# Relocation Allowance - Good or Bad??



## Shedsy_Moon (Oct 29, 2008)

Hi All,

I've accepted my job offer in Dubai now and will be moving in March next year.

I'm having a few wrangles over certain benefits but the one that concerns me most is the relocation allowance.

The company have offered AED 8k (circa £1.5k at todays exchange rate) as a relocation allowance, which I think is purely for shipping my personal belongings from the UK to Dubai.

I don't have much to bring and will be effectively starting from scratch. So I'm wondering what other expats on here had received as a relocation allowance from the UK to Dubai? Was it purely for shipping or was the cost of furnishing an apartment/villa included? 

Should I go back and ask for more??

Thanks in advance.


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

Well as it costs upwards of 4 thousand squid to get a 40' container here......


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

The average is around 15 - 30k though it seems that some people have got more! There is no obligation on the part of the employer to offer any relocation allowance but saying that, you could always be cheeky and ask for more. However, considering that it is now an employer's market, I doubt you would get more - six months ago maybe but right now, highly unlikely!


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## Shedsy_Moon (Oct 29, 2008)

Thanks both.

Think I may have to go back like Oliver!!!

Can anyone recommend a reputable removal company so that I can atleast get a quote to compare?

I'll be moving from London if that's of any help.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Shedsy_Moon said:


> Thanks both.
> 
> Think I may have to go back like Oliver!!!
> 
> ...


Think there has been a couple of threads about shipping companies. If you do a search then you'll find them. 

Allowances seem to be going down it seems. Guess yet another sign that employers don't need to offer as much. I agree with Maz they used to be around 15-30k. I would recommend NOT shipping anything over until you're sat in the office working. If you can store most stuff (say at parents) I would do that. There has been a thread recently about a couple shipping everything over and then the job falling through - take heed.

HTH


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## Leanne Grant (Nov 18, 2008)

*Shipping costs etc*

Hey

We used a company called Pickfords they were very professional and didnt charge ridiculous amounts you should ask them for a quote, it takes about 6 weeks for the stuff to arrive.

We didnt get much money for shipping etc with my husbands company but our apartment is fully furnished so we didnt need anything really other than personal belongings we left alot at home. You can get everything out here too so I wouldnt worry about things too much 

We did however get charged over £200 at the airport from Emirates airlines for our luggage being over 20Kgs!! they would not budge on extending the limit just a pre warning, there was not a chance I could have kept to that limit when the rest of my clothes are going to take 6 weeks!!

Hope that helps a bit


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

Leanne Grant said:


> Hey
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have to agree with you re Emirates! They just wouldn't budge. They gave me an extra 6kg but then tried to charge me over £300 for 10kgs!!! Heartless they are - tried the old waterworks trick but no joy! Eventually my boyfriend paid to send my rather bulky suitcase as unaccompanied baggage!


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## AmonSemper (Nov 26, 2008)

Y'know, this perks my interests in terms of shipping. I don't mean to de-rail the thread at all, but it's a similar question.. Has anyone shipped a car over? And how much is it?


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

AmonSemper said:


> Y'know, this perks my interests in terms of shipping. I don't mean to de-rail the thread at all, but it's a similar question.. Has anyone shipped a car over? And how much is it?


Is it left hand drive? Cos if it ain't you can't register it here.....


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## Sparkysair (Jul 16, 2008)

Don't know if this is common knowledge but Etihad flights in to Abu Dhabi are significantly cheaper than flying in to Dubai. Plus, if you join their frequent flyer club on line (no charge) you automatically get an additional 10kg of baggage allowance for free. I had a long chat with them about why they do this and it seems they always wanted to give all passengers a min of 30kg but faced pressure from other airlines etc not to do it. The frequent flyer scheme was their way round it and they are trying to spread the word without overtly advertising. 

I was really lucky with my relocation package and had either a 20ft container or a months salary then another months salary as a settling in allowance for furniture etc and 100kg of excess baggage as well. I chose to take the money, ship 100kg of personal stuff using excess-baggage.com (around 700 GBP, instead of 2500 GBP at the ariport) and buy everything new. I was surprised how much I could actually bring without breaking in to the shipping allowance.


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

I got 30K furniture allowance - paid off the credit card back home with it as don't need any furniture in my room other than a bed/mattress/linen which I bought quite cheap at the supermarket in the mall...

...not going to be keeping it any longer than my 2 years here so figured what's the point of splashing out when I can take advantage of the strength of the dollar at the moment and pay off my debts back home.


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