Simple But Effective Ways to Reduce the Cost of Umrah

An Islamic pilgrimage undertaken by Muslims across the world, Umrah is often referred to as the 'lesser pilgrimage' or the 'minor pilgrimage'. It is a Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and has some spiritual rewards in store for the pilgrim who performs it. It consists of lesser rituals when compared to Hajj, which is among Islam's five pillars and an obligation for all the Muslims who are physically and financially capable of making the pilgrimage. The lesser pilgrimage is not compulsory, but it has its special importance in Islam and can be performed at any time during the year.

Owing to the lesser number of rituals involved, Umrah can be completed in a few hours. It is performed by visiting the holy city of Makkah located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For the pilgrims who reside in countries that are at greater distances from Saudi Arabia, the journey is a long one and involves a considerable amount of cost. There was a time when many Muslims had to put off their plans of performing the lesser pilgrimage owing to lack of finances for the journey. In recent times, they can reduce much of the costs by booking one of the packages for this pilgrimage offered by the tour operators or travel companies specialising in the Islamic religious tours.

It has become convenient to book a package for the minor pilgrimage today as the tour operators now have their mobile-friendly websites. Many individuals across the world have access to internet through their smartphones today and this offers them great convenience in visiting the websites of tour operators and browsing through the packages. They can go through the packages categorised according to the seasons and costs and choose the one best suited to their budgets. They can also make the bookings immediately using their phones.

The prospective pilgrims can lower the cost of their packages by booking several months in advance. Most of the tour operators or travel companies would be willing to provide a considerable amount of discount on packages that are booked early. To make this happen, the individual wanting to make the pilgrimage must be absolutely certain about the departure date and the number of days he or she would be spending in Makkah. Once the dates are decided, he or she can go ahead and book the desired package well in advance to get it at a discounted cost.

By registering online on the websites of tour operators offering the Islamic religious tours, the prospective pilgrims can stay updated on the latest offers and deals offered on the packages. This would help them in getting one of the packages at a reduced cost. The tour operators send alerts in the form of emails or text messages to all the individuals who have signed up on their websites. It would be quite a task to keep deleting all those unwanted emails and messages, but the prospective pilgrims would come across an attractive deal once in a while, which would help them in fulfilling their dream of performing the lesser pilgrimage.