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DIY Umrah Package October 2019 During School Term Less than £800

As part of our series to create an option for people to create and plan their own DIY Umrah package on a budget we have the new options for October 2019!

If you are planning on going in September 2019 then make sure you check out our example DIY Umrah package here. 

These DIY Umrah packages are here to help readers create their own plans, without help from agents, and of course to save them money. Please note, in some cases and for some people agents are a better option, so evaluate if this is for you. 

The most countries to benefit from DIY Umrah packages on a budget or cheaper are sadly Western countries, New Zealand, and Australia because they have agents issuing them with Umrah visas only. 

In general, after years of planning, writing and talking about DIY Umrah as an expert I have come to find that you can save as much as 40% of the cost. Especially if you have a large family or children travelling with you. 

Now with the E-visa being rolled out, this is even easier for pilgrims. 

How the DIY Umrah Budget Series works

With the DIY Umrah budget series, we want to create options for people to visit Makkah and Medinah without breaking the bank or just by maximising their spending to afford, for example, better hotels and just empower them of going on their own. 

Usually, we pick random 10 days in October to create this package as it is hard to manage to actually and create a package for people from pretty much 50 countries that read this blog. 

If you want to copy this plan, simply click the links and change the dates to suit you following the advice and options provided from the hotels and flights below. 

Please note some of the links on this page are affiliate links, you don’t pay anything extra and I never recommend things that I don’t personally use, but clicking and buying through them, offer us a small help to fund the monthly costs of the blog. 

The DIY Umrah budget works best for people who can issue an Umrah visa on their own. If you live in the UK you can use Prince Visa and receive a 20% discount off their Umrah visa and in the USA you can use the agent here

Do you know any agents who issue Umrah visas only in other countries please let me know! 

I normally go through the best flights for the 10 days in October we have picked for our Umrah and find the best hotels deals through all the sites I search. I then put together the package as an example for you to follow. 

This year because it is in October and many people email about October school term time, I will create Umrah options with these dates in mind. 

Dates for Umrah: 25 October- 2nd November

Umrah Package October 2019 School Term

Getting your Umrah visa 

We now have an E-visa Umrah option, you still need to apply via an agent but you do not need to send in your passport, you just have to provide the passport number and other details.

Once this is done your visa should be issued electronically within 1-3 days.

Your agent will send you a copy and then you have about 2 weeks to travel. So make sure your travel is pretty much set and you apply less than 15 days from your intended flight. 

The Umrah visa cost is  £150 / $240. If in the UK you can receive the discount mentioned above. 

If you have been for Umrah in the previous 2 years (based on the rules of 2018/2019) you will need to pay the repeat visitor fee of 2000SAR about £450 per person.

The E-visa is the easiest way to get your visa and I am so happy they are moving to more electronic options. 

A question I get asked often is if you need the meningitis certificate and vaccine. You don’t need it for your visa, however, it might be requested at the border and even if they don’t request it, are you willing to risk your life?

There are cases of meningitis and with people from so many countries in one small space, I wouldn’t want to put my health at risk. I always take the vaccine! 

Flights from the UK 

As mentioned above the flights here is an example and if you want to add your local airport just make sure you click the link and change the airport/dates. 

I always search for flights via Google flights and Skyscanner combined. I find the flights on Google flights especially if I track them and then I buy them on Skyscanner.

I find that they have cheap options and I never had an issue booking with them. Plus I love their monthly table for cheap flights. 

As you can see they have the option for a full calendar and booking earlier always makes sense as flights currently are reasonable. 

The calendar is a handy way to see the prices

London to Jeddah – 25th of Oct to 2nd of Nov (2 adults and 1 child) 

You can have a Pegasus low-cost airline via Istanbul for a £373 return, which is a reasonable price albeit it takes longer to get to Jeddah. 

Alternatively, you can have a direct flight with British Airways leaving at night and arriving in the morning (saving you a night in a hotel) for £482. 

If you want extra space and don’t mind paying a little more read up about booking premium economy

For approximately £100 extra I will book the direct option simply for saving time and maximising the days I have available for Umrah. 

Another option if you want to visit Medinah is to book an open-jaw ticket, basically, a ticket arriving in one airport and departing from another. 

An open jaw is London – Medinah – Jeddah -London. 

This is convenient for people who want to avoid Jeddah immigration and want to save time when travelling from Medinah to Jeddah to catch a flight.

The example below, however, note there are no direct flights when it comes from London to Medinah. 

The cheapest flight is Kuwait Airline for £403, plus if you can add a layover in Kuwait it is a halal-travel friendly country and they have great halal hotels.

Transportation in Saudi Arabia 

One of the big issues for many people is transportation. We have a very extensive guide on transportation for Umrah so please have a look here. 

Your best option from Jeddah Airport to Mecca is Uber or Careem which I personally always use, it costs around £50.

From Medinah, there are plenty of taxis to take you into the city as it is much closer at the cost of £20. 

To get from Makkah to Medinah, I highly recommend the new train as it is safer, faster and a great option for families. You can read all about it here. 

Prices for the train cost £35 for adults and half-price for children up to 12 years old. It takes 3hrs to reach Medinah / Makkah and it is very comfortable. 

If you are using the open jaw option you will also only need one-way tickets. 

Hotels in Makkah

The hotel dates are approximate and of course, you can change them. 

Currently, at the time of writing this article, there is a Hilton sale going on where you can have rooms for 30% less in the Middle East and Europe. If you book by the 19th of August for stays until late 2019. 

With some of my favourite hotels due to status and proximity to the Haram being Hilton brand, for me, they are my first choice.

You can also check my article on the best Hilton hotel in Makkah here. 

Currently, the prices for the Conrad and the Hilton Convention hotel are very similar so due to proximity and closeness ( though both are pretty close) I would choose the Conrad.

You can read my reviews of both hotels however and make your own decision of course. 

You cannot really beat the price of £80 per night for a five-star hotel. 

Price 4 nights at £80 per night =£340 for a family of three including taxes

Just make sure that if you want to get this price you sign up for the Hilton Honors membership which is free.

They also have some other rates with breakfast however you can check out my tip for getting cheaper breakfast in hotels here and save the extra cash. 

Usually, if I am not booking hotels with brands in Makkah I will book them via Hotels.com which gives you a free night after 10 nights. Basically, it is, in essence, a 10% discount and they do offer good deals or the same prices as other comparison sites. 

Currently, at the time of writing, the offers on the other hotels in close proximity are higher than the Conrad Makkah.

We don’t have enough information on the DoubleTree hotel as it is not open as of July 2019 but from the map view, it is further away than the other hotels in the Jabal Omar development. 

However, it is a cheap option for £255 for 4 nights. 

Budget Hotel Options in Makkah

There are several new hotels in Makkah that offer budget-friendly prices and that you can take advantage of if you are on a tight budget for a cheap Umrah package.

They are new so you can expect good quality rooms by Western standards however they are further away from the Haram so you will need a shuttle. 

Hotels in Medinah during October Umrah package

For Medinah, there are also many hotels you can choose from. Last time we stayed at the Dar Al Iman Intercontinental which is an excellent hotel but on the expensive side. 

These are newer hotels and as close to the Prophet’s Masjid for much less. 

Overall Price for DIY  Umrah in October 2019 During School Holidays 

Let’s check the price for a week of Umrah during the school holidays.

Of course, if you have longer school holidays you can extend the dates as they suit you and you can add extra nights in hotels. 

But let’s do the maths on this one for 7 days for a family of 3 to perform Umrah in October during the school holidays – 25th of October to 2nd of November

Direct flights from London with British Airways for convenience and maximising the dates. 

  • Flights: £485 per person

Hotels in Makkah as I mentioned before I would pick the Conrad unless on a really tight budget I would go for the Ibis Makkah. 

  • Hotel in Makkah: £320 in total (£106 per person)

Hotels in Medinah, since Medinah hotels are more expensive it makes sense to get the cheapest or the one with the best review, I would recommend the Coral Al Medinah as the Tripadsivor reviews were good.

  • Hotel in Medinah: £270 in total ( £90 per person)

Transportation for a total family from Jeddah to Makkah / Medinah and return. The best option will be Uber and the Haramain train. On return, I would book a ticket as above to Jeddah and take an Uber to the Airport, it is faster and also cheap. 

  • Total transport cost approx: £200 ( £67 per person) 

Train from Medinah to Jeddah

Uber price indication from Jeddah station to Jeddah airport

Umrah visa is a cost that cannot be avoided and it will also depend if you have to spend for a repeat fee. Even with an agent package, you will have to cover this cost.

You can receive a 20% as mentioned above so the cost will be £120 per person even for a child. 

  • Umrah visa: £120 per person

The total for an Umrah per person is £868 or £2605 for a family of 3 five-star Umrah! 

Alternative Budget Option 

Let’s look for the cheapest option available by reducing some of the costs and making it more budget-friendly. 

Flights I would remove the direct flights and add the open-jaw flights which will save you more money on both ends, the flight is cheaper and you only need one-way transport. 

  • Flight: £403 per person 

Hotels in Makkah, I would pick the cheapest option of the closest hotel, in this case, it will be the Doubletree hotel in Makkah. 

  • Hotel in Makkah: £255 total (£85)

Hotels in Medinah will be the same as it is a good value for a five-star hotel. 

  • Hotel in Medinah: £270 in total ( £90 per person)

Transportation will be cheaper as you will only need a one way from Medinah to Makkah. 

  • Total transport cost approx: £120 (£40)

Umrah visa is a cost that cannot be avoided and it will also depend if you have to spend for a repeat fee. Even with an agent package, you will have to cover this cost.

  • Umrah visa: £120 per person

The total for an Umrah per person is £738 or £2215 for a family of 3 five-star Umrah! 

Overall this is a good price for a family to perform Umrah during the October school holidays from the UK. Of course, the sooner you decide you would like to book an Umrah and start looking for prices now it will be much cheaper than closer to the time. 

 

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