When I started traveling to Dubai, one of the first questions that popped up was that, would merchants in Dubai even accept an American Express card? They sure do and here’s a list (and it keeps growing)
This list is useful especially when you’re here in Dubai and you may need to meet minimum spend on your card, use a business or corporate card, reach a signup bonus or to reach status with spend etc., and you really NEED to swipe that AMEX card.
So, here’s the list – where AMEX is accepted in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ain and other emirates in the United Arab Emirates:
At the airport:
Marhaba Visa on Arrival Counter
Emirates Potter Service
Dubai Duty Free shops
Costa Coffee
Rideshare:
Uber
Careem
Airlines:
Emirates
SpiceJet
Car Rentals:
Grocery Stores:
Carrefour Hypermarket (not Carrefour Online)
Hotels:
Mostly, all large chain hotels like Marriott, Hilton, Le Club Accor, etc.
Tourist Attractions:
Burj Khalifa
Dubai Frame
Restaurants:
Trader Vics
Peppermill
Salmontini
Yamanote Atelier
Costa Coffee
Nandos
Azkadenya
Omnia Baharat
More Cafe
Zaatar w Zeit
Shake Shack
Little Miss India
And almost all fine dining restaurants
Malls and Department Stores:
Zara
Debenhams
Next
Patchi
Accesorize
Pablosky
Areej
Charles & Keith
Splash
Vero Moda
Stradivarius
Adventure HQ
Daiso
And all majjor brand department stores
Salons:
La Loge Beauty Salon
Hospitals:
Saudi German Hospital
Kids Stores and Play Areas:
Magic Planet
Toy Store
Schools:
Little Gems International
And other GEMS Schools
Pharmacy:
Aster Pharmacy (not all, it worked in the City Centre Shindagha)
Real Estate:
The First Group
Where Visa and Mastercard are accepted (but AMEX is not):
Transit:
Dubai Metro nol
Dubai Taxi
Visa:
Online UAE Visa on Arrival Renewal
India eVisa
US Visa Payment
Online:
Souq.com
Beam
Ebarza
Cell Phone:
Du
Stores:
Union Co-op
W Mart
Aswaaq
Zoom
Threads
Homes R Us
Movie Halls:
Vox Cinemas
Tourist Attractions:
Dubai Garden Glow
Museum of Illusions
Al Ain Zoo
Restaurants:
Most restaurants do NOT accept AMEX (except the ones listed above)
Driving Schools:
Galadari Motor Driving School
Schools:
Nursery
Kids Play Areas:
Little Explorers
Flip Out
Ideally, you should be using your AMEX card with NO foreign transaction fees. Many American Express cards do NOT have a foreign transaction fee (like Amex Platinum, SPG Luxury, SPG, Hilton Aspire, Hilton Ascend, Hilton Honors Card)
To summarize, most small businesses in Dubai mainly accept Visa and Mastercard. Typically, it’s only the large department stores in the malls, fine dining restaurants and the brand hotels that accept AMEX here in Dubai.
Do you know any stores that accept AMEX that are not listed above? Feel free to add them in the comments and I’ll continue updating the list.