Money and duty free for United Arab Emirates
Currency and Money
Currency information
UAE Dirham (AED, also written as Dhs) = 100 fils. Notes are in denominations of AED1,000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations of AED1, and 50, 25, 10 and 5 fils (10 and 5 fils coins are rarely used).
The Dirham is tied to the US Dollar.
Credit cards
American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted. ATMs are found across the UAE, mostly in the major cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
ATM
ATMs accept foreign debit and credit cards including Switch, Maestro, Visa, Union Pay and Cirrus, and can be found throughout the UAE, in shopping malls, hotels and petrol stations. However, cash back is not commonly available in the UAE. Plan ahead if you are taking taxis, they will only accept cash and often only small notes and change.
Travellers cheques
These are widely accepted, though not often used. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take traveller's cheques in US Dollars or Pounds Sterling.
Banking hours
These vary depending on the branch and bank, however a rule of thumb is Sat-Wed between 0800-1300 and Thursdays 0800-noon. Some open later in the evening from 1600-1830. All are closed on Fridays and public holidays.
Currency restrictions
Travellers can carry a maximum of AED100,000 (or the equivalent in foreign currency) into or out of the country undeclared. Anything over this amount must be declared at customs.
Currency exchange
Most hotels will handle the exchange of foreign currency as well as many major banks. Many of the large shopping malls have bureaux de change. Recommended bureaux de change include UAE Exchange located at Dubai Mall and Marina Mall, both in Dubai, or Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi.
United Arab Emirates duty free
Overview
Travellers entering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are permitted certain duty-free allowances for personal items. These include:
• Personal belongings and gifts: Items with a total value not exceeding AED 3,000, provided they are for personal use, in non-commercial quantities, and the traveller is not a frequent visitor carrying goods regularly.
• Tobacco products: Up to 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, or 500g of tobacco (including minced or pressed tobacco for pipes, tumbâk, or hookah molasses).
• Alcoholic beverages: A maximum of 4L of alcohol or 2 cartons of beer (each carton containing 24 cans, with each cannot exceeding 355 ml).
Banned Imports
Prohibited Items include controlled substances (all kinds of narcotic drugs), items contrary to Islamic values, gambling devices, counterfeit currency, pirated content, goods of Israeli origin, radiation and nuclear fallout contaminated substances, used tyres, live swine, nylon fishing nets, paan and betel leaves.
Travellers must carry the prescription for the quantity of the medicine that they are bringing into the UAE.
