Spending Breakdown: 3 Weeks In Dubai, Egypt & Jordan – Here’s What It Cost

A week or two ago, a couple of our readers asked how much it cost for us to do our three week trip overseas to Dubai, Egypt and Jordan which was a surprise for Shae’s 40th birthday. Now that we’ve finished writing about everything we did on the trip, it’s time to break down those expenses for you.

While on the trip I knew that we’d ended up spending more than I’d anticipated, but when totaling up all the expenses for this post it came to far more than I’d expected.

I don’t regret any of it as we had an amazing trip and we can afford what we spent. I am glad though that I didn’t know quite how expensive it was going to be before the trip!

Here’s a breakdown of what it cost for us to visit Dubai, Egypt and Jordan for a week each.

Flights

Flights ended up making up a fair chunk of what we spent on the trip, despite using airline miles for most of our flights. That’s because there were some somewhat sizeable taxes and fees we had to pay in addition to the redeemed miles.

Here’s a breakdown of all our flights and what they cost. All miles and taxes/fees listed below are the total for two people.

Southwest – Denver to Chicago – Free

When booking our tickets to Dubai, I was only finding award availability for the dates we needed from Chicago. As a result, we needed to fly from Denver (where we’d been on the road trip up to that point) to Chicago.

We flew on Southwest, with our two tickets costing a total of $273.96. However, our flights ended up being free (sort of). We have several Amex cards that offer airline fee credits and we’d used some of those to earn Southwest credit. Our flights were paid with those credits which is why our flights were free.

I said earlier that they’re ‘sort of’ free because our Amex cards have annual fees we have to pay. However, we’d likely have those cards even if we didn’t use the airline fee credits, so I feel fine saying our Southwest flights were free.

Emirates First Class – Chicago to Dubai – 272,500 Emirates Skywards miles + $361.20

We were originally due to fly to Dubai on Qatar Airways in QSuites (a very nice Business Class product). However, there was a big mess with our COVID tests to get to Dubai. We had to get our tests done 72 hours before our flights which I thought was based on when we departed the US. However, it’s actually based on the departure time of the flight entering Dubai.

In our case, we were flying Chicago-New York-Doha-Dubai. By the time we would’ve left Doha, it would’ve been more than 72 hours from when we got our tests, so we had to cancel our flights (for reference, we’d redeemed 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles + $5.60 per person).

At quite literally the last minute, we were able to book a direct flight from Chicago to Dubai in Emirates First Class which was a simply amazing way to fly (here’s my review) and so the PCR test issue ending up being a good problem to have.

Flying this way was more expensive though as it cost us 272,500 Emirates Skywards miles + $361.20 in taxes and fees (that’s the total for the two of us). I didn’t have any miles in my Emirates Skywards account, but I do have American Express Membership Rewards points. Those can be transferred to Emirates, so I transferred 273,000 Membership Rewards over (they have to be transferred in increments of 1,000 miles).

Egyptair Economy Class – Dubai to Cairo, Egypt to Amman, Jordan – 40,000 Aeroplan points + $192

Flights from both Dubai to Cairo and Cairo to Amman were fairly expensive, so I looked at what it would cost to book it using miles. Egyptair is a partner of Air Canada’s Aeroplan program and they allow you to book a multi-city itinerary.

I was therefore able to book a Dubai-Cairo-Amman multi-city itinerary with it costing a total of 40,000 Aeroplan points and 244.88 Canadian dollars (~$192 US dollars) for the two of us. I could’ve booked us in Business Class for double the points cost, but on such short flights it didn’t seem worth it.

Similar to Emirates, I didn’t have any Aeroplan points and so I transferred 40,000 American Express Membership Rewards to my Aeroplan account.

Turkish Airlines Business Class – Amman, Jordan to Istanbul, Turkey to Chicago – 94,000 Miles & Smiles miles + $642.30

To get back to the US, we flew with Turkish Airlines in Business Class. They don’t fly directly from Jordan to the US, so we had to fly via Istanbul.

Turkish is great value when it comes to the mileage cost for flying from Jordan to the US because 47,000 miles per person is much less than you’ll pay with other programs in order to be in Business Class. The downside is that it came with high taxes and fees of $321.15 per person.

The experience was OK and certainly better than flying economy, but it wasn’t as fantastic an experience as I’d been expecting – here’s my review.

As with Emirates and Aeroplan, I didn’t have any Turkish Miles & Smiles miles. I therefore transferred 94,000 Citi ThankYou points as Turkish Airlines is one of their transfer partners.

Southwest – Chicago to Denver – $29.96

Our flight from Chicago to Denver cost a total of $189.96 for the two of us. We needed to pick up our dog Truffles that afternoon and so we paid an extra $20 per person for EarlyBird check-in to ensure we’d get an opportunity to get some good seats near the front of the plane (in case you’re not familiar, Southwest doesn’t offer assigned seating – it’s first come, first served).

That means our flights cost a total of $229.96. We paid using $200 worth of Amex airline fee credits, so our net cost was $29.96

Total Cost Of Flights

• 312,500 American Express Membership Rewards (transferred to Emirates and Aeroplan)
• 94,000 Citi ThankYou points (transferred to Turkish Airlines)
• ~$1,225.46 in taxes and fees

Hotels

Other than our final night in Amman, Jordan which we booked using hotel points, all our stays were paid for with cash. That was because redeeming points for the hotels we stayed at wouldn’t have provided particularly good value, but it did mean we ended up paying more out of pocket.

Here’s a breakdown:

Springhill Suites Chicago O’Hare – $134.24

With our flight to Dubai leaving from Chicago, we had to get from Denver to Chicago. I wanted to get us there early though in case our flight to Chicago was delayed. I had to work the day before our flight to Dubai, so we got to Chicago two nights early.

I booked a stay at the Springhill Suites Chicago O’Hare. That’s because I found a cheap rate online and did a Best Rate Guarantee claim which dropped the cost even further. That meant we only had to pay $67.12 per night.

Grand Hyatt Dubai – $1,238.57

I’d initially booked a weeklong stay at the Grand Hyatt Dubai which cost a total of $1,060.36 including taxes. Despite the mess with our flights over there, we ended up getting into Dubai a night early as our Emirates flight was direct rather than having a couple of connections which is what would’ve happened if we’d flown on Qatar Airways. That meant we needed to book an additional night which cost $178.21.

That cost was for a regular king room at the Grand Hyatt, but having Globalist status meant I was able to apply a suite upgrade award for our stay which resulted in an upgrade to a one bedroom suite which was beautiful, spacious and even larger than the apartment we used to rent (here’s my review from our stay). That would’ve cost us almost $4,000 to book, so paying less than 1/3 of that and using a suite upgrade award was a great deal.

Ramses Hilton in Cairo, Egypt – $238.32

Our first three nights in Cairo were spent at the Ramses Hilton as I wanted to put us at a hotel on the Nile (here’s my review). I booked a room with a view of the Nile for $79.44 per night, although we were upgraded to an Executive room with a Nile view thanks to my Hilton Diamond status. That room would’ve been more expensive than that and my status meant we also had access to their Executive lounges.

Marriott Mena House in Cairo, Egypt – $619.01

For our second set of three nights in Cairo I booked the brand new Hyatt Regency Cairo West. Unfortunately it was so brand new that they delayed the hotel’s opening as it wasn’t ready, which meant we needed to find an alternative. (Just as a side note, I reached out to Hyatt to complain about the fact that we’d have to pay far more for a stay elsewhere, so they compensated us with 24,000 World of Hyatt points which was a good resolution).

This potentially negative situation could’ve been a bad thing, but it turned out great – a little like the fact that our PCR test issue at the beginning of our trip meant we got to fly Emirates First Class. My solution was to book the Marriott Mena House which was also close to the Pyramids.

What we didn’t realize until we got there was quite how close it was to the Pyramids. Here was our view at breakfast.

Our room at the Hyatt Regency would’ve had pyramid views, so I wanted to ensure we got the same at the Marriott. I have Titanium status with Marriott and some suite night awards, so I could’ve booked a standard room and hoped we’d get a pyramid view. However, knowing that this might be the only time we ever visit Cairo – and the fact that it was a special trip for Shae’s 40th birthday – I booked a room with a pyramid view from our balcony which was a bit more expensive.

The hotel has rooms with premium views of the Pyramids of Giza, but those were being renovated during our stay. This was therefore the best view available and we loved it. Here’s my review of our stay at the Marriott Mena House.

Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa in Jordan – $225.50

We stayed three nights at the Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa in Jordan which cost a total of $475.50. I have a Hilton Aspire credit card which offers a $250 resort credit each year. This particularly property is eligible for that credit, so our net cost was $225.50.

I’d booked a standard king room, but my Hilton Diamond status meant we got an upgrade to a room with a view of the Dead Sea. My status also meant we got free breakfast and food in one of the restaurants in lieu of the Executive Lounge being closed during our stay. Here’s my review of our stay.

Petra Marriott – $451.62

After staying a few nights by the Dead Sea, we drove down to Petra and stayed at the Petra Marriott hotel (here’s my review). I booked a standard king room which cost a total of $451.62 for our three nights and used suite night awards to upgrade to a non-suite, but one with great views of the mountains.

Grand Hyatt Amman – 8,000 World of Hyatt points

Our final night overseas was spent at the Grand Hyatt Amman. We had an early flight the next morning, so we only stayed until 4am. It’s a category 2 Hyatt property, so it made sense to redeem 8,000 World of Hyatt points rather than paying the cash rate that night.

Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport – $174.93

Our flight back from Istanbul got us into Chicago in the early evening. Rather than trying to get a flight down to Denver that evening, I booked that flight for the following day and booked an overnight stay at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport.

This was more expensive than some other hotels near O’Hare airport, but I chose it because the hotel is actually at the airport and so you can walk to it from several terminals rather than needing to wait for a shuttle bus.

Total Cost Of Hotels

$3,082.19 + 8,000 World of Hyatt points.

Ground Transportation

In Dubai and Cairo we got around using taxis and Ubers, while in Jordan we rented a car.

Here’s a breakdown for all those costs as best as I can find details about the expenses.

• Rental car in Jordan – $162.03
• Emirates chauffeur from airport to hotel – $39.50 (in hindsight we should’ve just gotten a taxi)
• Uber – $162.76
• Taxis – $75 (this is a guesstimate as these were paid for in cash)

Total Cost Of Ground Transportation

~$439.29

Cash Withdrawals

We withdrew $765.13 while overseas based on the currency conversions. This was used for taxis, tips, some meals, laundry, snacks, gas for our rental car, souvenirs, etc.

COVID Tests

Paying for PCR tests ended up being far more expensive than I was anticipating. Our most expensive test was from XpresCheck at Denver International Airport. They offered tests where you got the results within an hour or tests which took 48-72 hours to get the results. We might not have received the results from the latter option in time for our flight to Dubai, so we were forced to pay for the almost-instant results.

Unfortunately paying for the fast results cost $250 per person which accounts for half our total PCR costs. Here’s a breakdown of all the different test costs (amounts are the total for two people):

• Chicago (for Dubai) – $500
• Dubai (for Egypt) – $136
• Egypt (for Jordan) – $254
• Jordan (upon arrival) – $40
• Jordan (for US) – $84.62

Total Cost Of COVID PCR Tests

$1,014.62

Visas

Dubai required a tourist visa, but that was free. Both Egypt and Jordan required tourist visas that had a fee, so here are those costs. Again, the amounts below are the total for two people:

• Egypt – $50
• Jordan – $113

Total Cost Of Visas

$163

Travel Insurance

I was planning on taking out travel insurance for our trip anyway. Not just for things like trip cancellation and missing luggage, but more for medical expenses in the event that something happened to one or both of us.

One of the countries we visited required that we had travel insurance that included medical coverage (I forget which of the three countries that was), so we’d have had to purchase insurance regardless. Our plan was booked through IMG Global and cost $104.66.

Activities

Here’s a breakdown of what we spent on activities in Dubai, Egypt and Jordan. Any expenses where I’ve noted that they were paid for in cash have effectively already been accounted for in the ‘Cash Withdrawals’ section, but I figured I should list them separately here in case you were interested in knowing how much they cost specifically. Links below go to posts where I shared more about each activity (some in greater detail than others).

• Dubai
  • Big Bus Tour – $114.38
  • Burj Khalifa (cash) – $81
  • Desert trip – $132.24
• Egypt
  • Nile boat tour – $50
  • Egyptian museum (cash) – $25.50 for tickets, $19 for video & photography authorization
  • Pyramids of Giza (cash) – $76.50
• Jordan
  • Petra (cash) – $155

Total Cost Of Activities

$653.62

Food & Drink

Breakfast and dinner was covered at all our hotels for the most part thanks to my various hotel statuses, so we didn’t have to spend too much on food and drink. We did pay for a few dinners and drinks though which I’d guess cost ~$400.

Total Cost Of Trip

Based on all our expenses above, here’s what we spent on the trip. There would’ve been some other miscellaneous spending, but what I’ve listed above is the bulk of it.

Points & Miles

• American Express Membership Rewards – 312,500
• Citi ThankYou – 94,000
• World of Hyatt – 8,000

Money

• ~$7,250

The money total above includes our cash withdrawals but leaves out activities and other spending done using that cash which is why the $7,250 is an approximation of what we spent.

That was far more than I thought we’d spend on the trip, but I also didn’t expect to spend just over $1,000 on COVID PCR tests – I thought that figure would’ve been closer to $250-$300.

Spending $3,000 on hotels shouldn’t have come as a surprise seeing as those were costs I knew about ahead of time – I just hadn’t totaled up how much it was due to come to.

Points Earned

Although we spent quite a bit on the trip, we also earned a bunch of points. Some of that was from credit card spend, other points were earned from our paid hotel stays.

Here’s a rough estimation of the points we earned as a result of our trip:

• Hilton Honors – 73,500
• Marriott Bonvoy – 22,500
• World of Hyatt – 65,500

Based on how we redeem points on the road trip, the points should cover almost 5 free nights with Hilton, 2 with Marriott and 13 with Hyatt.

Final Thoughts

It was a bit of a shock when going through all our expenses that we spent more than $7,000 along with loads of credit card points. However, it was an amazing trip that was well worth the expense.

We could certainly have done the trip on a much stricter budget by flying in economy, staying at guest houses, etc. It was fun though getting to have a much more luxurious trip, while it was also nice not having to stick to the $100 per day budget we have for our road trip!

Check Out All The Posts From Our Dubai/Egypt/Jordan Trip

• It’s Time For Shae’s Secret Birthday Extravaganza!
• Flight Review: Emirates First Class – Chicago (ORD) To Dubai (DXB)
• Hotel Review: Grand Hyatt Dubai (1 Bedroom Grand Suite)
• Awesome Dubai Desert Safari For Shae’s 40th Birthday
• 1 Week In Dubai: Here’s What We Did
• Hotel Review: Ramses Hilton In Cairo, Egypt
• Exploring Babylon Fortress In Old Cairo, Egypt
• Visiting The Pyramids Of Giza In Cairo, Egypt
• Hotel Review: Marriott Mena House In Cairo, Egypt
• 6 Days In Cairo, Egypt – Here’s What We Did
• Our Dead Sea Experience: Floating, Mud & Tequila Shots!
• Hotel Review: Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa, Jordan
• 10 Tips For Driving In Jordan
• Visiting Petra In Jordan – One Of The New 7 Wonders Of The World
• Hotel Review: Petra Marriott, Jordan
• 1 Week In Jordan – Here’s What We Did
• Flight Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class – Istanbul (IST) To Chicago (ORD)
• Hotel Review: Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, IL
• Spending Breakdown: 3 Weeks In Dubai, Egypt & Jordan – Here’s What It Cost