Twenty years ago, booking Umrah from Britain meant a visit to a travel agent on the high street, handing your passport over the counter and waiting a couple of weeks to get it back. Your parents will remember it well. These days a good part of the job can be done from the sofa with a phone in your hand. That’s handy, but it has left plenty of first-timers confused about which apps they need, what they still have to sort out themselves and what a travel agent is even for any more.
Technology has made the trip easier, though the planning hasn’t gone away. Somebody still has to line up the flights, visa, hotels and transport so that they all fit together. That’s why a lot of families still book Umrah packages all-inclusive of flights, visa, hotels and transfers, and then use the apps for everything that happens once they land. What follows is a plain run-through of the digital side of the journey, so you know what to download and what to check before you leave.
Nusuk: the one app you can’t skip
Nusuk is the official Saudi platform for pilgrims. You use it to get your Umrah permit, which comes with a time slot, and to book a visit to the Rawdah inside the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Rawdah slots are limited and they go quickly, so have a look as soon as your dates are fixed.
Download the app at home, register with your passport details and make sure it opens properly while you’re still on your own wifi. Too many people leave this until they’re standing in a hotel lobby in Makkah with a weak signal and a queue of relatives behind them. Think about the older members of your group as well. If your mum or dad doesn’t use a smartphone, someone will have to make the bookings for them, so find out how the app deals with family members before you travel.
Visas have moved online as well
British passport holders no longer need to post their passports off and hope for the best. The visa side is now dealt with online. The options have changed more than once over the last few years, so read the foreign travel advice on GOV.UK and the official Saudi visa website for the current rules before you apply.
If you book through an agent, they’ll normally do the visa for you. Ask whether the fee is in the price or added on later. And check your passport tonight, because you need at least six months left on it. People get caught out by this every single year.
Staying connected without a nasty bill
Most UK mobile networks charge a lot for using your phone in Saudi Arabia. The easy way round it is an eSIM. You buy a data plan online before you go, scan a QR code, and your phone picks up a local network when you land. Most handsets from the last few years support it, but look in your settings to be sure. If yours doesn’t, you can buy an ordinary SIM card at Jeddah or Madinah airport. You’ll need your passport for that.
Data matters more on this trip than on a normal holiday. You’ll want it for Nusuk, for maps, and for finding each other on WhatsApp when the crowds split you up after prayers. Agree a meeting spot all the same, because phones run flat, and pack a power bank.
Paying for things
Cards are taken in most hotels, restaurants and shops in Makkah and Madinah, and contactless is normal. The catch is at the UK end. Many high-street bank cards add a fee of close to 3% to everything you buy abroad, which mounts up over a fortnight. Several app-based banks and travel cards don’t charge it, so it can be worth opening one a few weeks before you fly.
When a card machine asks whether you want to pay in pounds or riyals, choose riyals. The rate is nearly always better. Carry a bit of cash too, for small stalls, some taxis and giving to charity.
Why December fills up so fast
The time of year you pick makes a big difference to both price and comfort. December Umrah packages from UK airports tend to get booked up early, and it’s easy to see why. Schools break up for Christmas, plenty of workplaces shut for a week or so, and you don’t have to use as much annual leave. The weather helps as well. Makkah in December is warm but bearable, nothing like the summer when it climbs well past 40 degrees.
Flight comparison sites are useful here. Set a price alert for Jeddah and Madinah and watch it for a few weeks to see which way fares are heading. Flights are only half of it, though. Rooms close to the Haram over the Christmas break are the hard part to get, so if December is your plan, try to book several months ahead.
Getting between Makkah and Madinah
The Haramain High Speed Railway links Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah, and it has changed this leg of the journey completely. The train from Makkah to Madinah takes a little over two hours, compared with four or five by road. You can buy tickets online or through the railway’s app. They do sell out at busy times, so don’t leave it to the day before. Bear in mind that the station in Makkah is a taxi ride from the Haram.
For shorter journeys, Uber and Careem both work in the two cities. You see the price before you get in, which saves haggling with a driver when you’re tired.
Checking a travel company online
The internet has made it easier to book, and easier to be cheated. Before you send money to anyone, look the company up on the Civil Aviation Authority website. Every firm that sells flight packages in the UK should hold an ATOL licence, and you can search for it by name or licence number in about a minute.
Read reviews on independent sites as well, and don’t rely on the testimonials a firm puts on its own page. Be careful with offers that only turn up on social media or WhatsApp and ask for a bank transfer. Paying by card gives you more ways to get your money back if things go wrong.
What the apps can’t do
Apps are a great help until something goes wrong. A delayed flight that makes you miss your transfer, a hotel that has given your room away, an elderly parent who needs a wheelchair at short notice: none of these get fixed by tapping a screen. That’s when you want a person on the end of a phone who knows your booking. Even if you’re good with technology, there’s a strong case for booking through a UK agent and using the apps alongside.
Before you fly
Here’s a short list to run through in the week before you leave:
- Nusuk downloaded, registered and tested.
- eSIM bought, or roaming checked with your network.
- A card with no foreign fees, plus some riyals in cash.
- Train tickets booked if you’re travelling between the two cities.
- Passport, visa and hotel details saved on your phone so you can open them without internet.
And print a paper copy of everything. Batteries have a habit of dying at the worst possible moment.
