Umrah can definitely be an expensive journey.  Add in a family, and it can fare anywhere between $7k – $10k.  (And I’m talking DIY, not group travel.)  Using points and miles can help lower those costs significantly – our family went to Umrah in November of 2024 for just $500 out-of-pocket.  This cost entails all flights for 4, hotel stays, and transport from Makkah to Madinah.  Here’s how to book Umrah travel for just taxes and fees – this post will cover flights.

Flexible Points For The Win

Start with Google Flights.  This is a great place to start for any trip, as it will help you narrow down who’s flying the route(s) you’re interested in, and what points you need to earn.  Since peak travel times like March or November seem to be popular for Umrah travel, I highly recommend planning a year, or more out if that’s when you want to go.  Let’s take a look at what options I have:

Firstly, there’s a couple things to note:

• Each of the 4 major banks: Chase, American Express, Capital One, & Citi have airline and hotel travel partners.  (There is some overlap amongst the banks in travel partners.)  For the maximum value from your points, transfer them to an airline or hotel partner, and book travel direct, not in a bank’s travel portal.
• Be aware of airline alliances – there are 3 major ones: OneWorld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam.  These airline alliances, or partnerships, allow you to book one airline, but actually fly another.  This is often done when you can find better award redemptions with an airline partner.

That being said, earning flexible points from a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, for example, would be your best options.  Here’s why:

• You can use Chase points or Capital One points and transfer them to a program like FlyingBlue – the airline loyalty program of AirFrance/KLM to book one route option we are seeing.  Delta, AirFrance/KLM, and Saudia are all in the same airline alliance.  Your best award rates, often for the same flight, will be found on FlyingBlue, generally speaking.  Both Chase & Capital One have Flying Blue as an airline transfer partner.
• If you want to fly on Turkish Airlines, you will need Citi ThankYou Points or Capital One Miles.  Both banks have Turkish Airlines as an airline transfer partner.
• If you want to fly Qatar Airways, you can book that either on American Airlines (so need to get a co-branded American Airlines card), or you can transfer Chase points to British Airways, and book with them.  You can also transfer your points to British Airways, and then Qatar Airways, and book.  This is possible because the latter 2 airlines share the same Avios currency.  Qatar Airways, American Airlines and British Airways are also all in the same airline alliance: OneWorld.  I would compare routes on all airlines, more importantly taxes, and then book the one that works best for you and your travel companions.

Only transfer flexible bank points to a travel partner once you have confirmed award availibility (and the number of seats).  Transfer points and book your award flights, as close together as possible.  Award availability and rates can change quickly, and often does!

How many points/miles do I need?

Let’s say you want to book the flight that’s flying on Turkish Airlines.  When we search for the route on Turkish Airlines, here are the award rates:

And remember, this is a one-way rate, for 1 person.  If you get a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, or a premium card like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you’d earn 75K miles after meeting the minimum spend.  This is where planning as far out as possible comes in, as award rates can fluctuate (I’m searching for fall avaibility in the spring.)  It takes time to earn and redeem points, and you’ll need to strategize how many points you will need total, and what cards you will need to get.  (In this case, you may want to reconsider the route, and look at other award routes that cost you less.)

Do you need to book a positioning flight?

Also, you’ll notice in your searches that flying out from major cities like Dallas, Chicago, and New York may offer better flight options.  You may need to position yourself to one of those cities – and book what’s known as a positioning flight.  This means that your main flight leg is departing from a city outside of your hometown airport.  This will require additional time, money, and energy.  Check out my post on factors to consider when booking a positioning flight.

Book one-way flights

I’d suggest booking one-way flights, if possible.  As someone who didn’t do this on our last trip, remember – you need need to accomodate time (and energy) to come back to the city where your roundtrip tickets are booked through.

Let’s take a look at our fall 2024 itinerary:

• I booked 4 tickets on American Airlines from DFW to IST, roundtrip.  So we flew from Dallas > Istanbul > Jeddah > Makkah > Madinah > Istanbul > Dallas.  Phew!  I did this because this is the availability I found at the time of booking.  If you can avoid having to fly back to a city, I’d recommend that.  This goes back to booking *as far out as possible* when it comes to award flights.  For reference, I booked in February, for November travel.  I booked one-way flights from Istanbul to Jeddah, and then Madinah back to Istanbul, separately at a later time.
• I could have booked Madinah back to Dallas on another one-way flight, or flown back into another U.S. city like Chicago or New York.  From there, I could have booked a short flight back home to Dallas.  Thinking through options and routes takes time!
• Living in an American Airlines hub, I’d happily fly American Airlines again when it comes to Umrah travel.  But earning American Airline miles is harder, and can only be done from co-branded cards.  Here’s the suite of co-branded American Airlines cards to consider.

In Sum

Umrah is achievable for thousands of dollars less!

For more in-depth information, check out A Guide to Umrah on Points & Miles that I’ve created that walks you through:

• How to search for award flight availability (economy seats) from the U.S., on popular routes to Jeddah & Madinah
• How to search for award flight availability on partner airlines for airlines in the same airline alliance, with video walkthroughs on both
• How to book hotel stays on points, in the 4 major hotel loyalty programs
• What cards are best for hotel stays & flights, as well as thinking through card lifecycles
• How to cover other travel-related costs (such as transportation between the 2 holy cities) that isn’t booked directly using points/miles (like airfare & hotel stays)
• What “free breakfast” means in each of the major hotel loyalty programs, and how to get that perk
• How to stay organized in award travel with the TravelFreely App

I’ve also spent thousands of dollars to go to Umrah with my family, and I know the feeling of planning and saving up.  With points and miles, the journey is closer and more attainable than you think.