In short
don't take the allowance as rental prices spiral to ridiculous heightswith the company refusing to acknowledge , compensate or even make realistic allowances for this.
Just to show you the company mind set here, the talking point in the newspapers media and many peoples homes is the rampant inflation along with the cost of living and that includes rent and housing yet the company only increased this years allowance by 10%.
Allowance for a Captain is 127,080 per year.The First Officers allowance for some ridiculous reason is less I don't know what the actual figure is, think it may be 10,000 AED less
Yes the allowance is enough for a 2 bedroom apartment however it falls way way short if you want a Villa. For example the new guys are being offered the Silicon Oasis Villas built by Arab-tech the same company that built Arabian Ranches.
Check the links below for a 3 bedroom Type 7 or Type 9 and you will part with 170,000 AED a year. Plan also to pay the Dubai Municipality Housing Tax which is tacked on to your Electricity and Water Bill from DEWA that's another 5% then there is the additional cost of water and electricity plan for an average of 1500 AED a month if you are conservative so thats an additional 8,500 AED for the
tax man in this tax free town plus 18,000 for the plants and lights which adds up to 196,500 AED and thats not including the deposit that you will give the happy little chappy from the real estate who can not even be bothered to show you around but wants the money any way.
For an idea on what you will be paying check the local Gulf newspaper classified section
click here
Try also Better homes
web site here