I recently arrived at Dubai International Airport (DXB), Terminal 1, on a Vistara flight from Mumbai (BOM–DXB). Since Terminal 1 does not offer business-class fast-track lanes, I used the Marhaba meet-and-greet arrival service provided through the IndusInd Avios Credit Card. Below is a concise account of the service and my experience.
Service
Marhaba provides three meet-and-greet options: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The IndusInd Avios card includes the Bronze package, which offers access to a fast-track immigration lane but does not include porter assistance. The Bronze tier is a shared service, meaning a single Marhaba executive may assist multiple travellers simultaneously.
My Experience
After landing in Terminal 1, I took the transfer train to the arrivals area. Just before the immigration zone I saw Marhaba representatives holding name boards. I identified myself and was asked to wait briefly because the executive was coordinating with two other passengers.
About ten minutes later, the other passengers had still not arrived, so the executive led me toward Marhaba’s fast-track immigration entry. The counters were busy at that time, and airport staff redirected us to a staff counter.
The staff immigration counter was unattended, so I handed over my passport and received a stamp without any questions—an efficient outcome. In addition, the Marhaba team provided a complimentary UAE 5G SIM card with 1GB of data, which was a welcome surprise.
Bottomline
The meet-and-greet service linked to the IndusInd Avios Credit Card is a straightforward, arrival-focused benefit rather than a full end-to-end concierge. Despite its simplicity, it can save significant time at immigration. On this trip, judging by the queues, I likely saved at least 30 minutes. It’s a practical perk that would be valuable if more premium credit cards from India offered similar airport assistance.