Yes, it’s only been a few weeks since we got back from Istanbul, but it’s time for another GuysWhoTravel crazy weekend adventure!
This time...
Dubai!
It all started a few months ago when a friend of ours mentioned to Steven that there was a great seat sale to Dubai - $700 all in on United. The only catch was that the fare left from Houston. But we never let small details like that get in the way of a good deal and a new place to see!
Alas, Mike can’t join us, but the other 3 GuysWhoTravel are going, as well as a special guest - Stephen from Detroit.
So here’s the itinerary. On Tuesday, Steven, Zak and I are driving from Toronto to Buffalo. We then fly from Buffalo to Washington Dulles, and then onward to Houston. Stephen will be flying from Detroit to Houston to meet up with us there. After one night at the Sheraton near the airport (4000 SPG points for the night), we fly BACK to Washington Dulles, and then connect to the flight to Dubai.
We get to Dubai Thursday afternoon, staying at the Grosvenor House, an SPG “Luxury Collection” hotel (a steal at the pre-points inflation “cash-and-points” cost of 4800 SPG points + $90USD per night).
When then fly back Monday morning at 1am, flying Dubai->Washington->Houston->Chicago->Buffalo. Yes, we expect to be zombies after that!
It’s definitely a quick trip for such a long distance, but as you’ve probably figured out by now we like to jam in as many locales per year as we can, and I only have so much vacation time! The “cost per status mile” we are paying (when you include the $300 to get us from Buffalo to Houston) prices it slightly above what would be worth it purely as a mileage run, but the 19,000 status miles on top of the opportunity to see Dubai makes it worth it (at least when using GuysWhoTravel algebra).
Of course, when booking this we didn’t factor in the $165 that Steven and I each had to pay in order to get visas for the UAE. (Americans don’t need visas so Zak and Stephen didn’t have that cost). The UAE has announced that they will be removing the visa restriction for Canadians, but alas the rules haven’t actually changed yet.
So far we only have two things planned. We have tea booked at the Burj Al Arab, and we are tickets for the observation deck at the Burj Khalifa just prior to sunset.
Anyone have any suggestions of what not to miss while we are there?
