Burj Khalifa Tickets: Which Deck and Which Time Slot to Book

The lift to level 124 climbs more than 500 metres in about 60 seconds, fast enough that your ears pop before the doors open. That part is easy. The harder decision happens earlier, when you buy your Burj Khalifa tickets and pick which deck and which time slot. Get it wrong and you pay double for a view through other people's phones.

This is the standard ticket and the one most people want. Level 124 has the outdoor terrace, with the wind and the telescopes that show you the city in daylight or lit up at night. Level 125 sits just above it, indoors, with a few interactive screens you will glance at for about a minute.

Non-prime entry runs around AED 169 for an adult. Prime hours, which means the slots around sunset, push that to roughly AED 234. Booking online beats the walk-up counter, where same-day tickets cost more and often read sold out by lunchtime.

Level 148 sits at 555 metres, and the ticket buys more than height. You get a separate lift, a small lounge with refreshments, a host who walks you up, and far fewer people around you. The 148 deck is partly open-air, and the ticket folds in the lower 124 and 125 levels on the way down.

Expect around AED 378 in non-prime hours and closer to AED 533 at prime sunset times. That is more than double the standard ticket. What you are really paying for is space and quiet.

Above the observation decks sit The Lounge levels, 152 to 154, at about 585 metres. Billed as the highest lounge in the world, the ticket here is a seated experience with light bites and drinks rather than a quick deck visit. You stay longer, and you actually sit down.

Prices start north of AED 600 and climb for the sunset and evening sittings. This is an occasion ticket, the kind you buy for an anniversary or to impress a visitor, not the one you grab on a Tuesday.

For most visitors, At the Top on 124 and 125 in a non-prime slot does the job. The view is the same tower and the same city from a hundred-odd metres lower than 148, and your wallet feels the difference.

Pay up for SKY if you want the sunset without elbows in your shot, or if a calm, slower visit matters to you. Save The Lounge for the day you genuinely want to sit with a drink at 585 metres and walk away with a story.

Sunset is the slot everyone wants, and the building knows it, which is why those hours carry prime pricing. In December the sun drops around 5:35pm; in June it hangs on until just after 7pm. Slots fill days ahead, and the cooler December and January evenings can be gone a week out.

The move is to book a slot that starts 30 to 45 minutes before sunset. You arrive in daylight, watch the sky change colour, and stay long enough to see the city lights switch on. Three views for one ticket.