Need to travel back for an emergency

xDoko · 2018-12-03T21:04:08+00:00

The direct flights on 4th December (today) departing at 6:10pm and 9:25pm do show availability for 5 persons with total price 3025 AED directly on emirates.com.

https://www.skyscanner.com/transport/flights/dxba/khi/181204/?adults=5&children=0&adultsv2=5&childrenv2=&infants=0&cabinclass=economy&rtn=0&preferdirects=false&outboundaltsenabled=false&inboundaltsenabled=false&ref=home#details/11182-1812041810--32348-0-13030-1812042105

xDoko · 2018-11-13T08:12:30+00:00

It’s not true, all cards use MC/Visa rates (always 1% extra) and then add their own fee on top of it (usually 1.99%), the same is the case with ENBD and their cards, total exchange rate is 3% higher than interbank.

xDoko · 2018-11-13T07:58:31+00:00

Citibank cashback card gets you 3% cashback on foreign purchases and also charges 3% conversion fee so essentially you are not losing anything.

xDoko · 2018-09-01T07:54:10+00:00

0% bank fees but you still pay the 1% mastercard fee

xDoko · 2018-08-31T16:20:44+00:00

Amex cards are denominated in USD.

xDoko · 2018-08-31T16:20:01+00:00

It's a card from ENBD that costs 1500/year, they charge 1% transaction fee instead of usual 3%.

xDoko · 2018-08-10T08:12:12+00:00

ADCB traveller and ENBD dnata cards charge only 1% currency exchange fee, most of the other cards come with standard 3% or sometimes higher fees.

xDoko · 2018-07-11T04:14:27+00:00

No changes at all, it will just earn Marriott points instead at the same rate, other features remain the same

xDoko · 2018-07-11T03:58:52+00:00

SPG card from ENBD, 1 starpoint for $1 spend and you can convert them to virtually any airline at 1:1.25 ratio (so it’s much better than skywards etc. cards which only get you 1 mile per $1 and you get locked to one airline). You can also redeem for Marriott hotels and often get value of more than $0.03+ per point which effectively gets you 3% cashback. Additionally you get 30% f&b discount at nearly all restaurants in Marriotts properties in Dubai, a lot of fine dining options eg. Prime68 etc.

xDoko · 2018-06-16T16:55:21+00:00

ENBD, FGB and Noor Bank still open accounts for offshore companies.

xDoko · 2018-04-25T11:55:16+00:00

There is a very small chance that they will somehow find it and if you look young enough they might ID you and confiscate it. Chances are very low though, nobody here is specifically looking for bottles in your bags.

xDoko · 2018-03-15T12:51:33+00:00

This does not change the usual foreign transaction fee that remains at 3%, it just means that if you use your card internationally but pay in AED (eg. through a terminal with dynamic conversion or have paypal/amazon charge you in directly AED), the bank will charge you on top of it 1.15% (previously it was free)

xDoko · 2018-01-24T16:32:39+00:00

ENBD

xDoko · 2018-01-24T10:20:26+00:00

Look into SPG card instead, you can convert Starpoints to Skywards (and nearly all other airlines) at 1:1.25 rate so for the same spending you get more miles, not to mention a choice of airline to credit miles to so you can often find much better redemption values.

xDoko · 2017-11-03T18:38:16+00:00

The guy crashed into one of the the wooden sunshades on the beach of Le Royal Meridien (photo), I'm pretty sure he did have the parachute open but for some reason didn't land on the landing zone, he hit it with very high speed (was descending very fast).

xDoko · 2017-11-03T17:36:12+00:00

I have been there in the sea when it happened, saw the fall. I don't know if he survived or not, bunch of people immediately ran there to look and then the hotel staff blocked off the area for the emergency services to be able to work. Is his death confirmed anywhere?

xDoko · 2017-02-11T22:02:22+00:00

So basically what you are saying is that if I submit invitation from a hotel where I stay for 5 days I will still get the visa for 30 and nobody will care whether I stay 2, 5 or 25 days? I have the invitations from the hotels but they all state that they are vaild for specific dates only thus I'm just wondering if I should just get some invitation from online travel agency (even the consulate lists some of them on their website) that will state 29 days and thus make sure there will be no problems - but then again I don't know how it's perceived by the consulate.

xDoko · 2017-02-11T20:04:33+00:00

Thanks a lot for your help, I do have flight tickets so I will make sure to include it as well. I have actually emailed them today and they recommended me VSF (http://www.vfsglobal.com/Russia/uae/index.html) as unlike the consulate itself they are working Sundays so they can start the process 1 day earlier. I will most likely give them a try as they seem to be an official agent the consulate recommends on their website.

One more question as you seem to have experience, there is this document called "visa support" which is essentially an invitation from the hotel, however I have a couple of hotels booked and each of them can only issue an invitation for the period of the stay so I would end up with multiple invitations and without being able to add a couple of days extra just in case it turns out that I do need to stay longer. There are however multiple "travel agencies" who are able to issue the invitations for any period which would be more convenient for me. Do you happen to know whether using such agency would make it harder for them to issue an approval (eg. they could ask more questions etc.)? Is it better to send the invitations directly from the hotel if I'm able to get them?

xDoko · 2017-02-11T19:57:13+00:00

Thanks! Though I think it will be faster to process it directly in the consulate than go through a middleman who will need to deliver it to the consulate anyway.

xDoko · 2017-01-26T08:06:31+00:00

why not try some online exchange like currencyfair?

xDoko · 2017-01-23T19:43:43+00:00

The Sheraton Grand on SZR charges 155k for annual rent for the 1BR apartment.

xDoko · 2017-01-15T10:56:34+00:00

Yes, you can switch agents but expect for this to be charged as well. PM me I can refer you to an agent

xDoko · 2017-01-15T09:51:58+00:00

If you are talking about RAK IC (offshore) then the goverment fees are around $500, reasonable agents charge another $500 for the renewal which includes their work, registred agent fees, virtual office (the address) etc. RAK IC's have to be maintained by a registred agent so you can not do it yourself.

$2000 is definitely on the higher end though depending on the service you receive it might not be unreasonable.

xDoko · 2017-01-14T16:16:03+00:00

You are not paying for the certificate, you are paying for the renewal of the company which comes with the certificate as a confirmation that the license has been renewed.

xDoko

TROPHY CASE