VAT is a TAX that is applied to goods and services in Dubai at a standard rate of 5%
VAT Refund for tourist
If you are minimum 18 old years tourist in Dubai and spend AED 250 or more in a single transaction, you are eligible for a VAT Refund.
Refund Fee
Refund fee is charged at AED 4.8 + 13% of the purchase amount as Service Fee
Example
You make a purchase of AED 21,000 and pay a tax of AED 1000
Purchase Value
AED 21,000
VAT Paid on the purchase
AED 1000
Service Fee
AED 4.8 + 13% = 129.38
Expected TAX Refund
AED 1000 – AED 129.38 =870.62
Payment Options
You can either take the money in cash or choose to be credited back in your debit/credit card account.
Catch – The Conversion Fee ?
Here is the catch if you choose the card option. The refund amount will be credited back to your card in your card currency.
If you have a EUR card, you will get refund in EUR.
The card company can charge you 8-9% of the refund amount as conversion fee, so in the example above , you will be charged appx AED 87 as conversion fee, reducing your tax refund to AED 792 which is 79% of the VAT you paid.
Recommendation
Choose to be paid in cash in AED, so that you get the actual amount and get it converted in your home country where exchange shops in malls will probably charge you 2-3% and you can still save 6-7% of the amount that was lost in conversion by the credit card issuer.
Most of the airports worldwide are quite big and it may be quite difficult to follow along for older people due to health issues, arthritis and language problems.
A scenario
An older person with arthritis who is travelling alone from a city with no international airport (Jodhpur) in India to Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh city) where English is not the main language and only a few people speak in English, a wheel chair is a must otherwise they will get lost.
How to Book Wheelchair Assistance?
You can book wheelchair assistance while booking your airline tickets directly from the airline itself or alternatively you can book from airport operator.
All international carriers provide you with this service.
You will require multiple wheelchair services during this journey!
Itinerary
First let us have a look at the itinerary.
Domestic Flight from Jodhpur to Mumbai T1 (Domestic Terminal).
Transfer of Terminal in Mumbai from T1 to T2.
Wheelchair at Mumbai T2 ( International Terminal ).
Wheelchair at Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam with English not widely spoken
Number of wheel chairs needed
For the above itinerary you will need 4 wheelchairs which will have 4 different attendants.
Wheelchair 1 at Jodhpur to drop you from the Check-in counter to the aircraft.
Wheelchair 2 at Mumbai T1 to carry you from aircraft to the shuttle at T1.
Wheelchair 3 at Mumbai T2 to carry you from the shuttle drop off point and take you through immigration, security and drop you at the aircraft.
Wheelchair 4 at Vietnam(Ho Chi Minh City) to pick you up from the aircraft, help you with the immigration process and then drop you off to the taxi stand or to the hotel shuttle pick up point.
Although the wheel chair service ought to be provided FREE in most airports, attendants will expect a TIP ( Unofficially considered as service charge).
Now the problem that arises is deciding how much to pay to each attendant.
The cost of living in Jodhpur is a lot than in Mumbai, so the attendant may be content with INR 150-200 but the same may not be applicable in Mumbai where you have two attendants at T1 ( usually Domestic Flights) and T2 (usually International Flights).
Nonetheless, the attendant at Mumbai T1 could possibly be unhappy with INR 200 and may ask for more money or frown at you and leave you halfway or drop you at quite a lot of distance away from your desired destination, saying that there are people who need this wheelchair more than you and the attendant will have to attend to them even though he does not have another booking.
The same applies for Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam where you have language issues and start converting between VND and INR.
Inconvenience that you may face!
You may be the last one to board and last one to get out of the aircraft.
Attendants may try to take you to a blind spot where there are no cameras or may even ask you for a TIP in the washroom if the attendant and passenger are of the same gender. This MAY happen as attendants ought not to accept TIP and want to escape from cameras!
A wheelchair attendant may DROP you off quite a distance from the aircraft if the PAYMENT offered is not what he expects from you, causing quite a lot of inconvenience. They are usually not compassionate and do not care if you cannot walk even 100 metres on your own!
If there are more passengers who have requested wheelchair assistance than the number of wheelchair attendants that the airport has, you may have to wait quite a long time before the wheelchair arrives.
Pre Travel preparations!
Domestic Travel – Keep sufficient cash in required denominations for wheelchair attendants. Suppose you want to pay 200 INR to each attendant at the domestic terminals then please keep 100 * 6 INR notes OR 200 * 3 notes handy. If you provide HIGHER denomination notes, then most likely, you will not receive your change back.
International Travel – Keep 150000-200000 VND handy ( 1 INR ~ 300 VND) assuming that you would TIP a wheelchair attendant in Vietnam at least 100 INR.
