How to book Umrah travel with points and miles

Back in December, I booked Umrah travel with points to Mecca and Medina for my family. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, Umrah is the “lesser” pilgrimage Muslims make to Mecca. It’s much less rigorous than Hajj and there are fewer restrictions around when it can be performed. This information isn’t going to be relevant to most readers, but I want to share it for those who might be researching this topic.

My own research wasn’t always fruitful, so I reached out to Elena from Muslim Travel Girl. She has a whole DIY Umrah series and was immensely helpful in recommending hotels as well as travel agencies that handled Visa applications. If you’re looking to book your own Umrah on points and miles or are curious about how I booked mine, you might find this useful: 

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Getting an Umrah visa without booking a travel package

Most travel agencies refuse to obtain an Umrah visa for clients unless they’re also booking travel packages. Luckily, I found a few travel agencies that do process Umrah Visas only: Barak Travel ($175 per person) and Chicago Hajj ($200).

Chicago Hajj throws in a complimentary 3-night stay at the Al Rawda Hotel and their staff is very knowledgeable. However, my dad ended up going with Barak Travel. He knows the owner, who also booked our flights to Afghanistan in 2011. 

The Mahram Rule

Saudi Arabia requires all women under 45 to travel with a male relative (i.e. Mahram). We were required to provide birth and marriage certificates to establish everyone’s relationships. Easy, right? Except unlike our previous President, I don’t have a birth certificate.

I was born at home in Kabul because of a curfew. Afterwards, my dad registered my birth with local authorities. Whatever document established this got left behind in the Old Country and all my parents have in terms of proof that I’m their daughter is some official document they obtained in Germany. It’s also the only document proving my parents are married. 

Proving familiar relationships

There was also the matter of my cousin, who is my dad’s niece by marriage. We had to find a way to get approval for my dad to be designated as her Mahram. So my dad typed up a series of statements stating my date of birth, parents’ date of marriage, and everyone’s relationship to him.

Three witnesses/family members signed these papers, which were then notarized. To my surprise, the Saudi embassy accepted these forms and issued our Umrah visas a few days later. I had provided an overnight shipping envelope for the return of our documents, so we got everything back just four days after submitting them.

Redeeming miles for flights to Jeddah

If you’re traveling to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, you can fly into Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) or Medina’s Prince Mohammad bin Abdelaziz Airport (MED). Umrah rituals are performed in Mecca, but a lot of people recommend flying into Medina first because the airport is less busy.

The immigration hall in Jeddah was completely deserted when we landed. It took about ten minutes for all eight of us to get fingerprinted and photographed. It was quick for us, but that may have been a fluke. 

Women must be on the same flight as their Mahram. This made things challenging for our group (me, my parents, brother, sister, grandmother, great-aunt, and cousin). I looked into booking separate flights to a meeting point, then putting everyone on a connecting flight to Jeddah. However, a separate connecting flight was going to cost $1,000 one-way on Etihad.

Two weeks before our trip, Etihad opened up a ton of business class award space to Jeddah. I had heavily banked on Alaska miles, so I didn’t have quite enough miles to fly Eithad. Thankfully, a few awesome people jumped in to trade/lend me their miles.

If you’re saving up points for umrah, focus on Chase Ultimate Rewards. You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Skypass and redeem them for Etihad flights. If Eithad doesn’t open up award space, you could use the points to fly Turkish Airlines via Istanbul instead. 

Booking Mecca hotels with points

There were tons of point hotels in Mecca. It came down to the Conrad Makkah and Hyatt Regency Makkah, which were right next to each other in identical buildings.  Since the Conrad offered larger standard rooms with two Queen beds rather than two Twins, I chose this hotel.

The location was great – right across the street from Masjid Al Haram. Thanks to Hilton’s Winter Sale, we scored a rate of around $300 per night with taxes included on two rooms. I decided to treat my parents to a Haram View Suite, which was going for $450 per night. 

The staff upgraded all of our rooms to Haram View suites and sent up extra beds to accommodate everyone. I booked the reservations under two Hilton Diamond and Hilton Gold elite member account, so we received club lounge access and breakfast in the restaurant.

Overall, the Conrad Makkah was a great choice and I’d highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Mecca. I was able to redeem Arrival miles for the stay, despite my Barclay Arrival Plus card getting shut down. 

Traveling from Mecca to Medina

The best way to get to Medina is probably via bus. The ride is 5 hours long on a SAPTCO VIP bus that costs $32. Unfortunately, the VIP bus was sold out the morning we went to buy our tickets, so we had to take the regular bus for $17. It wasn’t that bad.

The seats were a bit cramped but fine when reclined. There was a cooler filled with free water, and the bus driver stopped at a rest area about halfway to Medina. If you’re going to take the VIP bus, book your ticket online, well in advance.

A few people I met told me they were flying to Medina, which didn’t make sense to me because it would take the same amount of time (if not longer) than the bus.

It takes an hour to drive from Mecca to Jeddah Airport. Flights are just $45 one way in economy class and Medina Airport is just about 30 minutes from the center of town. It makes more sense to take the bus. There are more departure times and the scenery en route to Medina is interesting. 

Booking Medina hotels with points

IHG has a strong presence in Medina, with two Intercontinentals and one Crowne Plaza hotel. There is also a Hilton hotel. So there are enough opportunities to redeem points for hotels in Medina.

During our stay, standard rooms at the Intercontinental hotels were $400+ per night, while the Hilton had a 3-bedroom suite for $1,800 per night.

The best option was the Pullman Zamzam Madina, which offered 2-bedroom suites at $420 per night. Standard rooms with breakfast for three cost just $200.

I booked a 2-bedroom suite and a standard room to accommodate our group of eight. At check-in, they upgraded the second room to a 2-bedroom Executive Suite, which worked out nicely for us.

The hotel was steps from Masjid an-Nabawi (aka the Prophet’s Mosque), which was very convenient. However, it’s worth noting that the hotel is near the men’s entrance. The women’s entrance to the mosque is on the opposite side, so you’re in for quite a walk. 

Booking Dubai hotels with points

I’m not a big fan of Dubai. It’s possibly my least favorite place in the world. I don’t care about shopping malls, theme parks, or shiny new buildings. Plus, I’ve been there twice before and Dubai really isn’t my cup of tea.

Everyone else wanted to go for New Year’s Eve, so I booked the Conrad Dubai using points and two free nights from my dad’s Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Card. 

I don’t recommend staying here, as it was probably the worst 5-star hotel I’ve ever stayed at. There are better hotels in Dubai in terms of location, amenities, and service.

Next time, I’d probably book the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek, which is practically brand new and features massive standard rooms for just 12,000 points per night.

Booking Abu Dhabi hotels with points

Our return flight home was out of Abu Dhabi International Airport, so I booked the Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi for two nights. Standard room rates were 12,000 points or $200 per night.

I booked one room with points and the other cash, then applied a Diamond Suite Upgrade Award. They upgraded us further from a Capital Suite to an Executive Suite, which was pretty awesome.

The hotel is pretty isolated and food is overpriced, but cabs are cheap and the Sheikh Zayed mosque is less than 10 minutes away. Staying at the Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi was a nice way to wrap up our trip. 

Final thoughts

If you’re booking Umrah on points, it’s definitely worth it to get your Umrah Visa early and look for award space in advance. Also, know that award space may not open up until shortly before your travel date. Still, planning well in advance will help everything fall into place faster once flights do become available.

If you have any tips on booking Umrah travel with points and miles, please share them in the comment section.