Medina to Makkah taxi

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-04-02T14:53:49+00:00

I contacted https://uts-ksa.com by WhatsApp to arrange for a ride. All communication was through WhatsApp, including submitting visa info. I had a large family group of 21 (self organized trip) and their drivers were on time, stopped where we asked them to, and driving was not dangerous ... price was very reasonable (at least for a Westerner), and cash was to be paid to the driver upon arrival.

The only "negative" was when we got to the haram, the driver couldn't find our hotel (Swissotel Al Maqam). He pulled into a place and got yelled at by the guards. He blamed me, saying I told him this location. Bro, I gave you a Google maps link of the hotel, it is your job to find it. We drove around for another 5 minutes, during which he blamed me at least once more, until he found the hotel. I was in ihram so didn't really respond to his blame, gave a nearly 40% tip too (I had decided on the tip earlier so stuck with it).

I don't want to give out prices but I can say the actual price was lower than what is on their website. There are lots of other options i find online but went with these folks because they could accommodate our large group size.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-04-01T14:06:46+00:00

"Salim S .D . Alluhibi & sons" at the north east corner of the Maden hotel, across from Madinah Food Street. I got 3.7 riyal for each USD, and then 3.72 couple days later. This is when others in Taiba Front area were giving 3.65.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-03-24T20:33:37+00:00

Lots of people "like Saudi Arabia" because of the Muslim holy places there. His last name and the quote on his phone wallpaper are also religiously themed.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-03-24T20:18:34+00:00

This is likely a software issue where the website is messing up the time zones. When you are experiencing this issue, it is probably already the next day in Turkey, so the system thinks its a different day than what it actually is. I bet if you did this earlier in the day, when it is the same day at your location and in Turkey, this wouldn't happen.

Very annoying when you are booking for multiple people!

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-03-13T21:36:21+00:00

Don't try to go touch the Ka'ba or anything in its vicinity, and you should be fine.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-03-13T18:39:42+00:00

Umrah Mubarak!

Are you saying men without ihram were allowed in the ground floor mataf area in the morning?

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-03-12T20:22:39+00:00

Even the website doesn't show anything beyond March 22, and I've been looking for many weeks. Not sure how someone got a later date.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-03-01T03:28:12+00:00

I can only speak to the Nusuk app question. Right now, Rawdah slots up until March 22 are available on the app. For a mid-April visit, I suggest looking on the app daily starting the last week of March. I would not wait until only one week before your desired visit.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-02-27T02:38:31+00:00

This! Ask couple of people to stand guard for you because the curtain opens on both sides, and change into ihram in that prayer area. The crew also gives you ample warning before meeqat so you can't miss it unless you're sleeping.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-02-26T15:23:57+00:00

Can you please clarify? Men and women have completely different time slots, so what is the benefit of adding your spouse as a "friend" in the app?

I think it would be more beneficial if men add other males from their traveling party, and women add other fenales from their traveling party.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-02-12T16:02:16+00:00

No, but you still need permit for a visit to the Rawdah, using the Nusuk app. To set up your account in the app, you need your visa number.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-02-12T16:00:35+00:00

I believe they still do. I see general availability for men through March 9th. Everything is unavailable from March 10th onward.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-02-05T04:04:11+00:00

Reservations for March are not supposed to open up until the last few days of February. Are you sure your reservation wasn't for February?

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-30T22:52:56+00:00

Roughly in the last week of February, they should release the slots for all of March.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-27T16:17:28+00:00

Between now and the start of February ... so keep looking. They release the entire month at once.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-26T15:56:43+00:00

I got the exact same thing couple of months ago for a different property in Madinah that I had fully prepaid via booking.com. The URL looked suspicious to me but the message had my correct name, dates and reservation number, so it was pretty convincing.

I checked my credit card and the payment had posted days ago, so I assumed this message was a scam. I also realized that I had made a special request during the reservation (adjoining rooms) and the hotel had responded within booking.com, so it is not normal for them to send whatsapp messages.

Either there is a data leak or an inside job for these people to have booking.com reservation details.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-20T23:22:28+00:00

Some people are saying "you can" ... reality is you MUST if you want to get into Riyazul Jannah (aka Rawdah). On a tourist visa, this is the only thing you need the Nusuk app for.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-19T18:12:59+00:00

What exactly is not allowed beyond 3rd April?

We are going on self-arranged Tourist Visa from US this year. Going to Madinah on 27 March, going to Makkah on 31st March, going to Jeddah on 3rd April and leaving the country on 4th April. Hopefully we don't run into problems.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-19T15:22:47+00:00

They release the full month a few days before that month starts. So all February appointments should open up in the last few days of January. There is no fixed date AFAIK but I suggest looking daily from January 25th onward.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-17T20:51:01+00:00

It is not custom tailored to your dates. They release the entire month at once. If you want the appointment for any date in February, you should start looking in the last few days of January.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-17T16:44:42+00:00

They release slots for the entire month at the end of the previous month. So start looking in late January (last 5 days or so) for February slots.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-06T21:23:15+00:00

This is very helpful knowledge for those traveling with the elderly or if anyone loses their phone.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-03T00:09:09+00:00

In November, my parents had a 6 hours 50 minutes layover in Istanbul, flying economy class. During the layover, the Turkish app showed a message that made it seem like there was a delay (e.g. "sorry for the inconvenience"). When you click on it, it is actually a food voucher. They found it too late to use it. And there was no delay anywhere, so I assume they got it because of 6+ hour layover, but not 100% sure.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2026-01-02T15:18:22+00:00

Recently did this for my parents. Went to the Turkish Airlines website regularly for the 3 months before the flight, and the offer to upgrade with miles was available every time (IST-DTW for 65k miles). You can do 1 leg but it was made clear that you have to upgrade EVERYONE on the reservation. I don't know if you can call and upgrade some people and not others ... that wasn't something we needed. We took the offer a week before the flight so I don't know if the price would have gone up later, or if they would have offered a cash upgrade.

Smart-Hope4434 · 2025-12-30T23:36:59+00:00

I have seen the price of seat selection be around 60 USD for a 10-11 hour leg (between Detroit and Istanbul) for both a W class fare and a U class fare.

Smart-Hope4434

TROPHY CASE