Last fall, in November of 2024, my husband and I, and our two older kids, went for Umrah.  We left our little one with family – and I had booked this trip for just $500 out-of-pocket.  This included the cost of airfare, hotel stays, and one-way transport from Makkah to Madinah.  While that may sound insane, it’s certainly possible to save significantly on such a trip thanks to points and miles.  I’d have to say this was one of my hardest redemptions to book just because there were so many moving pieces, but I made it happen for our family, Alhamdhulillah.

Itinerary

I’m based in Dallas, Texas so our itinerary looked like this:

Dallas to Istanbul > Istanbul to Jeddah > Makkah to Madinah > Madinah back to Istanbul > Istanbul back to Dallas

I know, phew!  But award availibility for multiple people, during peak travel times, doesn’t come easy.  So I had to get creative.

Points & Miles Breakdown

Dallas to Istanbul flights on American Airlines:

Cash rate (would have been) – $3,064 ($766/pp)

Miles: 45k miles roundtrip pp, $125 in taxes pp

Total: 180K American Airlines miles, $500 in taxes

Stay in Istanbul at Grand Hyatt Istanbul, 2 nights:

Cash rate (would have been) – 708 Euros (177 Euros/night/room)

Points Total: 2 rooms, 2 nights – 2 Free Night Certificates + 30K points used (15k points/night/room)

Stay in Makkah at Jabal Omar Hyatt Regency Makkah, 2 nights:

Cash rate (would have been) – 4,064 SAR (1,016 SAR/room/night)

Points Total: 2 rooms, 2 nights – 36K points (9K points/room/night)

Istanbul to Jeddah, one- way flight:

(From Jeddah, you take a short ride into Makkah as you can’t fly directly into Makkah.  So this was paid for in cash.)

Cash rate for one-way flight for 4: $556.52

Miles Total: Used 55,652 Capital One miles to cover this flight leg

Makkah to Madinah, one-way transport:

Cost of train ride: $96.48

Miles Total: Used 9,648 Capital One miles to cover this ride

Hotel Stay In Madinah:

Cash cost (would have been) – $1,332.44

Miles Total: Used 133,244 Capital One miles to cover our stay

Madinah back to IST, one-way flight for 4:

Cost of flights: $789.32

Miles Total: Used 78,932 Capital One miles to cover this flight leg.

In Sum

Total Points & Miles Used: 523,476 points and miles across American Airlines, Capital One, & Chase

Total Cash: $500 in airline taxes on American Airlines

How Did I Earn All These Points & Miles?

These points and miles were earned from several cards over the span of a year between my husband and I.  In short, welcome offers are the fastest way to earn lots of points and miles from spending that you already have to do each month.  Meeting the minimum spend on a card of $3,000 – $4,000, over the span of 3-4 months is unfortunately too easy as a family of 5 these days.

Related: FAQs About Points & Miles

Best Cards to Earn American Airlines Miles:

Citi has a suite of co-branded American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards:

American Airlines AAdvantage Mile Up Card

Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard

Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard

Citi/AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard

The cards that tend to come out with elevated offers from time to time are the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard, and the Citi/AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard.

Another great option is the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard.  With this card you just need to make 1 purchase, and pay the annual fee of $99 to earn the bonus miles.  At times, we’ve seen offers to earn even more bonus points if you add an authorized user on the card.  (This card is going away soon, so if you don’t have it – I’d grab it now!)  It doesn’t get easier than this card to earn American Airlines miles.

And while a much slower earning rate, there’s also the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping portal.  I personally use this one anytime I’m shopping online.  If you’re going to shop online, make sure to go through a bank or airline shopping portal to earn points and miles!

Best Cards to Earn Hyatt Points

There are two Hyatt co-branded cards and multiple Chase bank cards that can help you earn points for Hyatt stays.

Here are the personal credit card options:

World of Hyatt Credit Card

Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

Chase Freddom Rise Credit Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

The New Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

Here are the business credit card options:

World of Hyatt Business Credit Card

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card

Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Ink Business Cash Credit Card

Ink Business Premier Credit Card

World of Hyatt is a travel partner of Chase bank.  This means you can transfer Chase points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.  This is probably one of the best redemptions for Chase points!  Keep in mind that while you can hold multiple Chase credit cards, you will need to have a Sapphire product to combine your points into.  After doing so, then you have the option to transfer them to 14 airline and hotel travel partners.

Related:  Why Business Cards Are Essential To Your Points & Miles Strategy

Best Cards to Earn Capital One Miles

Capital One is my second favorite bank after Chase!  While not ideal, I love using these miles to help cover car rentals, boutique hotel stays, and train rides, for example.  This perk is only available on select Capital One cards, and allows you to use miles to cover select travel-related expenses that can’t always be directly booked in points and miles.  Here are the best card options if you want to use your miles this way:

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Capital One Venture X Credit Card

Transferring your points and miles to airline and hotel travel partners will generally always be the best way to get maximum value.  But if saves you money, especially when traveling with a family, it’s a great use of your points and/or miles!

Related:  How Capital One Miles Saved Me Just Under $3,000 For Umrah

Plan Ahead

I can’t reiterate enough the importance of planning ahead!  If you are tied to peak travel times and school calendars, and are traveling with multiple people, you need to plan as far out as possible.  It’s not about spending more to earn points and miles, it’s about leveraging the money you are already spending to earn travel rewards.  For an Umrah trip, I recommend planning 12-18 months out.  It takes time to earn points, find award availability, and then redeem points.

Umrah Doesn’t Need To Cost Thousands of Dollars

It’s possible to book an Umrah trip on points and miles, as you would any other trip.  Yes, it can be a bit more challenging but it’s certainly possible.  And I’m here to show you how it’s done!

You can check out more blog posts here on how to save money on booking Umrah travel.

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.