1. TL concierge offers discounted
In need of a new package or concierge renewal up to 2024? There has never been a better time to upgrade yourself.
17-24 April only.
I can send you info on our elitist loyalty concierge, where you book Diy (per room not per person) at the worlds largest branded hotels, get all the amazing upgrades, free breakfast, free extra guest, complimentary lounge access, free nights ahead and best of all bulk of spend back in points to travel the world free as you may have seen on countless of our post on YouTube and Instagram (@traveloyalty),Umrah included, not forgetting how to do 1st class and Business class for pennies through the hundreds of tickets highlighted on our social media above. If this intrigues you or in your future let me know :
info@traveloyalty.co.za
2. Umrah Week.
Is back again after a hiatus 2020/21.
As usual, these include the hottest ways to book your Umrah – DIY.
Comparing all the best hotels to stay free at from 12k points per free night at MARRIOTT up to a a whopping 540k points per free night at HILTON, as well as the other brands worth using to earn or burn in Loyalty.
However to get things started first:
The Visa – you need to get a tourist visa!
We broke the news of this excellent visa in Januray 2020, not only in its cost but also its validity !
Tourist visas can be issued on arrival at JED, MED, DMS and RUH.
The visa fees are SAR 300, and the cost of medical insurance to cover COVID-19 treatment is SAR 180 including tax, bringing the total to SAR 480 or USD 128.
The time it takes to issue a tourist visa is 5 to 30 minutes.
You can come to Saudi Arabia and apply for a tourist visa throughout the year, and there is no time when you cannot apply, but the tourist visa allows performing Umrah, but you cannot perform Umrah during the Hajj season. To perform Hajj, you must apply for a specific visa through the Ministry of Hajj.
Travelers with a valid US, UK or Schengen visa qualify for a visa on arrival regardless of nationality provided if the following conditions are met:
• The visa must be a business or tourist visa
• The visa must have been used at least once and has an entry stamp from the issuing country.
• The traveler must come on one of the three Saudi national airlines: Saudia, flynas and flyadeal.
Here you need to be super creative and find a city to connect on one of the 3 Airliners above to any one of the 4 major airports issuing tourist visas on arrival – as South Africa does not have direct flights just yet.
Tourist visa validity :
Multiple entries are valid for a full year, and the permitted period to stay in the Kingdom is 90 days.
The tourist visa can be used at any time during its validity period, provided that it does not exceed the permitted period of stay inside the Kingdom (90 days) or be fined Sar100 per day over.
Note, payment methods are MasterCard, Visa, American Express, UnionPay, and ApplePay are accepted.
Kids:
This is ever changing, however it seems tourist visas allow kids of all ages providing they enter with a guardian of first degree if under age of 18.
See my current stories on IG showing kids of all ages, sizes, in all colours etc at Haram in Makkah, however Madinah has a restriction.
To recap Previous Years Umrah trips we have shown the superb benefits of Loyalty:
– 32k points per free night at Conrad, even using last 10nights of Ramdhaan upon their opening, this included Suhoor and Iftaar buffet for Diamonds.
– How to Umrah for 12k per person during 2013.
– Ramadhaan flights for R3900 via IST on Saudia 2017.
– Umrah Business class flights for R7500 on MS during 2018.
– Umrah Economy Class on Saudia for R3600 and Business was just R6100 (bonus Saturday flights had new planes) 2016.
– Umrah 29days at 4 to 5 star hotels from R9500 pp with Business flights and Economy R5500 pp.(see the drop down text on how it was booked)
As usual it seems one has to be creative to maximise the deals this year as there are no direct flights, however even when Sar2000 was levied for a repeat Umrah previous years creative minds found ways cheaper to do it for longer.
This time however is the best time.
* On a side note Hiltons during peak cash rates during the year 2000 was SAR300 per night, Haj and Umrah, both DIY. Don’t ask me what the points rate per night was, you will never believe me.
Difference between Umrah visa, Evisa & Tourist Visa
- Umrah Visa:
- Cost anywhere from R4500 – R6500
- Validity: 14 to 30 days
- Single Entry
- Restricted on entry closer to Haj Season
- obtain via agent /embassy ……………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Tourist Visa – ( aka THE GAME CHANGER)
- Cost R1890
- Validity 1 year with up to 90 days stay
- Multiple Entry
- No restrictions, can enter anytime, but not perform Umrah during Haj season
- Obtain on arrival if you have the criteria ……………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Tourist Evisa
- Same as a Tourist visa but can be applied for online within 30 minutes to 48hours
- cost R2100
- must belong to any of the 49 Countries listed on Visitsaudi or otherwise apply with Fica and travel documents at nearest embassy – that takes 1-2 working days.
- note: South African Embassy has not yet started issuing Tourist Evisas nor have knowledge of when they are going to or even if they ever will.
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