Brian Fantana:
But are you paying 40% tax in the UAE as you would be if working in the same position for a UK airline?? No, I thought not!
What % discount do you get in shops/bars/restaurant with your UAE pilot card??
The 'UAE Pilots Card' you refer to is actually more correctly known as the Emirates Pilots Club (EPC) Card. It was a 'club' actually set up for & by Emirates Pilots, and for which flydubai have been allowed to join.
To have an EPC Card costs (
from memory) 900 Dhs per year (
plus another 900 Dhs if you want one for the wife). My wife & I had them in our first year in DXB, but then gave up on it as we didn't use them enough to warrant the cost vs. savings. Furthermore, imho, the savings to be had via the EPC have been steadily eroded by the service vendors (
shops, bars, etc) as they themselves struggle to survive in an evermore expensive Dubai.
As for the debate wrt taxable vs non-taxable... you should always remember that when you move to the Middle East you give up a lot more than just your location and that is why we get paid a premium... 'coz, no matter how you dress it up, we're living in a f'ing desert in the Middle East (
with all that that entails) !