Most often, Dubai is attributed to the destinations where travel agencies clearly prevail over independent travelers, providing a lower cost of travel. Is it so?
Of course, everyone has a rest in different ways. Some try to save on everything, searching for discounts and choosing less expensive options while others prefer the most luxurious hotels and turn to the best rental agencies for luxury car hire Dubai. Although of course, competent rental specialists will help you to hire options for any wallet.
How to understand which option will be better – an organized trip or an independent one? For comparison, we took a week–long vacation on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai and the same initial data: departure from FlyDubai direct scheduled flight, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray 5* deluxe hotel for 7 nights, room with sea view, meals and breakfast. With such initial data, an organized trip turned out to be no less than almost 46% cheaper. Let’s add – some new hotels in Dubai, just opening, are not yet represented at all in booking systems for private owners. While tour operators can already offer tours to this hotel.
Additional options
In addition to comparing the basic costs of the trip, it is interesting to evaluate the availability of additional services for independent travelers.
Take the same visas. It is not formally difficult for private owners to get them, but they have to provide more documents than when registering through tour operators. The latter needs only a scanned copy of the passport and photo from the tourist, no questionnaires or proof of financial solvency are required. Yes, and according to the terms of visas through travel agencies, they come out faster. In addition, there are cases when a traveler was denied a visa because a person with a matching surname and first name appears on the “black” list of the UAE migration service. For individuals, this is, as a rule, an imminent disruption of the trip – consideration of the appeal takes a lot of time. Tour operators also have the opportunity to resolve the situation promptly.
A huge range of additional services is available for discerning travelers in Dubai. So, at Dubai airport, there are six options for meeting and seeing off guests. To choose the optimal set of services and prices, you need a specialist’s advice. The same story is with hotels – high–level complexes, as a rule, have a rich assortment of room categories. The cost of accommodation in some of them may include a transfer to the airport, a visit to the SPA, etc. Without knowing thoroughly the specifics of a particular hotel, it is difficult for a tourist to choose the most favorable accommodation.
Pros and cons of a tour and an independent trip to Dubai
If we talk about organized tours, there is always an option to save money by choosing a “last-minute” tour, although the choice of hotels and dates can be very limited, because you can choose only the hotel or air carrier with which the operator cooperates. A significant bonus for a tourist can be the agency’s assistance in obtaining a visa, as well as in solving emergency issues if they arise. At the same time, the agency’s services can often be overstated. What is more, travel agencies can offer a variety of excursions collected in one place, like sightseeing tours, exotic fishing or active entertainment.
If we talk about independent trips, you choose the perfect hotel, seats on the plane and the most comfortable transfer. You even choose whether to have breakfast at the hotel or a nearby cafe. You can choose a more or less budget flight, a comfortable departure time, fly with a transfer in the city you just wanted to visit or on a direct flight. An important plus, because of which many choose independent travel. You can rent an apartment in a historic house, an apartment with a kitchen or a spacious apartment for a large company.
However, it should be remembered that such trips require more responsibility and independence because if problems arise, you will have to solve them yourself.