The cost is mounting for stranded travelers in the Middle East: 'That's a lot of money we were not intending to spend'

• Air travel across the Middle East has been in a state of chaos since last Saturday.
• Some travelers are racking up mounting hotel bills as they wait for a flight home.
• Many are confused about whether they will be saddled with or reimbursed for these bills.

Emilia Vasquez, a business development manager for Goodwill, landed in Dubai on Thursday, February 26. She and her 6-year-old son had flown in to celebrate her birthday, and they were planning to stay until Tuesday.

Two days later, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, and everything changed — across the Middle East, airspaces shut down, airports closed, and thousands of travelers, like Vasquez, found themselves stuck in place.

As they navigated the logistics of getting stranded, they also faced another issue: the cost of getting stranded.

In a statement on March 1, the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates, or GCAA, announced that the State would be bearing "all hosting and accommodation costs for affected and stranded passengers." The announcement did not specify how or when travelers would be reimbursed.

For Vasquez, the flight cancellations meant watching her hotel stay grow longer by the day. She was staying at Taj Dubai hotel, a 5-star hotel near the Dubai Mall, and spending about $500 a day, roughly $300 of which went to her hotel bill. As of Thursday, she had spent $6,800.

With bills racking up and no immediate money from the Emirati government, she was only a few thousand dollars away from her credit card limit.

"I'm being responsible for paying for this hotel, the hotel literally telling us that if I cannot afford the hotel to leave and go somewhere else," Vasquez told Business Insider on Wednesday. "I don't feel safe to leave the hotel and go somewhere else. So I've been extending the days every day."

With some airlines slowly resuming limited service out of the region, Vasquez managed to leave Dubai on Friday, but for many of the travelers who remain on the ground, bills continue to mount and confusion remains about whether they will be saddled with or reimbursed for these bills.

The Abu Dhabi and Dubai tourist ministries did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. The General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates did not respond to a request for comment.

'We're just trying to be as cheap as possible'

While some well-heeled visitors paid six figures to get out of Dubai, others have been funding their extended stays through a mix of credit cards, airline-provided vouchers, and crowdfunding.

As of Saturday, two of the region's biggest airlines — Emirates and Etihad — have resumed limited flight schedules, prioritizing existing customers. Qatar Airlines remained grounded with the exception of limited flights to Doha. While the airlines haven't released guidance around obtaining hotel vouchers, several travelers said they've been able to receive them.

Fate Show, a Ph.D. student, was flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to London with her dad after seeing her family for Chinese New Year. Their flight was scheduled to stop in Dubai on Saturday afternoon. When she arrived at the airport, she was met with chaos.

Emirates canceled their flight to London and provided a voucher to cover food and a hotel stay at the S Hotel Al Barsha, a 4-star hotel about 20 minutes from Dubai International Airport.

That voucher lasted four nights. On Tuesday, after the voucher ran out, they switched hotels to the Hampton by Hilton Dubai Al Barsha, where they paid for their stay out of pocket. The room, with two single beds, cost $112 a night and included breakfast.

They are trying to limit additional spending on food to $30 a day.

"We're not trying to do anything fancy," she said. "We're just trying to be as cheap as possible."

She and her father tried to buy new tickets home, but said they were too expensive. On Friday, they moved to the Copthorne Hotel with their Emirates voucher. Her flight has been rescheduled for Tuesday.

Even with the help of the Emirates hotel voucher, Show and her father have had to spend hundreds of dollars during their unexpectedly extended stay in Dubai.

"Obviously, that's a lot of money we were not intending to spend," she said. "We're using a credit card, so we're hoping to be reimbursed by next month when we repay it."

Shanice Day, a stylist from Houston, traveled to Dubai on February 24 to celebrate her 30th birthday with her friend Remy Thomas, staying at the FIVE Luxe hotel near Jumeirah Beach. Their original flight home on March 1 was canceled, along with subsequent rebookings, and they were left paying for their hotel out of pocket.

On Tuesday, Thomas started a GoFundMe to fundraise for their accommodation and flights back. As of Friday, the pair had raised $9,978 of their $11,000 target.

Day managed to secure a flight out of Dubai to Sydney on Thursday. The following day, she flew from Sydney to Los Angeles, the penultimate leg of her round-the-world journey back to Texas.

"I'll probably get therapy after this experience," Day told Business Insider. "I know it's going to take me a while to build up the courage to travel again."

Shrihari Madhu, the manager of Coral Cove, which rents out three apartments in Dubai Marina, told Business Insider they have been helping tourists stranded by flight cancellations by offering free accommodation or a base fee of around $40 a night. Ordinarily, they rent their properties out for prices starting around $110.

"Many travelers are reaching out because they need an immediate reliable place to stay while navigating these disruptions," Madhu said.

Madhu said the three apartments are currently occupied by guests whose travel plans were canceled.

The only thing more expensive than staying is leaving

On Monday, as tensions escalated and airspaces across the region shut down, some wealthy travelers in the UAE hired chauffeurs to drive them into Oman and Saudi Arabia. The trips involved hours in the car, including long waits at border crossings.

From there, they chartered private planes, spending upward of $200,000 to make it out, Ameerh Naran, the CEO of Vimana Private Jets, previously told Business Insider.

He said demand to leave the region had started to tick up on Friday, when the possibility of a conflict with Iran became more acute.

"There has been a clear emphasis on speed and certainty of departure, with many clients prioritizing the earliest viable routing rather than specific aircraft types or traditional preferences," Naran said. "We have also seen increased demand for coordinated ground support to facilitate access to airports where airspace remains open."