Umrah for seniors
Most people asking about this are not asking about the price. They are asking whether their mother and father will cope. Here is what actually decides that. From $1,590 per person.
Three things, and the first one matters more than the other two
Nobody sends their parents on Umrah hoping it will be gruelling. These are the levers that decide whether it is, and only one of them is really about money.
The walk
This is the whole trip. A hotel twelve minutes away sounds fine on a website and becomes the reason someone stops going to the Haram by day three. We put older pilgrims in Rotana Jabal Omar Makkah (under 2 minutes' walk) and Pullman Zamzam Madinah in Madinah (under 1 minute's walk), because five saved minutes each way, five times a day, is the difference between praying every salah in the Haram and praying most of them in the room.
The connections
One stop instead of two, and two comfortable hours instead of forty minutes. A tight connection is a gamble at any age. With a parent who walks slowly and a terminal change at the far end of an airport, it is a trip that starts in a panic. We would rather book the slightly longer itinerary that nobody has to run through.
The pace
Fewer things per day, with the afternoon left empty on purpose. Most itineraries are written for people in their thirties and then handed to everyone. We plan the rites around when your parents actually have energy, which for most people is early morning and after Maghrib, and we leave the middle of the day alone.
What we will not tell you
That we can guarantee a ground-floor room, a specific lift, or a wheelchair waiting at the airport. No honest agency can promise a hotel room configuration months ahead, and the ones that do are the ones you find out about on arrival. What we do is ask early, put the request in writing, and tell you exactly what came back confirmed and what did not.
Tell us what they need before anything is booked
- Ask you what they need at the enquiry stage, before anything is booked, rather than discovering it at check-in
- Request ground-floor or low-floor rooms and lift access in writing, and tell you what the hotel actually confirmed
- Use Anwar Al Madinah Mövenpick in Madinah where it suits, because it faces the Masjid and sits on the ladies' side
- Build the schedule so the demanding parts fall in the cool hours
- Include medical insurance in the package, as we do for every pilgrim
- Keep a person reachable throughout, so a problem at 2am is a phone call rather than an email
Prices are based on departures from JFK, IAD, ORD, ATL and LAX. Other US departure cities may incur additional airfare.
Sending the whole family rather than just your parents? Our group and family page covers rooming and pacing across three generations. If you would rather talk it through than fill in a form, call us.
“And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, my Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up when I was small.”
Qur'an 17:24
Plan Their JourneyQuestions families actually ask
Yes. Wheelchairs and electric carts are available at the Masjid al-Haram, and performing tawaf and sa'i by wheelchair is completely normal and completely valid. Plenty of the pilgrims we send do exactly that. Tell us at the enquiry stage so we choose the hotel and the schedule around it rather than treating it as an afterthought.
No. There is no upper age limit on the Umrah visa. What matters is fitness to travel rather than a number, and that is a conversation for your parent and their doctor. We will tell you honestly if what you are describing sounds like it needs a shorter itinerary or a closer hotel.
Bring medication in its original labelled packaging, in hand luggage rather than checked, with enough for longer than the trip in case of delays. A signed letter from the prescribing doctor listing the medications is worth carrying, particularly for anything injectable or controlled. We will remind you of this before departure rather than assuming you knew.
Yes. Proof of the meningitis ACWY vaccine is required for the Umrah visa regardless of age, and it needs to be given a set period before travel rather than the week before. Start that early, because it is the single most common reason a trip has to move.
You can, and many people do. Say so when you enquire and we will make sure they are on a group departure with a leader rather than travelling alone, and that you are the person we call if anything needs a decision.
Not necessarily, and often the opposite. A seven-night trip with rest built into it is usually kinder than a five-night trip that tries to fit the same rites into fewer days. The exhausting thing is density, not duration. We would rather give your parents an unhurried week than a compressed long weekend.
What our pilgrims say
Rated 4.7/5 from 30 reviews on Trustpilot.
“Fantastic ,professional, on time and gret customer service”
“My 2nd Umrah with Qibla Gateway was incredible. Called Brother Ali on Wednesday on short notice, everything was booked by Thursday, and I traveled Friday to Monday. He got me a hotel right across Gate 79 of Masjid Al Haram and the transport team confirmed every ride an hour early. Super smooth service — highly recommended!”
“My husband and I recently came back from our first umrah trip in June using Qibla Gateway's services, and it was a great experience. Our travel agent, brother Asad Khan, was very helpful and walked us through the process each step of the way. As first timers, it can be pretty daunting to keep up with all the procedures, rules and guidelines, but brother Asad and Qibla Gateway made the process smooth and supportive. The trip package was also very reasonably priced.”