned quite often.

Then I realized, the best seats in the house are actually the reclined ones,
beside the wall because they have sockets available for charging your gadgets.

I wasn't really able to nap a lot, but I was able to finish the book.

If you want to freshen up, there are showers at the airport,
but it's best to use them between the arrival of flights
when the airport is more quiet.

There are a lot of food options so you won't go hungry. I ignored the French ones since I was headed to Paris, but otherwise, they would have tempted me.

I had good old McDonald's Big Breakfast for breakfast.

Big Breakfast with  Cappuccino 26 AED (Php300 or US$7)

Then I used my meal coupon for a Buffet Lunch.

Then I had to buy earphones because I forgot mine at home. I was also eyeing a gold bangle for Sofia but I told myself I will buy it on the way back, but it wasn't there anymore.

Finally Ready to Board

Goodbye Dubai!

On my way back, I had another 7 hours to kill before my flight back to Clark. You can read all about my Clark Detour here.

I used my meal voucher at Thai Express (near C Gates) since I was
really craving Rice after all the European food.

The Spring Rolls and Green Chicken Curry really hit the spot.

I wanted to try this, but I didn't get hungry enough to try it.

Another must try place is Carluccio's (near A gates), where I grabbed some breakfast before boarding.

They have a killer Eggs Benedict and this place has their own wifi too!
36 AED (Php440 or US$10)

You can sign up for free wifi from the airport, but they will just give you 30minutes free, and I found the signal to be generally spotty.

I should have just spent more time at Carluccio's from the start! Well, at least now I know for next time. just saying.