EK pay rates
 

Was wondering what the average take home pay was for EK fo's? I know what they say is your guarantee, but everyone is complaining about barely making it as an FO at Emirates. I don't understand that. With no housing costs and everything else is paid for, where's the money going to? Is it the cost of living in Dubai? I thought it was ok, nothing unreasonable when I was over there recently. They way I calculated it, you're basically putting that money in the bank except for living expenses. Just need some help figuring it out. Please no b******, I just want the facts. Thanks :bored:

You want no bull@#$% from us and you want to come to work for EK? Your whole life will be full of bull@#$% here.
Anyway expenses are very expensive in Dubai. You got kids? Plan on paying around 7000-10,000 per year per child to educate them.
Food and eating out will cost you plenty.
Don't plan on saving any money the first year you are here. It gets a little better in later years but you won't get rich here.

iflyg4:

The money goes pretty fast... you will have normal lifestyle expenses here but they are all "premium". :bored:

Car insurance - very expensive, it's a percentage of the purchase or insured value of your vehicle.

Cable/Sat TV hookup... about 60 USD per month ("57 channels... and nothing on...")

Computer internet connection... 68 USD per month for mediocre service. :ugh:

Phones, whether mobile or home are expensive. Local calls are not free, so although the company pays the basic line charge, everytime you pick up the phone and dial, you are paying...

You'll possibly have to pay for landscaping required on your "company provided" accomodation. This is a bit of a hit and miss thing, it depends on where you get placed. It's unfair, but that's the way it goes at Emirates.

Food - quite expensive here. A small family spends 2-3K AED per month

Children's activities... 500 AED a go... for field trips etc... plus some longer journeys, costing 5-8K AED per child.

School fees at either American School... very expensive. I pay 24000 AED above the company allowance, per child per year! That's more than one months basic salary per child... If you have high expectations from the school system here... be careful. They are "private" in that they charge money, but this is just a convention. They are just like public schools in the US.

Medical insurance supplement for your family as a few hundred AED per month...

It looks great on paper, but the nearest analogy I can think of is that you are living in a company town. Kind of like a coal miner from years ago... you live, eat, breath, sleep, purchase from and spend your paycheck in ... the company town. While I am on the subject, there is a gold-rush mentality to this place, and just like years ago, many men and women have seen their fortunes fade away under the harsh light of day. Dubai isn't really an expatriate experience in traditional terms. You will just be moving to a big, crowded city in the sun. Las Vegas crossed with Miami and Bombay.

Your decision is a tough one. Good luck.

:eek: you forgot the traffic-how could you not mention the TRAFFIC:mad: and then the builing site:ouch:

cc
VTSP

Not so sure about not saving in the first year LHR, I have been here almost 3 years and still well out of pocket...Never mind the extra I will have to pay to the provident fund to get any way close to my old company pension....

Last few months I have kept all reciepts and totalled them at the end of the month...makes for sobering reading.....without car loan, and going out about once a week
and not shopping at Spinneys I spent almost 15000 dhs and thats without any tickets,holidays,savings,no school fees.Just general day to day living .

Food, insurance, internet,school fees, kids clothes in fact just about everything is very expensive here. Cars are cheap to buy here, but total cost of ownership is about the same as anywhere else....Second hand value of cars is poor,and they dont last as long as they would in temperate climate, maintenance is poor and expensive even at main dealers, insurance is just a rip-off....and , and ...rant over and ..............relax

Expensive?Traffic?All true but,unless you're living in east Europe,still quite less than England and any other country in the Eurozone:{

Cable internet access can cost less than $68 USD/month. The 512mbps (I think it is???) package is about $50USD and you can't tell the difference between that and the above-mentioned "double speed" performance. Why? because EVERYthing goes through the proxy server so they can control what you view and access.
Because they don't want you looking at certain things. Or accessing sites that may help you lower your comm costs.
Local calls ARE, indeed, free. International calls make up for it by being amongst the highest rates to/from all other countries that I've ever seen.

Fading pay checks
 

Hello!

I recently flew with one F/O that had accumulated a MINUS of 40 000 Dhs in his first year in EK. (Or should I use the term deficit??:) ) He has 3 kids in schools that are almost fully paid for by the company... no extravagant life style according to himself.
Another guy I know is approximately 100 000 Dhs down after 3 years.

May I also mention that a 10% income tax is on the cards. I heard about it on Dubai FM 92 yesterday.

regards,

Pork

Did the DJ mention whether the 10% rate is for the locals or the expats?

Naturally the locals will not be subjected to the same rate, if any at all.

At least in the Eurozone you have a choice about the car you drive, the phone company, internet , .You have if you wish a low cost alternative .

In the UK after running 2 cars,mortgage,taxes I was much better off than I am here and that is with about the same take home salary..

Lots of little extras here that are hard to account for...I spend a lot on tickets home and car hire, to get away from the place. Wifes usually do a runner in the summer months, again extra expense, and with DUbai being a popular ( for the moment) holiday destination you can count on lots of friends and family availing themselves of your hospitality..


BBC website article on internet censorship http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5024874.stm
A few thinks about the dear old UA of E, but guess what, its blocked in Dubai...you gotta larf'

Pay checks galore...
 

Good point MC.

Maybe the tax is for expats only.I don't know.
This may sound strange for people who don't know the Middle East, but it is a fact that expats pay 3 times as much for electricity and water compared to locals.
So, if we pay tax will we get a proper pension???? I doubt it.

Pork

Yeah I can't remember the exact comparison but it is true. You might call that a form of institutionalised and state-condoned discrimination..... in the civilised world.

There would be little point in taxing the locals because the whole point of an income tax (along with all the other taxes imposed in this tax-free place) is to line the pockets of the locals. I wish things worked like that for me, back home.This should be under "pros", shouldn't it?

Add the cost of buying drinks for chicks half your wife's age (during summer) to the list of expenses to be endured...

Tax
 

I believe that Kuwait (I think) have started charging 10% income tax to ex-pats. Watch this space for the UAE to follow their lead.:sad:

One would assume if you have to pay tax then you should get some form of representation, ie a vote!...(outside without my hat again...)

G4, when you do your comparison of costs, consider that you will be travelling alot more, you won't be spending your hollidays in a camper around the national parks of the UAE. If you have kids you will paying for their sport etc as most schools only offer limited options and in most cases allow private operators to provide the service. About Dhs 500 per term is about standard for soccer or similar. Your set up cost in the first year will leave you with close to nothing if you have a family. After that it is up to you, there is a pilot's club (courtesy of the pilots) that gets you entry to beach clubs/gyms so no need to buy an expensive club membership. If you play golf then expect to pay.. The temptation is to get the maid and gardener so kiss goodbye to another 1500/month plus annual visa costs. You can get part time maids for 20dhs an hour. (someone help me here I dont have either) The interest free car loan from EK is 1000/month.

I understood, Kuwait are 'studying' 10% income tax!

Income Tax and living here
 

Kuwait IS TALKING about a 10% income tax. There economy appears far different than Dubai's. Kuwait is heavily weighted on oil and foreign companies pay 55% tax on profits. They are wanting to REDUCE the burden for foreign investors and hence they are considering the income tax.

As for costs insurance on a $43,000 vehicle is about $140 a month.
Groceries- a lot of stuff is cheaper here, than in the U.S. and
internet costs as stated are more.
I don't see all the "high prices", but maybe it depends are what you are used to.

For what its worth I was a net contributor to Dubai as an F/O. I know others that had a seven year plan and saved every bean that came their way. If I'd done that I'd have been run over by a truck at the airport.

For me, recreation is more expensive. Most things that I do with the kids (particularly in the summer) cost a fair amount of cash. There are the beach hotels and Satwa but not much in between. Most other places in the world there are a range of activities that can be done with a range of costs. Here that isn't true because there just isn't the breadth of choice. Its the same with schools. If you are an american and use the US schools; it costs.

Bottom line for me. I end up going to a 5* hotel and stumping up 700 chips for a meal not because I want an expansive lifestyle but because I don't have a choice. I'd be happier with my flat hat and ferret, drinking Theakstons XB and eating steak and kidney pie at a fifth of the price.

But...I guess thats why we get the big bucks.

AAhhh Theakstons, what I would'nt give for a nice pint of XB, Best or even an OP (gentlemans farting juice) ...Bottles just dont cut it..

FLowers,Landlord,Titanic,Heather Ale or my fav of all time Deuchars IPA..

You can stick Heineken,Bud,or Stella Artoos....

For anybody interested to join EK, read this. :{

The Gulf News is one of the two major newspapers in the UAE,
controlled by the rulers, as almost everything, so the numbers
must be at least correct, if not a little bit softened.........

www.gulfnews.com/business/Business_Feature/10043395.html

Good Info and a Reality Check
 

Hey Chinawladi great link has some good info on whats happend here in Dubai

Couple of quotes from theGulf News Article

http://www.gulfnews.com/images/06/05...living01_4.jpg