As soon as you walk out of the airport, there’s a car rental counter on the left, but that’s for walk‑in rentals, not the one we booked. Our pickup location was inside the Car Rental area in the parking lot. Check‑in at the counter was great – whenever we didn’t understand something in English, they actually helped translate and clearly went through all the terms. Getting the car was smooth too. We tipped the staff 10 AED, and he patiently explained the key traffic rules. The vehicle inspection was fine, we just uploaded the photos to the app, then he gave us a QR code parking ticket – scan it at the barrier and you can drive straight out.

Tip: use Google Maps Street View in advance to get familiar with the roads and signs so you don’t get lost. Personally, I found Google Maps navigation a bit unfriendly for Chinese users, so I switched to Amap (Gaode). It was almost flawless. Using Amap’s real‑time navigation (not offline), we drove for about 2 hours and only used around 400 MB of data – very efficient. With a 2 GB/day high‑speed data plan, it’s more than enough.

The only small hiccup: on the fourth day, the dashboard showed a low key fob battery warning. I didn’t contact the rental office; I just bought a CR2032 battery at a supermarket and replaced it myself. I did reach out to QEEQ customer service, and they called back promptly to check in. I told them I’d already fixed it by changing the battery, and they still followed up very patiently. Overall, it was a really pleasant experience. (I brought my own dashcam with a suction mount, not adhesive – quick wiring and it worked perfectly.)