Let’s be honest: for any one who is anyone, Abu Dhabi is probably penciled into your calendar this December. Between the roar of F1 engines at Yas Marina, the high-stakes networking of Abu Dhabi Finance Week, and the hushed gavels of Sotheby’s Collectors’ Week, the capital’s magnatism is currently set to maximum pull.
But amidst the horsepower and the hedge funds, there is an inevitable gap in the schedule—that specific window of downtime usually reserved for “retail therapy.” Or, as we prefer to call it: strategic acquisition.
If you plan to find yourself at The Galleria Al Maryah Island between December 1 and 14, that acquisition strategy just got a significant upgrade.
In a move that feels less like a standard mall promo and more like a private members’ perk, Aldar and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office have dropped a new initiative called Unlock Luxury Rewards. The premise is refreshingly simple for something involving “loyalty points”: spend money on the things you actually want, and get a not-insignificant chunk of it back.
Here is the brass tacks: if you are a Darna Rewards member and you drop a cumulative AED 5,000 across any of the 80 participating luxury houses—think the heavy hitters of haute horlogerie, couture, and fine jewelry—you trigger a 15 percent return.
It’s not just points on a screen, either. You can have that 15 percent loaded onto an Aldar Gift Card (essentially a “fund for your next purchase”), or, for the pragmatists among us, you can opt to have 7.5 percent credited directly back to your linked debit or credit card.
“I’ve witnessed Abu Dhabi’s evolution into a global luxury destination and this winter season marks another defining chapter,” notes Noora Al Foulathi, Head of Abu Dhabi Retail. And she’s right. The city isn’t just hosting the world’s elite this month; it’s dressing them, too.
The Esquire Verdict: We all know the mathematics of race weekend. You fly in, you realize your dinner jacket has seen better days, and you head to the mall. This season, however, buying that jacket might just pay for the recovery brunch the next morning.
The Unlock Luxury Rewards initiative runs from December 1 to 14 at The Galleria Al Maryah Island. Download the Darna Rewards app to participate.
