How we scored Umrah for R9940 all in

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So this might not be the lowest Umrah we ever scored over the years due to time variations and paying ‘full price fare’ where previously we have flown in for R880 ( yes 8 hundred).

Have a look at our 2018 trip we paid R9500 with Business class flights and 29x nights accom in December. See the full breakdown in the Youtube description of the video

This Off-Peak trip, the breakdown for what we spent can be found on this post HERE.

By far this might be one of the most blessed Umrah trips due to maximising the absent crowds that got less and less each day, the front lines especially ability to reach Hajr Aswad 14x in 8 days.

The likes of these are covered in our FREE DIY Umrah Guide from some years back and remain in effect till today.

Flying in:

We used Etihad basic, the sale for these April dates we needed came around the previous December. Approximately R7100 per adult and R6500 per child. (Business outbound on its own was R11,600)

We scored the Space seats, a somewhat premium economy as Gold Etihad Guests, these are the best economy seats in any airline.
The tricks with Etihad are many and require some playing around with such as utilising the stopover for 2days, sometimes we have stopped going and coming and playing with fares on the swop country of booking for forex rates. Sometimes we have used Open Jaw options into Cai and take the cheapest 1way flight into Jed on SV or Flynas or Flyadeal. However for this trip the lowest was Jnb-Jed return with a stopover on return in Auh.

Accommodation:

We had to change and split this multiple times due to Haj visa regulations and maximise the Haramain on the quietest times of the year. The end result was Sheraton for 9days 8 nights on discounted cash rates (2500 sar for the period) this basically gave us All Inclusive, a “private executive lounge” and a upgrade to a 3 bedroom Suite worth R12000 per night As top tier members and then onwards Intercontinental for 4days 3 nights, I had to buy points to top up my balance to the tune of R2500, here again we were upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite as Diamond members, the same suite we scored in January Umrah of 2024 ( here we paid R1300 per night peak booking almost a year in advance)

Transfers:

Jed to Makkah cost R960 in a GMC, negotiated direct at arrivals.

Makkah to Madinah took the train on 50% discount with 2 taxis total came to R3400, it would have been cheaper to just take a Staria door to door for R2200 however time and days were the issue.

The transfer from Hotel in Madinah to Jed was R 2200 in a Staria for departure.

For a full dedicated storyline on this Umrah please click HERE.

Onwards:

With Etihad bookings we were given 3x rooms Free in Abu Dhabi worth R10000 for 2 nights. Highlight reel HERE

In Auh we opted to forfeit the last night and do a beach resort with wavepool, lazy river etc.

Earnings:

Due to the low cost of the Off Peak accom we only amassed a total of 20000 points with bonuses and for the airline we credited to SAS to offset a larger earn to the tune of 4900 miles per guest as Etihad gave peanuts approx 600miles for basic tickets. travel #theSMARTERway

Note:

Scoring Umrah has been our forte since pre 2013 when one could book Ramadhaan rooms for 24000 points a night (its now 150000 points per night) depending your pref.

Traveling #theTLway with maximising scoring can and has been used the world over from Hong Kong to Europe to Usa to Hawaii and every country in-between.

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