I LOVE DIY UMRAH!! ( I am not sure I can write it in bigger capital letters)
If you follow this blog you know my passion is to help Muslims go for Umrah for less. I already have a course on the topic and I have helped thousands to go for Umrah and saved a tonne of money with all the tips I have here.
Personally, I have saved over £18,000 using many of the tricks here, during my Umrah in Ramadan 2015, plus I have done an Umrah under £300 as well. Some of my students in my DIY course have saved $3,000 plus just for one Umrah in Ramadan, and they have been now more than once. In my books, this is a success!
Anyways back to business.
What I am trying to say is that Umrah doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg and by doing it yourself you cut the middle man and also you have more flexibility. For Millennials this is like oxygen.
I did a talk yesterday on my FB Page about travel planning and taking advantage of sales and promotions and below is a perfect example why you must do exactly this!
Let me show you how by putting together your own packages you can save quite a bit of cash and still have an awesome Umrah.
I will do the trip for 7 days taking advantage of current promotions that you can actually take advantage of right now, for a family of four.
Flights
First I will start the trip to London with Qatar Airways who currently have a sale and you can book flights for up to 40% less, the best part children under the age of 12 fly for free. (they do pay the taxes but that’s about it)
You can check out their promotion here and book your flights
Also, the annual sale for Emirates and Etihad are also out and since they always compete you might be able to find great deals there too.
If you want to keep your flight options open, then you can use the Skyscanner option and search for flights for the whole month and find the cheapest.
I love using Skyscanner as it’s super easy and it can give you great ideas and options.
The price for a flight with MEA to Jeddah is £355 per person
Not sure how to use the tool?
Check out my video here for the simple steps to use to check out all the flights and options available.
Hotels
One of the biggest expenses that you do have during any trip but especially for Umrah is the price of the hotels. Sometimes during Ramadan, this can be up to £1,000 per night, which is crazy!
However, if you are smart and know when and how to book you can totally bring this down and make it affordable yet only steps from the Kabah.
One of the cheapest options you have on this is the Hilton Makkah Towers which I reviewed here during my 2015 stay with them. Yes, it is an older property, yes they are improving it, but it’s only steps from the Kabah (like 3 min total from Tower 5).
You are literary in the courtyard of the masjid and they have kitchenette and family rooms at great prices. You really can’t be that, let’s be realistic.
Currently, Hilton is offering their worldwide winter sale with rooms up to 30% discount. You can find the Hilton Towers in Makkah for May for £73 per night!
Check out the hotel sale here to select your dates.
For a family of four going in May you can find rooms for £102 per room per night! That is £25 per person per night including breakfast.
The total for a week stay there is £102×7 = £714
If you want to explore other hotel options, check out TripAdvisor since they not only have reviews but also act as a hotel aggregator and you can find good deals there.
Visa
One of the issues we had was the new laws when it comes to the visa. Fortunately, the Saudi government retracted them and now the visa fee is back to normal levels, around £100 per person. If you live in the UK then I recommend Prince Visa, I have used them for my visas and many of my readers use them as well.
Quoting MuslimTravelGirl you also receive 15% discount on their visas. I don’t receive anything in return, but as I said, I love getting people for Umrah.
Transportation
Another issue for many is the transportation from Jeddah to Makkah and vice versa. I do have a comprehensive article on this that you can read and also I have a printable to download for your convenience below.
Travelling there and back is super easy and affordable and now with Uber and other options it is safe as well. For the journey to Medinah, if you are visiting, I recommend you take the SAPTCO bus as it’s safer and cheap.
Let’s do the maths!
The total of your Umrah with hotel, flights and visa can totally blow your mind away coming to a grand cost of
Flights: £355 (per person)
Hotels: £714 (for 4 people )
Visa: £85 (using MTG discount)
Transport: £200 (for 4 people)
Total: £669 for a DIY Umrah
This is not a bad price at all considering that many people pay double that for the same amount of days. Searching and know how to book can really make a huuuuuuge difference.
If you want to save even more money (yes, it’s possible) or make your stay more luxurious then you should definitely sign up below for the waiting list on the DIY Umrah course. The things we share and do there are even better. 😉