Currency

The dirham is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The currency abbreviation for the UAE Dirham is AED or Dhs.

The US dollar has a fixed exchange rate of 3.6725 dirhams for 1 US dollar.

Coins

There are 5, 10, 25 and 50 fils, as well as 1 dirham coins. 100 fils make 1 dhs. The 5 and 10 fils coins are not used in everyday life. When making purchases, all amounts are rounded up or down to the next 25 fils level.

Banknotes

There are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 dirham banknotes. The front is labeled in Arabic and the back is in English.

Exchange your money at the best possible rate

Exchange your money in the UAE first since you will get a better exchange rate than at home. The exchange fee at the airport is higher than at other exchange offices in the seven emirates. With that in mind, postpone the exchange if you want to save money.

Find out about the daily rate i.e., on www.xe.com. Al Ansari and UAE Exchange offer fair courses. The exchange offices are i.e., in shopping malls. You will get less favorable exchange rates at the hotel reception.

If you withdraw money from an ATM with an EC or credit card, you will naturally receive your money in the local currency. Some ATMs of the UAE banks pay out the money free of charge. Other banks charge 10 or 20 AED. Additional charges are shown beforehand on the ATM screen.

Use a credit card without a foreign transaction fee.