You can change an Umrah transfer after booking in one way online: by asking for a new pickup time from your account. Every other change, such as a different pickup place or destination, more or fewer passengers, or a different vehicle, needs the booking team, or a new booking plus a cancellation request. A time change is a request, not an instant edit: it stays pending until the booking team approves it, and an approved new time carries a £5 rescheduling fee, converted into the booking currency and added to the cash paid to the driver at pickup.
This guide is for the family organiser who has already paid for transport and now has to deal with a change: a later flight, a new hotel, an extra relative, a son who can no longer travel. It explains which changes you can request yourself, which ones need a person to look at them, what each route costs under our rules, how to write the change so that nothing is misread, and what to do when time is short. There is a decision table, a worked example and a checklist.
Should you change an Umrah transfer after booking at all?
Not every new detail needs a change request. Before you change an Umrah transfer after booking, ask whether the booking is actually wrong now, or only slightly different from what you pictured.
Some situations clearly need action:
- the flight now lands at a different time, and the gap is large;
- the travellers will be at a different hotel;
- the party or the luggage no longer fits the vehicle you booked.
Others often do not:
- the airline has changed the flight number but not the time or airport;
- a relative would prefer to leave a little later, but the booked time still works;
- the hotel has moved the family to another room in the same building.
Small differences in landing time are the grey area. Each vehicle class has an included waiting allowance, but it is not shown on search results, so do not assume a particular number of minutes. If a flight moves by a small amount and you are unsure whether the booked time still works, ask the booking team to confirm the waiting position in writing rather than guessing. That one question can save a fee and a pending request.
The same test applies to the travellers’ wishes. A request that changes nothing practical still costs £5 if approved, and it adds one more version of the plan for the family to keep track of.
Before you change anything: what kind of change is it?
Most change requests fail because the organiser starts with the solution (“please move us to Thursday”) rather than the facts that changed. Before you open your account, write down in one line what is different now compared with the booking.
The changes that families usually face fall into five groups:
- Time. The same journey, the same people, a different pickup time.
- Place. A different hotel, a different airport, or a different destination.
- People. Someone joins, someone drops out, or a child is added.
- Vehicle and equipment. A larger vehicle, a child seat or a wheelchair requirement.
- Stops. A stop added, removed or moved.
Only the first group can be requested online. The others all change what the journey is, not just when it happens, so the booking team needs to see them.
Request a new pickup time: the change you can make online
In your account, a paid booking has an option to “Request a new pickup time”. You can use it before the pickup time. You enter the new time, which must be in the future, and you can add a note.
After you send it, the account shows: “Request received. It remains pending until the booking team approves it.” Until the approval arrives, the original time still stands. Do not tell the travellers the new time as if it were settled.
Three rules shape how you use this option:
- One open request of each type per booking. If you have already asked for a new time and it is still pending, wait for the answer before sending another. If the flight changes again in the meantime, say so to the booking team rather than stacking requests.
- Only the time. The request cannot change the place, the destination, the number of passengers or the vehicle.
- Paid bookings only. The option appears for bookings that have been paid.
If the new time falls on a different day, write the new date clearly in the note, in words as well as figures, so the booking team can confirm exactly what you mean.
What an approved new time costs
An approved new pickup time carries a £5 rescheduling fee. It is converted into the booking currency, so on a booking in riyals it is about SAR 25. The fee is not charged online. It is added to the cash due to the driver at pickup, and your account shows the amount as “Cash due to driver”. The booking team may waive the fee. A rejected request costs nothing.
On Pilgrim Taxi the journey itself is paid in full online, so for many families this fee is the only cash due on the day. Tell the traveller the amount before they set off, so it does not come as a surprise at the car. The checkout explains that cash due to the driver is a separate payment made directly to the driver and is not covered by any refund from us.
Changes that need the booking team
Changes that need the booking team are everything that alters where the journey goes, who is in it, or what vehicle it needs. The table shows the usual cases.
| What changed | Can you do it online? | Usual route |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup time, same journey | Yes, as a request | Request a new pickup time in your account |
| Pickup time on a different day | Yes, as a request, with the date in the note | Request a new pickup time and ask the booking team to confirm |
| Hotel or pickup place | No | Contact the booking team with the booking reference |
| Destination | No | Contact the booking team |
| Arrival or departure airport | No | Contact the booking team; see our airport change guide |
| Extra passenger or extra bags | No | Contact the booking team; a larger vehicle may be needed |
| Fewer passengers | No | Contact the booking team before deciding anything |
| Child seat or wheelchair requirement | No | Contact the booking team |
| Stop added, removed or moved | No | Contact the booking team |
A different hotel or pickup place
A move to another hotel, even one close by, changes the address the driver goes to and may change the distance. Send the booking team the full name of the new property, its street address and the hotel’s own booking confirmation. Our guide to a hotel change within the same brand explains how to avoid naming the wrong branch.
A different airport
If the airline moves the flight to Madinah instead of Jeddah, or the other way round, that is not a time change. It is a new pickup place, often hundreds of kilometres away. Our full guide to a flight moved to another airport walks through the steps.
More people or more bags
Search results show only the vehicle classes that pass the capacity check for the party and luggage you entered. If someone joins, or the family adds two large cases, the vehicle you booked may no longer be suitable. For example, a Hyundai Staria is listed for six seats and two large bags, while a Hyundai H1 family van is listed for seven seats and six large bags. Ask the booking team whether the change can be made on the existing booking or whether a new booking is needed.
Fewer people
It is tempting to assume that a smaller party means a refund or a smaller car. Under our rules, the passenger count cannot be changed online, and moving to a smaller vehicle usually means a new booking plus a cancellation request on the old one, which is subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept) if the customer cancels. Often the sensible answer is simply to keep the vehicle you have. Speak to the booking team first.
Stops, seats and equipment
A stop is part of the journey, so adding one changes the route. Child seats and a wheelchair requirement are confirmed for a specific vehicle, so they need to be checked again. Our guides to describing an extra stop and child car seats for an Umrah airport transfer cover the detail.
New booking plus cancellation: know the cost first
Sometimes the booking team will tell you that a change cannot be made to the existing journey, and that the practical route is a new booking for the new details plus a cancellation request for the old one. Before you do that, understand the rule: bookings are subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept) if the customer cancels. So this route means paying for the new journey while any refund of the old payment is assessed under our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept).
That is why the order matters:
- Ask the booking team first, with the booking reference and the change.
- Wait for a written answer.
- Only then make any new booking, and only then send a cancellation request if you still need one.
When you do request a cancellation, you give a reason, and the acknowledgement email explains that the booking is not cancelled until an approval notice is issued. The rule the other way is also worth knowing: if we or the transport partner cancel, or cannot supply the journey, and no suitable alternative is accepted, you receive a full refund for the affected journey. Our cancellation and refund policy sets this out.
Write the change down, do not send a voice note
Changes often start as a voice note from a relative in Saudi Arabia: two minutes about a delayed bus, a new hotel and an uncle who may join. That note is useful context, but it is not a change request. The booking team needs a short written message they can act on.
Use a “was” and “now” layout:
- Booking reference: the reference shown in your account.
- Journey: Makkah hotel to Madinah hotel.
- Was: pickup 09:00, Sunday.
- Now: pickup 13:00, Sunday.
- Unchanged: passengers, bags, vehicle, pickup place, destination.
- Reason, in one line: hotel checkout moved.
Listing what has not changed is as useful as listing what has. It stops anyone assuming the whole booking needs rework.
Before sending, read the message back to the relative who asked for the change. Times such as 15:00 and 5:00, or 12:30 in the morning and 12:30 in the afternoon, are easy to confuse when spoken. Our note on asking for a read-back, not just “yes” explains the habit.
What “pending” means for the travellers
Between sending a request and getting an answer, the booking has two versions: the confirmed one, and the one you have asked for. The travellers need to know which one to act on.
Tell them plainly: “We have asked to move the pickup to 13:00. Until it is approved, the time is still 09:00.” Then send one message when the answer comes, stating the time that now applies. If the request is rejected, the original time stands and there is no fee.
Avoid making the travellers carry both times without a label. A parent reading “9 or 1” on a phone in a hotel lobby cannot tell which one the driver is working to.
Changes close to the pickup time
The online request for a new pickup time can be made before the pickup time. But a request is not an approval, and a change sent very late leaves little room for the booking team to act on it. Send it the moment you know.
New bookings follow a firmer limit. Online bookings need at least 48 hours’ notice before pickup, and a search inside that window returns “This journey must be booked at least 48 hours in advance.” If a late change needs a completely new journey, such as a different airport, you cannot book it online inside 48 hours. Contact the booking team at once and ask what can be done, without assuming it can be arranged.
When the airline causes the change
Many changes start with the airline. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation sets out, on its page about a cancelled flight, that a carrier that cancels must offer available alternative flights and explain the passenger’s right to care, support and compensation. Settle the new flight with the airline first, then match the transfer to it.
The transfer does not move by itself when the flight moves, because the two are separate bookings. Our guide to what happens to your transfer when an Umrah flight is cancelled covers that situation in full.
Keep one current record after any change
Once a change has been approved, the family should have one version of each journey, not two. Update whatever the travellers carry: the printed sheet, the pinned message in the family chat, the note on the phone. Remove the old time rather than crossing it out, because a crossed-out time can still be read at a glance in a hurry.
Check the account as well. It shows the booking, its status timeline, the payment and any cash due to the driver. If what you see there does not match what you were told, ask the booking team before the day, not at the kerb. If you are keeping records for insurance or for relatives who shared the cost, our guide to the receipt and the booking confirmation explains which documents to keep once a change is approved.
Worked example: the Hussain family’s two changes
Bilal Hussain in Bradford has booked two journeys for his parents, Anwar and Shabana: Jeddah Airport to their Makkah hotel on a Wednesday afternoon, and Makkah to Madinah the following Monday. Both read Confirmed.
Change one: a later landing. Ten days before travel, the airline moves the Wednesday flight from 13:10 to 17:45, same airport. Bilal writes down “time only”. In the account he selects “Request a new pickup time” for the airport journey, enters the new time and adds a note with the new flight number. The account shows the request as pending. He tells his parents: “We have asked for 17:45. Until it is approved, the old time stands.” Two days later the request is approved. The account now shows the new time and a cash amount due to the driver equivalent to £5 in the booking currency. Bilal tells his father the amount.
Change two: a cousin joins. A week later, Bilal’s cousin Hamza decides to travel with his parents from Makkah to Madinah. That is a change of passengers, which cannot be requested online. Bilal does not make a new booking straight away. He writes to the booking team with the booking reference, the journey, “was: two adults, three large cases” and “now: three adults, four large cases”, and asks whether the booked vehicle still fits. The booking team replies in writing with the route to follow, and Bilal acts only once he has that answer.
What Bilal avoided. He did not cancel anything first, did not send a voice note, and did not tell his parents about either change until each one was settled.
Checklist: before you change an Umrah transfer after booking
- Write down, in one line, exactly what has changed.
- Decide whether it is a time change or something else.
- For a time change, use “Request a new pickup time” and add a clear note.
- For anything else, contact the booking team with the booking reference.
- Use a “was” and “now” layout and list what is unchanged.
- Read the change back to the relative who asked for it.
- Send only one open request of each type, and wait for the answer.
- Do not make a new booking or cancel anything until you have a written answer.
- Tell the travellers which time applies while a request is pending.
- If a new time is approved, tell the traveller the cash due to the driver.
If the answer is that you need an extra journey, the same rules apply as for any booking. Search it in the Pilgrim Taxi ride finder at least 48 hours ahead, pay once, and wait for the status to read Confirmed.