Is the new Dubai Priority Pass lounge better than the BA one?

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I reviewed the new British Airways lounge in Dubai’s new Concourse D recently and was not hugely impressed.

Reader Alastair was in Dubai a week later and decided to visit the Marhaba lounge instead. This is on the same level as the BA lounge and, as well as being the default Priority Pass and Lounge Club lounge in Concourse D, is also used by Virgin Atlantic.

As you can see, it is far bigger than the British Airways lounge:

More importantly, it has a wide range of hot food. The BA lounge has none for most of the day, including at lunch:

The only downsides, says Alastair, are a poorer selection of alcohol and a slight leakage of smoke from the closed-off smokers room.

All in all, though, it doesn’t look too bad as you would expect from a brand new facility.

Remember that the free (for the first year) American Express Gold charge card (full review here) comes with two free Lounge Club passes which would get a couple into this lounge if leaving Dubai on BA or Virgin.

Category

British Airways and Avios, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Chelseafi says:

26 Apr26 April 10:37

slightly O/T we are returning from Chicago to London in summer BA in Club, plus we also have Priority Passes what lounge is the best one to use, the BA one or the ones with PP? Thanks
Gareth Morgan says:

26 Apr26 April 12:26

How does the lounge compare to Emirates business?
Simon Schus says:

26 Apr26 April 12:30

OT: I can’t remember if it has been mentioned before, and it probably won’t have a huge impact on many readers. However, there is now a Priority Pass lounge available at Doncaster Airport Lounge. Back of the net.
- Nick says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 17:11
  
  Sweet mother of god my local airport (15 mins) away and I can’t use it with my lounge club next month great
idrive says:

26 Apr26 April 13:02

OT: urgent help! I don not remember if Cancellation fees are the same/similar for an Avios/BA booking.
I am going to book on Avios.com, I got a pile there. I just want to make sure that if i cxl the award ticket 24hrs before departure, I will have all my avios back and pay a maximum of approx £35.
I usually book with BA… Thanks, highly appreciated, need to book NOW!
harry says:

26 Apr26 April 18:56

OT BA pricing – has it hardened up after intro of Basic/ Plus/ CE in Europe?

I’ve been having a look at how pricing is going for Easter 2017 – both out to Europe & back again. Most state schools will be using a holiday calendar close to Saturday 01 April – Monday 17 April [Easter Monday].

As I’m expecting Easter Monday to be in very high demand for flying back to UK, as there isn’t much choice unless you are prepared to pinch a day or two at that end, naturally I am hoping to get 4 Avios redemptions but we’ll have to pay for 1 seat. (Max 4 Avios redemptions at this stage & we need the certainty.)

Normally I could count of grabbing a £65 HBO seat, even in a peak pricing period. This time, peak pricing is exceptionally tough, with HBO seats coming out close to £150 @ T-355 days!

My thinking will be to take the rough with the smooth, as 4 Avios redemptions + 1 x £150 still means we’ll all 5 be travelling reasonably cheaply (about £400 each way with Avios = 0.67p).

But that IS about £80-85 more than I was expecting!

Anybody else noticed price creep/ hardening for next year’s BA Europe flights?

[I could murder a £50 off £150! Come on Amex!]

Incidentally, redemptions for Monday 17th April 2017 should pop up @ midnight Wednesday.
- harry says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 19:01
  
  Does this message on BA site actually mean they can book further ahead than 355 days?
  
  ‘The web site can only accept bookings up to 355 days in advance. Please contact your Executive Club Service Centre if you need to book for more than one year ahead.’
  - Andrew* says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 22:48
    
    I phoned up once to query that and they said ‘no’.
- harry says:
  
  27 Apr27 April 18:10
  
  As I thought, people don’t really have much of a choice wrt dates in terms of flying back after Easter 2017 hols. Plenty people on my route seem to have decided to come back to UK on the Sunday (16th April) – starting flight prices are already Basic £150, Plus £180, CE £500 so that means a few seats have already been booked, ie dynamic pricing in action.
  
  I desperately need to get up at midnight to get the cheapest possible HBO seat + 4 Avios redemptions!
  - harry says:
    
    28 Apr28 April 00:03
    
    Damn they are not on UK time as of now, might have to wait 1 hr