Hajj Suggestions 2014

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

This document is a compilation of suggestions towards hajj agencies and people intended to go through
hajj agencies for Hajj. The suggestions are based on personal Hajj experiences and also from event
management perspective.
1. On the way to Jeddah/Madinah the pilot or the airline crew should be told to inform the hajjis at
the moment of crossing the miqat in order to make the niyah.
2. As many hajjis intend to spend most of their time in ibadah and haramayn (= the two harams of
Makkah & Madinah), having a hajj package which do not include food can be a good idea for a
number of people. Atleast having a hajj package without lunch should be preferable to many.
The reason is there will be very short time between Dhur & Asr salah. As a result people who
pray Dhur inside the masjid have to return all the way to their hotel through the densely
populated inner and outer area of the masjid & under the scorching heat for their lunch and by
the time they reach their hotel and barely finish lunch they have to rush back to the masjid
again. Our hotel was very close by less than 15 mins walk from the hotel room to the inside of
the haramayn during less traffic hours (45 mins one way during Dhur)and the elderly and the
women in our travel group used to get extremely tired rushing to and fro between the hotel and
the masjid during Dhur & Asr. Quite a few then resorted to have lunch from roadside food shops
which were very convenient, economical and also just outside the haramayn.
3. Hajjis should get clarification, confirmation and ensure the kind of services they are promised
once they land in Saudi Arabia. Many travel agencies specially the Bangladeshi ones they once
reached Makkah/Madinah hand over their groups to a third party located in Makkah/Madinah
to provide different services to the hajjis. As a result, communication gaps arise between the
hajjis and the hajj agency with regards to different services. Proper briefing should be given to
the group prior to the trip. For example, for every location (makkah, madinah, minah etc.)
whom should the hajjis contact for their different needs (problem with toilets, a/c, beddings,
food, etc.) should be briefed to the group members along with their contact details. We had to
struggle on a regular basis in order to get service with regards to room cleanliness, food etc. as
we didnt know who was the travel agency representative and who was outside third party
assigned by the travel agency. Most of the time the third parties were unable to solve problems
due to various reasons and this is an excuse they use. The travel agencies will say that they have
given all the necessary money to the third party and the third party will say they were not given
sufficient money to meet such and such needs. This is something which we experienced on a
regular basis throughout our travel. So the hajjis prior to the trip should get clear confirmation
who will be responsible for what services and where.
4. Travel groups should be kept to maximum 30 or 40 this is because the coasters or bus which are
available for the hajjis to travel between makkah/madinah/minah/arafah are either 30 seater or
40 seaters or the travel agency should ensure that the entire group should be kept in one bus.
Otherwise some of the travelers will be forced to board another bus whilst their family or
friends have to board another bus while travelling to minah or arafah. We were approximately
60 people in our group and we rented two coasters for our travel for minah/arafah and we
found the coordination and be in a close range while traveling amongst the two coasters very
much challenging. Because at times we were either far apart whilst traveling or one bus had to
make a stoppage due to some reason [for going to the toilet, tire change etc.] Also choosing a
coaster proved a bad choice for us as there were no leg-space neither space to keep our bags.
Whatever the group number, all group members should be kept in one bus at all times. We had
big buses for our travel from Jeddah to Makkah and Makkah to Madinah and Madinah to
Jeddah.
5. The returning from Arafah to Makkah can be very very hectic which the hajjis have to bear with
patience. Because at this moment the roads will be extremely overcrowded with massive traffic,
as a result it takes about 6-7 hours to travel a mere 23/25 km distance. Most likely because of
this heavy traffic, the bus engines will get very hot and as a result the air-conditions will stop
working irrespective of big buses or small coasters.
6. There should be constant presence of travel agency representatives with the group at all times
i.e. hotel room number of the agency representatives should be known to all while the group is
at the hotel and also during traveling the representatives should be physically present with the
group.
7. Travel agencies should ensure availability of transport on time while going to
Minah/Arafah/Madinah or even for visiting some of the historical places. There were at times
where the group had to wait on the road several hours for the bus.
8. If the travel agencies took the responsibility of serving food to the hajjis then they must ensure
serving of food on time within 20/30 mins after salah. This is related to hajjis going for salah to
the masjid on time, if meals are served late then the hajjis will not be able to attend the prayers
on time in the masjid.
9. Room/toilets/food wastes should be cleaned on a regular basis and the travel agency must
ensure that the hotel staffs do clean them routinely. With regards to food waste the hajjis
should be informed where the dustbins are and how to dispose the waste.
10. The agencies should employ/assign sufficient number of people/reps to provide services to the
hajjis, otherwise there will be huge burden on a few people and who will be eventually not able
to provide service to the hajjis at times of need.
11. There are lots of flies in the hotel rooms specially in makkah, so spray should be used everyday
or every other day to eliminate them.
12. In all the hotel rooms there should a list of contact details for all purposes such as whom to
contact for food, room cleaning, queries on hajj formalities, travel agencies etc.
13. *It is absolutely mandatory and a must that hadi formalities (animal for sacrifice/slaughter)
should be done through Saudi govt./bank by purchasing coupons from various hadi booths. In
no circumstances the hajjis should give the money to the travel agencies nor should the travel
agencies take this responsibility. This issue is one of most sensitive and almost all the time
whenever the travel agency take responsibility of this matter, it creates huge mistrust between
the hajjis and the travel agency. This is also one of the ways where some travel agencies commit
fraud as well. Hajjis must not opt for any other choice other than purchasing hadi coupons from
govt. approved booths. These booths are available in different places in the vicinity of the
haramayn. I saw one such booth in makkah tower and also infront of the entrance to masjid an
nabi in madinah.
14. Breakdown of costs such as daily food costs per person, transport costs, hadi cost (in case the
travel agency takes responsibility of providing hadi), etc. should be presented to the hajjis prior
to the trip.
15. For the hajj formalities in mina, arafah etc. the Bangladesh travel agencies a times hire local
Bangladeshis living in Saudi to act as a guide for the hajj groups. The travel agency should inform
about these external parties prior to the trip otherwise there will be much confusion between
the travel agency representatives and the external parties.
16. Tent allocation in mina should be done professionally, women should be kept in one tent and
the men should be kept in another.
17. Travel agencies must ensure that bus drivers are well mannered in their interactions with the
hajjis. Ours were very rude. While travelling to mina and arafah, the travel groups tend to take
breaks for washroom needs at different places as the entire road is jammed. Then while
resuming the journey the drivers in more than one occasion started the coaster out of a sudden
and started to drive the bus without counting the passengers. Alhamdulillah we were lucky that
none of us were left behind. Otherwise hajjis would have been deserted/left out in the middle
of the journey on the road.
18. The hajj agency representatives in addition to the external third parties (if hired) should be
present with the group during the mina/arafah days.
19. Either travel agency should inform the hajjis that they have to pay gratuities (bokhshish) to the
luggage porters in Jeddah/Makkah/Madinah or if the travel agency takes responsibility of that
then they must ensure that. Otherwise will create chaos in every single occasion.
20. *Last but not the least, while allocating rooms to the hajjis, it should be mentioned prior to the
trip which rooms have high commode and which ones have low commode (pan) or can be
otherway around that is the travel agency should ask the group members who are comfortable
with low commode and who are not comfortable with low commode. Then after that while
allocating the rooms that should be considered.
May Allah (swt) makes it easy for all of us to perform Hajj as per his likings and accept our efforts.
Please do remember to keep us in your prayers.
Fi Amanillah