A flight home from Makkah is decided by the clock more than any other trip on this site. The road to Jeddah Airport is about 100 km, but the time you must leave depends on your airline's check-in rules, how busy the hotel area is, and how many bags you are carrying. We plan the pickup backwards from your departure time.
Working out your pickup time
Start with your flight. Check when your airline closes check-in for your flight and for your terminal, then add the drive of one to one and a half hours, and then a buffer for the hotel area. Leaving the streets near the Haram can be slow after prayers and on Fridays, and the road to Jeddah is heavier in the Umrah and Hajj seasons.
Send us the flight number, the departure time and your checkout time. We will suggest a pickup time and agree it with you. If the airline moves your flight, tell us and we will change it.
Early flights and night pickups
Many flights from Jeddah leave at night or in the early morning. We take bookings around the clock, so a pickup in the middle of the night is possible. Agree it the day before so the driver is waiting when you come down.
Departing from Jeddah Airport
International departures at Jeddah Airport
Terminal direction sign at Jeddah Airport
Checking out and meeting the car
Hotels near the Masjid al-Haram are busy at checkout, and vehicles may not be able to stop at the door. We will tell you where the car will wait, which may be a short walk away. Ask the hotel if it can bring your bags there, or arrange for someone to help carry them.
Send your pickup, destination, date and passengers and we will confirm the vehicle and price.
Luggage after a pilgrimage
Bags are usually heavier going home than coming. Many pilgrims carry Zamzam water, dates and gifts, so one suitcase often becomes two. Give us the actual number of bags so the car is big enough. An Executive Sedan takes up to three passengers and two bags, a Premium SUV five passengers and four bags, and a Luxury Van eight passengers and six bags. See the fleet for details.
Which terminal
That depends on your airline and sometimes on whether your flight is a pilgrim charter. Look at your ticket or ask your airline. If you are not sure, give us the flight number and we will confirm where to go before the day.
Working out your pickup time: a worked example
Take an imaginary flight that leaves Jeddah at 14:00. If your airline asks international passengers to check in three hours before departure, you want to be at the airport by 11:00. The road takes one to one and a half hours, so the car should leave Makkah by about 09:30 at the latest. Then add a margin for a slow exit from the hotel area and for a possible queue at a checkpoint, and a 08:45 pickup starts to look sensible. Your own numbers will differ, so check your airline's rules first.
Notice what dominates that sum: it is not the drive, it is the rules and the margin. That is why we ask for your flight time rather than just a pickup time, and why we suggest a time back from it instead of accepting the latest one that might work.
Tawaf al-Wada and the day you leave
Pilgrims who make the farewell tawaf before leaving Makkah need to fit it around checkout, luggage and the road. Many choose to perform it the night before or in the early hours, and then return to the hotel to collect bags. If your plan is to go straight from the Haram to the car, tell us in advance, because the pickup point then becomes the nearest practical road to the mosque rather than the hotel door, and your bags need to be in the car before you go.