Dubai has quickly become one of the most popular destinations for expats, with around 92% of its 2.5 million population being expatriates. With so many opportunities ranging from teaching to hospitality to engineering, it’s no wonder that so many foreign nationals are moving to this expat utopia.
As prosperous as the job market is for expats, it’s important not to forget that it’s also really expensive! This adds a struggle to the expat moving process; how much should you take with you to avoid buying it out there? Of course, some things are irreplaceable, if they hold sentimental value for example, and bringing them with you might be the only option. But at what cost?
There are traditionally two options when moving your stuff from one country to another: shipping or checked luggage, neither of which are perfect however. While shipping means you’ll be without your possessions for around three months, the cost of checking luggage on flights to Dubai is soaring as high as the planes themselves.
Let’s highlight this with a real example. An Emirates flight from Dublin to Dubai allows passengers to take a free 20kg suitcase. Great for holidaymakers, but expats will typically have a bit more. The bad news is that checking another 25kg bag is going to set you back a whopping 3,179 AED (€787.48).
Luckily, new services which will fly your bags over separately are popping up which mean these are no longer the only options available to expats. Not only do they cut the costs associated with checked baggage, the whole process is actually made a lot easier - instead of having to carry your suitcases, wait in line to check them in and collect them at the other side, you actually have your stuff picked up at home, shipped by air and delivered to your chosen address.
Depending on where you are traveling to Dubai from, the cost difference between checked baggage and these services varies. To check which option is the cheapest, you can use a comparative guide such as this one over at Send My Bag , which allows you to check the baggage restrictions of over 30 popular airlines, allowing you to make a financially informed decision.
Of course, you’ll find that the cost of checking bags on some airlines is not always as skyhigh as that offered by Emirates, but expats on the brink of their big move will probably still find a cheaper alternative to checked luggage, particularly on long-haul flights.