If you follow this website you know I am a massive fan of Do-It-Yourself Umrah and I advocate the flexibility and help to provide this site as a resource for planning your own Umrah without an agent.
Now, I am not saying agents are not good, definitely not the case. Packaged Umrahs are an important part and good for many people but for others like Millennial Muslims (which is who I write for) it can be an outdated method.
Over the years, I know that many agents read these posts and try to sneak a cheeky comment and promote their packages. -This doesn’t work for them since they go straight to the delete inbox!
So today I decided to check out the price of packages VS the Do-It-Yourself Umrah method. I wanted to put it to the test purely on a saving money aspect since I always advocate here that your money should work harder for you rather than line the pockets of others.
Again this is purely for the purpose of helping you decide which is best for you, it is not for the purpose of advocating to stop going to the agents. But I honestly prefer doing my own Umrahs for so many reasons like these here.
I decided to pick an agent who I know follows the blog closely to see the price difference of pricing this on my own using just the good old internet.
Now bear in mind that agents have better price deals with hotels so they can actually have bigger profits than those mentioned below.
Few things to keep in mind:
- This is an average price for a budget and luxury package
- The package only includes hotels, flights and visas
- It is ATOL protected, no matter what your airline and hotels even when booked online offer the same protection, agents love to use ATOL protection to give extra credibility
- No transport included
- In the end, I will price a well-balanced package and share some of my money-saving Umrah tips that can help you bring the price down, after all, I want to make your money work harder for you
- Finally, the decision which is best for you and your family is only yours
Budget Umrah Package VS Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Umrah
Package Umrah what’s Included:
- Application for Umrah visas
- Indirect flights from London
- 5 nights – 4 Star Crowne Plaza Hotel, Madinah
- 5 nights – 3 Star Al-Kiswah Towers Hotel, Makkah
- Meals: Room only
- ATOL Protection
Price (per person): Single £975 | Double £769
Do It Yourself Umrah Option:
- Al Kiswah Hotel Makkah 5 nights from £110 for two people
- Crowne Plaza Medina 5 nights from £303 for two people
- Flights from London to Jeddah per person £350
- Umrah visa fee £80
The total for a budget Umrah in the same hotels: £635 per person based on two sharing
Do-it-Yourself Umrah £635 | Brochure price for a couple going £769
Do-It-Yourself Umrah price: £763 | Brochure price for a single person going: £979
Saving on doing your own Do-it-Yourself Umrah £136 per person in two peoples rooms, so if a couple is going it will be £272!
The Best Practical Tips You will Need When Travelling for Umrah or Hajj with Kids!
Luxury Umrah Package VS Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Umrah
Luxury Package prices
- Umrah Visa
- Fights indirect London to Jeddah
- 5 nights at the 5 Star Shaza al-Madinah Hotel, Madinah
- 5 nights at the 5 Star Hyatt Regency Hotel, Makkah
- Meals: inclusive of breakfast
- ATOL Protection
Double £1199pp
Luxury DIY Umrah option
- Flights from London to Heathrow £350
- Umrah visa fee: £80
- Hyatt Regency Makkah hotel 5 nights – for two people £464
- Shaza Hotel Medina 5 nights – for two people £605
Total price based on two sharing: £964 (£350 + £80 + £232 + £302,5 = £964 per person)
Do-It-Yourself Umrah £ 964 | Brochure price £1199 = Saving £235
If you are a couple this is a saving for two people of £470 by just doing it yourself!
Now, if you are a family or three people together the saving is even more because of the price saving per person.
As you can see the prices vary greatly based on the star options and how comfortable you want your Umrah to be.
Agents also get a bigger commission as they can negotiate better prices than we can, so the profit they make is greater.
Many people chose to go for their first time on Umrah with an agent which is totally normal and understandable as you get to feel more comfortable going on your own the second and third time.
Transportation
Transportation to Makkah and Medina is not included in any of these packages and it costs extra. I have a great in-depth guide on the options you have for transport and also touring around the cities.
We also now have a train that connects Makkah and Medinah and it’s a great option for families. It is very comfortable and easy to use. Check out the guide here.
DIY Umrah with additional Umrah saving tips
I have tons of articles on Umrah saving tips and I recently did an Ultimate Guide to DIY Umrah which has everything you need and it is a must-read if you are planning your own Umrah.
If you want to find out how to do Umran in the last 10 nights of Ramadan for only £800 per person, to read more about it click here.
My favourite way of saving money when it comes to Umrah is knowing the prices and sales.
- For example, airlines have sales 3 times a year offering up to 40% discount. Also booking your flight 6-8 weeks in advance will give you bigger savings, the majority of people will be booking their flights for about a month in advance which will spike the flight prices.
If you are too late in the game or wait for your Umrah visa I have found through my own testing and talking to other bloggers that for about 2-3 weeks the prices still go down. My favourite tool for tracking these changes is Google flight track. To read the article on this click here.
- Hotels are so much easier to save money on because thankfully in Makkah and Medina we now have so many options we can choose from. From luxury hotels only steps away to new budget options further out that can cost as little as £30 a night.
Currently, Hilton just started their sale offer and the hotels in Makkah and Medina are included providing a good 35% saving on prices. Keeping an eye on these promotions always helps!
- For me the biggest savings I have ever done, and I have done some great ones in Ramadan 2015 when we saved over £18,000 using loyalty programs.
Loyalty programs save me a ton of money every year and I usually try to be strategic on how to make them work. I stay in the same hotel and then use the points accumulated to just book those in Makkah for free.
An example of this will be the Accelerate promotion from IHG hotels. You can read about it here or check the review of the Intercontinental Makkah here.
- If loyalty programmes are not something you are interested in then my go-to easy to do saving will be using Hotels.com because for every 10nights you book via their site, you receive one free voucher equivalent to the average per night spend you did.
For example, if you spend 10 nights at £100 per night you will receive a voucher for £100. You can use this voucher for other holidays and even an Umrah the following year.
It’s by far the easier promotion out there and it is a great way to save some extra money.
Overall by using the above tips and doing your own DIY Umrah option, you can save a further 10%-20% off your prices just by keeping an eye on sales, planning in advance and using a site like Hotels.com.
That saving for me is definitely worth keeping in my pocket so I can spend more travelling and fun activities.
Please do share below your Umrah travel tips as I always love checking a few more out.
Update on Six Months of Living in Hotels Full Time -What’s It Really Like
