You pay £99 per person to hold the booking and fix the price. The balance is spread across the months between then and eight weeks before you fly. There is no interest, no fee and no credit check.
That is the whole mechanism in three sentences. What almost nobody explains is what actually happens in between, which is the part people are anxious about.
What this post covers
A month-by-month timeline from enquiry to departure. Worked schedules at four different lead times. And twelve edge cases that come up constantly and are answered nowhere, including what happens if you miss a payment and what happens if a child turns twelve during the plan.
The short version £99 per person holds the booking and fixes the price in writing. The balance spreads across the months up to eight weeks before departure. Interest-free, fee-free, no credit check, no third party. A £499 package booked twelve months out is £99 down and about £40 a month. The busiest month is not the first or the last. It is around ten to twelve weeks out, when documents are due. |
Ask us for a payment schedule on your dates
The timeline, month by month
Assuming you book twelve months before departure. Compress or stretch it depending on your lead time.
Week one: enquiry and quote
What happens
You tell us the month or a date range, how many nights, how many adults and children with exact ages, and your nearest airport. We come back the same day with an itemised quote.
What you get
Airline and flight numbers or the confirmed routing, both hotel names with the distance in metres and the nearest gate, the room configuration, and the total price with the visa stated as included.
What you do
Nothing yet. Take it away and think about it. Nobody will chase you.
Week one to two: the deposit
What happens
You pay £99 per person. We confirm the booking in writing and the price stops moving.
What that means
Whatever happens to fares between now and your departure, you pay the figure on your confirmation. That commitment is the entire point of the deposit.
What you do
Keep the confirmation. And agree the payment schedule with us, which we set out as specific amounts on specific dates rather than leaving vague.
Months two to eight: paying
What happens
Very little, and that is the correct answer. You pay the agreed amount each month and we do not need anything else from you.
What you do
One thing worth doing early rather than late. Check every passport in the party for six months validity from your travel date, not from today. If one needs renewing, doing it in month three is trivial and doing it in month eleven is stressful.
What we do
Nothing visible. Your allocation is held and your price is fixed. If you have questions in this period, your named agent is the same person throughout.
Around week twelve out: the vaccine
What happens
This is the point where the plan stops being passive. The meningococcal ACWY certificate is a visa requirement and it must be dated at least ten days before you arrive in Saudi Arabia.
What you do
Book the appointment. GP practices frequently charge for the Hajj and Umrah ACWY privately, so ask about the cost when you ring. If they cannot see you soon enough, a private travel clinic or pharmacy travel service usually can.
Why now rather than later
Because appointment waits vary and because you want the certificate in hand before documents are due, not after.
Around week ten out: documents
What happens
The busiest fortnight of the whole plan, and the only one that requires real effort from you.
What you send
Passports with at least six months validity, a passport-style photo for each traveller, and the ACWY certificate for each traveller.
How to send them
By WhatsApp, or bring them into the office. Photograph each passport flat, in daylight, with the whole page in frame and no glare. A poor passport scan is the single most common cause of visa delays.
Week eight out: balance clear
What happens
Your final instalment lands and the booking is paid in full. This deadline is set by the airline and the hotel rather than by us, and it applies whoever you book with.
What you do
Nothing beyond making the payment. If something has gone wrong financially, tell us before this date rather than after, because there is far more we can do in advance.
Weeks six to seven: the visa
What happens
We submit through Nusuk, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah platform, and track it to approval. Four to seven working days is standard.
Why not earlier
Because the single-entry Umrah visa now gives you 30 days from issue to enter Saudi Arabia. Applying in month four for a trip in month twelve does not work, which surprises people. We time the submission to your departure deliberately.
What you do
Nothing, unless a document is rejected, in which case we tell you the same day and walk you through the fix.
The day your visa is approved: permits
What happens
The most important thing you do in the whole process, and it is not something an agency can do for you.
What you do
Set up your Nusuk profile with your visa number the same day. Book your Umrah permit, which reserves your slot to perform Umrah at Masjid al-Haram. Then book your Rawdah permit for Madinah.
Why the same day
Because both are free, both release on a rolling basis, and Rawdah slots in particular are frequently taken within minutes. Women have fewer sessions and they go faster still.
Around week two out: the travel pack
What you get
E-tickets, your terminal, both hotel addresses written in Arabic for taxi drivers, your Saudi itinerary, and airport guidance for your specific departure point.
What you do
Screenshot everything. Print your visa. Check your baggage allowance. And if you have not sorted a local SIM or confirmed your roaming, do it now, because you need working data for the Nusuk app at the gates.
Departure
Your named agent is on WhatsApp throughout the trip at Saudi hours. Not a rota and not a shared inbox.
Worked payment schedules
All figures per person unless stated, on our own current pricing.
A £499 package, seven nights, three star
Booked ahead | Deposit | Balance | Spread over | Monthly |
|---|
6 months | £99 | £400 | About 4 months | About £100 |
9 months | £99 | £400 | About 7 months | About £57 |
12 months | £99 | £400 | About 10 months | About £40 |
18 months | £99 | £400 | About 16 months | About £25 |
Other packages, booked twelve months ahead
Package | Total | Deposit | Monthly over 10 months |
|---|
3 star, 10 nights | £545 | £99 | About £45 |
3 star, 14 nights | £625 | £99 | About £53 |
4 star, 10 nights | £679 | £99 | About £58 |
4 star, 14 nights | £769 | £99 | About £67 |
5 star, 10 nights | £745 | £99 | About £65 |
5 star, 14 nights | £825 | £99 | About £73 |
A family of four
Two adults and two children on a ten night three star package. The deposit is £99 each, so £396 to secure the whole booking.
The total is well under four times the adult rate, because children aged two to eleven pay a reduced rate when sharing with two adults and quad sharing means one room rather than two. Send us exact ages and we build the real figure rather than an estimate.
On a typical family of that shape booked twelve months out, the monthly figure lands somewhere in the region of £130 to £150 for the whole family rather than per person.
What the schedule looks like in practice
Specific amounts on specific dates, agreed at the point of booking and confirmed in writing. Not a vague arrangement to pay when you can, which helps nobody.
Twelve things people ask that nobody answers
1. What if I miss a payment?
Tell us before the date rather than after. A missed payment is a conversation rather than a penalty, and we would far rather rearrange the schedule than have somebody go quiet.
What we cannot do is move the eight week deadline, because that is set by the airline and the hotel. So the earlier you flag a problem, the more room there is to solve it.
2. Can I pay more than the schedule?
Yes, any time, in any amount. There is no penalty for paying ahead and no benefit we withhold from people who do.
3. Can I pay it off early?
Yes. Some people clear the balance the moment a bonus or a committee turn comes through, and there is nothing to stop that.
4. What if the price of the same package drops after I book?
Your price is fixed at the figure on your confirmation. That protection runs both ways, which is the deal. In practice fares rise as departure approaches far more often than they fall, which is why booking early is worth doing.
5. What if a child turns twelve during the plan?
A genuinely good question and one nobody asks until it is a problem.
Airline and hotel child rates are usually determined by age at the date of travel rather than the date of booking. So a child who is eleven when you book and twelve when you fly may be priced as an adult.
Tell us every child’s date of birth at the quote stage rather than just their age. We will flag it if a birthday falls before departure and price it correctly from the start, so it is not a surprise at week eight.
6. Can I add a person to the booking mid-plan?
Usually, subject to availability at the time you ask rather than at the time you originally booked. The added person is priced at current rates, not at your locked rate, because we did not hold anything for them.
Ask early. Adding somebody at month three is straightforward and adding them at week nine often is not.
7. Can I remove a person?
Yes, and the position depends on how close to departure you are and what has already been committed on their behalf. We set out the specifics in writing at the time rather than applying a blanket rule.
8. Can somebody else pay on my behalf?
Entirely normal and very common. Adult children paying for a parent, or a family splitting one booking between several people.
One person should hold the booking and be our point of contact even if several people are contributing, because it keeps the paperwork clean.
9. Can each traveller pay separately?
On a group booking, yes, and we do this regularly for mosque parties and extended families. On a family booking it is usually simpler to have one payer.
10. What if my passport expires during the plan?
Renew it, and tell us the new number as soon as you have it. This is why we suggest checking passports in month three rather than month eleven.
Standard UK renewal takes around three weeks, with a one week Fast Track and a same day premium option at extra cost. Do not send your passport off close to the visa submission window.
11. What if my dates need to change?
Usually possible, subject to airline and hotel rules, and it gets more expensive the closer you are to departure. Tell us as early as you can.
Changing at month four is often straightforward. Changing at week six frequently is not, because flights and rooms have been committed.
12. What if I need to cancel entirely?
Treat the deposit as spent, because it has been committed on your behalf. Beyond that, the position depends on what stage you are at, and we set out the terms in writing at booking rather than producing them when you ask.
This is exactly what travel insurance cancellation cover is for, which is why we say buy it at the point of booking rather than later. Most policies only cover cancellation from the date you take them out.
How it compares to other ways of spreading the cost
Method | Interest | Credit check | What to watch |
|---|
Agency instalments | None | No | Not regulated consumer credit. See below |
Credit card, balance carried | Yes | Yes | Interest, and many will not use it for this reason |
Buy now pay later | Sometimes, plus fees | Sometimes | Read whether it is a credit agreement |
Personal loan | Yes | Yes | Interest |
Committee or kameti | None | No | Time your turn to land before the balance is due |
Family pooling | None | No | One person should hold the booking |
Save first, book later | None | No | The price rises while you save |
The one people get wrong
Save first, book later. It feels like the cautious option and it usually costs more, because fares rise as departure approaches and your price is not fixed until you pay a deposit.
Booking early on a deposit and saving toward a locked figure is the same discipline with a better outcome.
On paying without interest
Many of our customers will not use interest-bearing credit, and nobody needs to for this. Our instalments carry none, and the community and family routes carry none either.
Where a specific arrangement matters to you religiously, ask someone qualified rather than us. We arrange travel. The full treatment of paying without riba, including how committee arrangements work, is in our budget guide.
What this is, and what it is not
An honest section, because the distinction matters and nobody in this industry states it.
What it is
A payment arrangement directly with us. You are paying for a service in stages before you receive it, at a price fixed in writing on the day of your deposit.
What it is not
It is not regulated consumer credit. There is no lender, no credit agreement and no third party.
Why that matters both ways
In your favour, it means no interest, no fees, no credit check and no effect on your credit file.
The other side of it is that the statutory protections attached to regulated credit products do not apply here. That is true of every agency instalment plan in this market, not just ours, and it is worth knowing rather than assuming.
What to do with that
Ask any agency, us included, what financial protection applies to your booking and get the answer in writing including any scheme membership number. That is a separate question from how you pay and it is the more important one.
And keep the paperwork
Your itemised confirmation, your payment records, your visa approval and screenshots of your Nusuk permits. More on what a booking confirmation should contain in our deposit guide.
When instalments are not available
Inside eight weeks
The balance is already due by then, so a late booking needs paying in full rather than on a deposit. That is not a rule we invented, it is the airline and hotel timeline.
We tell you this at quote stage rather than after you have paid £99 and assumed the rest could wait. More on short notice bookings on our last minute page.
Under four months
Between four months and eight weeks, there is not enough runway for a meaningful schedule, so it is usually a deposit and a single balance payment rather than instalments.
On some peak bookings
For the last ten nights of Ramadan and certain Christmas allocations, suppliers occasionally require earlier commitment, which shortens the window. We tell you at the point of quoting if that applies to your dates.
The practical conclusion
Instalments reward booking early, and so does the price. Both point the same way, which makes the decision easy.
What to do first
- Decide the month, or a range of weeks. It moves the price more than anything else and it determines what is available.
- Send us the details. Dates, nights, adults and children with dates of birth rather than ages, and your nearest one or two airports.
- Get the itemised quote and check it against the eight items a complete package should contain.
- Pay £99 per person and get the confirmation in writing, with the price stated as fixed.
- Agree the schedule, as specific amounts on specific dates rather than a vague arrangement.
- Check every passport for six months validity from your travel date. Do this now, not in month eleven.
- Then do nothing until about twelve weeks out, when the vaccine and documents come round.
The eight-item checklist is on the flights and hotel page, and the visa timeline including the 30 day entry window is on the visa page.
Prices
Hotel tier | 7 nights | 10 nights | 12 nights | 14 nights |
|---|
3 Star | From £499 | From £545 | From £579 | From £625 |
4 Star | From £629 | From £679 | From £715 | From £769 |
5 Star | From £690 | From £745 | From £790 | From £825 |
Per person, quad sharing, off-peak departures. Includes return flights, both hotels named in writing with the distance in metres, the Saudi Umrah visa, all three transfers and guided Ziyarat in both cities. Held with a £99 deposit per person, balance due eight weeks before departure, interest-free instalments available when you book four or more months ahead.
How we price
We check comparable UK packages every month and sit £20 under the lowest we can find for the same nights and the same hotel tier.
And the price quoted when you pay your £99 is the price you pay, whatever happens to fares between then and your departure. That is the whole reason the deposit exists.
Payment plans: 58 questions answered
Grouped by topic. Direct answer first.
How it works
How does an Umrah payment plan work?
£99 per person holds the booking and fixes the price. The balance spreads across the months up to eight weeks before departure.
Is there interest?
None. No interest, no fees, no credit check and no third party.
Is there a credit check?
No, and it has no effect on your credit file.
How much is the deposit?
£99 per person. On a family of four that is £396 to secure the whole booking.
When is the balance due?
Eight weeks before departure. That deadline is set by the airline and hotel and applies whoever you book with.
When can I spread it?
When you book four or more months ahead.
What does £499 work out at monthly?
Booked twelve months out, £99 down and about £40 a month for ten months.
And booked eighteen months out?
About £25 a month.
Does the price change while I pay?
No. The figure on your confirmation is what you pay, whatever happens to fares.
The timeline
What happens after I pay the deposit?
Very little for several months, which is the correct answer. You pay the agreed amount each month and we hold your allocation.
When does it get busy?
Around ten to twelve weeks out, when the vaccine and documents come round. That is the only period requiring real effort from you.
When should I book the vaccine?
Around twelve weeks out. The certificate must be dated at least ten days before you arrive in Saudi Arabia.
When do you need my documents?
Around ten weeks out. Passport, a photo and the ACWY certificate for each traveller.
When is the visa submitted?
Six to seven weeks out. Four to seven working days for approval.
Why not submit it earlier?
Because the single-entry Umrah visa gives you only 30 days from issue to enter Saudi Arabia. Applying too early does not work.
What do I do when the visa is approved?
Set up your Nusuk profile with the visa number the same day and book your Umrah permit and Rawdah permit. Both are free.
Why the same day?
Because Rawdah slots release on a rolling basis and are frequently taken within minutes. Women have fewer sessions.
When do I get the travel pack?
Around two weeks out. E-tickets, terminal, hotel addresses in Arabic, itinerary and airport guidance.
What should I do in month three?
Check every passport for six months validity from your travel date. Renewing in month three is trivial. In month eleven it is not.
Payment questions
What if I miss a payment?
Tell us before the date rather than after. It is a conversation rather than a penalty and we would rather rearrange the schedule.
Can you move the eight week deadline?
No, because it is set by the airline and hotel. Which is why flagging a problem early matters.
Can I pay more than the schedule?
Yes, any time, in any amount, with no penalty.
Can I clear it early?
Yes. Some people do the moment a bonus or a committee turn comes through.
Can someone else pay for me?
Entirely normal. Adult children paying for a parent is one of the most common arrangements we handle.
Can each traveller pay separately?
On a group booking yes. On a family booking it is usually simpler to have one payer.
Who should hold the booking?
One person, even if several are contributing. It keeps the paperwork clean and gives one point of contact.
Is the schedule fixed dates or flexible?
Specific amounts on specific dates, agreed at booking and confirmed in writing.
What if the package price drops after I book?
Your price is fixed at the figure on your confirmation. The protection runs both ways.
Changes to the booking
Can I add a person mid-plan?
Usually, subject to availability when you ask. They are priced at current rates rather than your locked rate, because nothing was held for them.
When should I ask about adding someone?
Early. Month three is straightforward. Week nine often is not.
Can I remove a person?
Yes, and the position depends on how close to departure you are. We set out the specifics in writing rather than applying a blanket rule.
What if a child turns twelve before we travel?
Child rates are usually determined by age at travel rather than at booking, so they may be priced as an adult.
How do I avoid that surprise?
Give us dates of birth rather than ages at the quote stage. We flag any birthday falling before departure and price it correctly from the start.
Can I change my dates?
Usually, subject to airline and hotel rules, and it gets more expensive closer to departure.
When is changing dates easy?
Month four is often straightforward. Week six frequently is not, because flights and rooms have been committed.
What if my passport expires during the plan?
Renew it and send us the new number. Do not send your passport off close to the visa submission window.
How long does a UK passport renewal take?
Around three weeks standard, with a one week Fast Track and a same day premium option at extra cost.
What if I need to cancel?
Treat the deposit as spent. Beyond that the position depends on the stage, and the terms are set out in writing at booking.
What protects me if I have to cancel?
Travel insurance cancellation cover, which is why you should buy it at the point of booking rather than later.
Comparing methods
Is an agency plan better than a credit card?
On cost, yes, because there is no interest. On statutory protection, a regulated credit product offers more. Both things are true.
What about buy now pay later?
Read whether it is a credit agreement. Some charge interest or fees that function similarly.
Should I save first and book later?
Usually not. Fares rise as departure approaches and your price is not fixed until you pay a deposit.
What is a committee or kameti?
A rotating savings arrangement where a group contribute monthly and each takes the pot in turn. No interest involved.
How do I combine that with a booking?
Time your turn to land at least three months before travel, so it arrives ahead of the balance deadline. Book with the deposit to bridge any gap.
Can I pay without using interest-bearing credit?
Yes, and nobody needs to. Our instalments carry none, and the community and family routes carry none either.
Who should I ask about the religious side?
Someone qualified. We arrange travel rather than issue rulings.
What it is and is not
Is this a credit agreement?
No. It is a payment arrangement directly with us for a service you receive later.
Is it regulated consumer credit?
No, and that is true of every agency instalment plan in this market rather than just ours.
What does that mean in my favour?
No interest, no fees, no credit check and no effect on your credit file.
And the other side?
The statutory protections attached to regulated credit products do not apply. Worth knowing rather than assuming.
So what should I ask about instead?
What financial protection applies to your booking, in writing, including any scheme membership number. That is the more important question.
What paperwork should I keep?
Your itemised confirmation, payment records, visa approval and screenshots of your Nusuk permits.
When it is not available
Can I use instalments on a last minute booking?
No. Inside eight weeks the balance is already due, so it needs paying in full.
What about between four months and eight weeks?
Usually a deposit and a single balance payment rather than a schedule, because there is not enough runway.
Are there exceptions on peak dates?
For the last ten nights of Ramadan and some Christmas allocations, suppliers occasionally require earlier commitment. We tell you at quote stage.
So what is the ideal lead time?
Twelve months for an off-peak month. You get the lowest monthly figure and the best price at the same time.
Does booking early cost me anything?
Only the £99, and it fixes your price. There is no downside to a longer lead time.
What is the very first thing to do?
Decide the month or a range of weeks, then send us the details with dates of birth rather than ages.
Related reading
Get a schedule for your dates
Tell us the month, how many nights, and who is travelling with dates of birth rather than ages. We will send an itemised quote and a payment schedule showing specific amounts on specific dates.
If the monthly figure does not work, tell us what does and we will work backwards. Sometimes that means a different month, sometimes a shorter trip, and sometimes just booking further ahead.
Packages Umrah WhatsApp or call: +44 7737 144 335 Office: 7 Huxley Avenue, Manchester, M8 0SJ English and Urdu. Same-day quotes. Packages from £499pp. £99 deposit, interest-free instalments, balance due eight weeks before departure. |
Ask for a payment schedule on WhatsApp
