Emirates’ Sheikh Often Travels In Economy… Really?!?

I agree with some. Not every head is so self-entitled as the media portray them. I f you knew the Sheikh of Dubai, you would've seen that he is humble, as he comes from a time before the high oil boom. It is entirely possible that he in fact travelled economy. Yet, some people generalise without any evidence. You can't generalise against people you don't know!

@pointster How on Earth is anyone meant to "address" those points - they're merely ignorant insults... I do not know the man so have no idea if he'd have an issue sitting next to women or gay people. Given Tim Cook is not Muslim and didn't grow up in the "unenlightened system if governance", I can only assume he has no issue sitting next to heathens. And while I think it's a vulgar place, discrimination against women isn't a particularly big issue there, nor is being gay overly onerous by Muslim standards - as evidenced by Lucky's obsession with the place.

I am very surprised by how much skepticism, sarcasm, and even hatred some comments contain. People living in the west aren't informed much about the region and its social dynamics. It is easy to make generalization based on several exotic stories the media covers about the lavish lifestyle of the oil sheikhs, but the gulf rulers are actually well known for their humility and closeness to the general public. I am from the region and I can testify to that. The crown prince of Kuwait is literally our next door neighbor. And no, my family is not rich. We are considered upper middle class at most. Our house is actually nicer than his and the car he drives is below the average of what Kuwaitis drive. There is a huge difference between the titles "sheikh" and "prince" in the Arab world. Arab monarchies like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Morocco use titles like King and prince. Those are the ones who try to show and maintain their "royal" status. However, the rest of the gulf countries like the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait use the title sheikh which is not "royal" or even exclusive to the ruling families. Many tribal and religious leaders are called "sheikhs" as well. Most members of these ruling families send their kids to public schools and live among the people. It is very hard to signal them out sometimes. There is, however, a generational difference that keeps emerging. Older sheikhs grew up before the oil boom so they tend to be more humble and realistic. The younger ones are sometimes very spoiled and arrogant, but there is a significant number of older sheikhs who make sure they pass on their values to their children. So Bill Gates can fly economy and Warren Buffett can drive a Lincoln but it is impossible to believe that the "exotic oil sheikhs" of the Middle East fly economy every once in a while!!!

I don't get why the heads of companies would even mention this type of thing. It's not as if the public at large would even believe them. Do they really think they're adding goodwill to their company by claiming to be at one with the masses?

@pointster Actually I was only pointing out one example for you. But since your mind couldn't deal with that one example, I guess I was right in that you couldn't handle more. But here is a start, Saudi Arabia isn't the entire GCC.