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A cream-coloured Dubai taxi, a Toyota Camry with the red roof sign, in traffic.
Layover guideDubai · DXB · DWC

Ride-hailing in Dubai

Careem and Uber both operate legally.

Shahroozporia / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
All of Dubai

Both apps work and both dispatch licensed vehicles. Careem is the locally dominant one and is generally better supplied outside the tourist areas.

An app booking carries a higher minimum fare than flagging a taxi from the rank (AED 13 against AED 12), which is worth knowing on short hops.

  1. Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai: taxi fares (e-hail minimum fare) · checked 2026-08-17

The rest of Dubai

The whole guide
Getting out of the airportMetered RTA taxis from the rank, or the Metro Red Line straight out of Terminals 1 and 3.Local laws that catch crew outDrinking in public, kissing in public and swearing are all criminal offences, including online.Staying connectedA visitor SIM is registered against your passport and capped at two per network, and an unregistered line is cut off rather than warned.WeatherThe number that matters is the overnight low: about 29.7C in summer, so the night never cools down.Eating near the crew hotelsAlcohol is legal in licensed venues and illegal everywhere else, and in Ramadan the daytime rules extend to your car.What to buyVAT is 5% and refundable over AED 250, and the authority's own refund terms are better than the government portal still says.TippingNo authority publishes a tipping norm for Dubai, and the percentages already on your bill are not tips.