With an Umrah flight cancelled by the airline, your airport transfer does not change by itself. The airline and the transfer are separate bookings, so an airline’s cancellation, rebooking or refund never moves, cancels or refunds the ground journey. The practical order is: settle the replacement flight with the airline first, then match the transfer to it. If the new flight lands at the same airport, a request for a new pickup time may be all you need. If it lands at a different airport, or the trip is off altogether, speak to the booking team before you cancel anything.
This guide is for the family organiser whose parents’ or relatives’ flight to or from Saudi Arabia has been cancelled, often with little notice. It explains what the airline is responsible for, how to decide what the transfer needs, the difference between a time change and a new booking, what the change costs under our rules, how to keep the two sets of records apart, and what to do if the return flight home is the one that is cancelled. A worked example and a checklist follow.
Two bookings, two sets of rules
When an airline cancels a flight, it is easy to feel that the whole trip has been cancelled. It has not. There are at least two separate agreements:
- The flight, between the traveller and the airline. The airline decides the replacement flight, the refund and any care it provides.
- The transfer, between you and us. The booking terms decide what can change and on what basis.
The airline cannot see your transfer booking, and we cannot see your airline booking. Neither side will act on the other’s behalf, so each needs its own action.
What the airline is responsible for
Start with the airline, because its answer decides everything else. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) sets out passenger rights for cancelled flights in its guidance. On its page about a cancelled flight, GACA says a carrier that cancels must offer available alternative flights and explain the passenger’s right to care, support and compensation. It states that a passenger who does not accept an alternative can end the contract and receive a refund of the full ticket value, including additional fees such as seat selection and baggage fees, and that compensation depends on how far in advance the cancellation was notified.
GACA’s Know Your Rights leaflet describes care that can include refreshments, meals and, for longer waits, accommodation and transport. It also sets out the complaint route: contact the airline first and get a complaint reference number, allow the airline seven days to respond, and if the matter is not resolved, escalate to GACA, all within 60 days of the incident.
Whether those rules apply to a particular flight depends on the route and the airline, and other rules may apply in the country you fly from. Ask the airline which rules cover your ticket. We cannot advise on airline entitlements, but we can say this: nothing the airline offers or refunds changes the transfer booking.
Umrah flight cancelled: the first hour
When the cancellation message arrives, it is tempting to fix everything at once. Resist that, and do these things in order.
- Read the airline’s message in full. Note whether it offers a replacement flight, asks you to choose one, or offers a refund.
- Do not cancel the transfer yet. 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 cancelling on reflex can lose money you did not need to lose.
- Get the replacement flight settled. Accept or choose the new flight with the airline, or decide the trip is postponed.
- Write down the new facts. Flight number, airport, landing date and landing time in Saudi local time (UTC+3).
- Then decide what the transfer needs, using the table below.
If the airline has not yet offered anything, tell the family that the transfer is unchanged for now and that you will update it once the flight is known. That is a clear, honest position.
Airline rebooked my flight: which transfer change do I need?
“The airline rebooked my flight” covers several different situations, and each needs a different response on the ground.
| New flight | What changed for the transfer | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Same airport, same day, different time | Pickup time only | Request a new pickup time in your account |
| Same airport, a different day | Pickup date and time | Request the change with the new date in the note, and ask the booking team to confirm it can be handled |
| Different airport | Pickup place | Contact the booking team; this is not a time change |
| Different final connection, same arrival airport | Possibly nothing, or time only | Check the final landing time and airport |
| No replacement, trip postponed | Whole journey | Contact the booking team before cancelling |
Same airport, new time: a time change
This is the most common case and the simplest. In your account, a paid booking has “Request a new pickup time”, which you can use before the pickup time. Enter the new time, add a short note with the new flight number, and send it. The account shows “Request received. It remains pending until the booking team approves it.”
An approved new pickup time carries a £5 rescheduling fee, converted into the booking currency, which is added to the cash paid to the driver at pickup. The booking team may waive it. A rejected request costs nothing. Only one open request of each type is allowed per booking, so wait for an answer before sending another.
Same airport, a different day
If the replacement lands on another date, the change is bigger than a few hours. Send the request with the new date and time clearly stated in the note, in words as well as figures, and wait for the booking team to confirm what they can do. Overnight flights make date errors easy; our guide to getting the pickup date right on an overnight flight explains how to check the landing date.
A new date may also affect other journeys, such as the day you move from Makkah to Madinah, and the hotel may need to change its dates too. Our note on changing one journey without changing the rest explains how to check each later leg.
A different airport
If the airline’s replacement lands in Madinah instead of Jeddah, or the other way round, the pickup place has changed. Only the time can be changed online; the pickup place, destination, passengers and vehicle cannot. This needs the booking team, or a new booking plus a decision about the old one. Our full guide to a flight moved to another airport walks through it step by step.
A cancelled connection on the way
Sometimes it is not the flight into Saudi Arabia that is cancelled but an earlier leg, such as a domestic flight to a hub or the first leg of a connecting itinerary. The airline then reroutes the traveller, and the final flight into Jeddah or Madinah may change with it, or may stay exactly as it was.
The alert may read like an Umrah flight cancelled outright, but check the final segment before touching the transfer. If the last flight into Saudi Arabia, its airport and its landing time are unchanged, the transfer needs nothing. If any of them changed, use the table above as normal.
New pickup time after a cancelled flight: what to send
A new pickup time after a cancelled flight needs a clear message, because the booking team is reading it without the airline’s email in front of them. Keep it to numbered facts:
- Booking reference.
- Original flight number and landing time.
- New flight number, airport, landing date and landing time in Saudi time.
- Whether passengers and bags are unchanged.
- Whether any later journeys are affected.
Write “was” and “now” beside each changed fact. “Was 06:15 Thursday, now 22:40 Thursday” is quick to read and hard to misunderstand.
If the new itinerary has a connection, use the final flight into Saudi Arabia. Our note on finding the final arrival in a connecting itinerary shows how to pick it out, and our guide to the flight number to enter for an airport pickup covers codeshares.
The 48-hour rule when cancellations come late
Online bookings need at least 48 hours’ notice before pickup. A search inside that window returns “This journey must be booked at least 48 hours in advance.”
That rule applies to new bookings made online. If a late cancellation means you need a brand-new journey, such as a different airport, inside 48 hours, you cannot book it online. Contact the booking team as early as possible and ask what can be done, without assuming it can be arranged.
Airlines sometimes cancel weeks ahead and sometimes on the day. Either way, act on the airline’s message the day it arrives. Every day you wait narrows the options.
Why not book a second transfer as a back-up?
When a flight is cancelled and the replacement is uncertain, some families book a second transfer for the likely new time, and plan to cancel whichever one is not used. It feels safe, but under our rules it can cost money for no benefit once pickup is less than 48 hours away.
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 the unused booking can still incur a cancellation charge inside 48 hours of pickup. Each journey also has a minimum booking value equivalent to £40, so even a short back-up is not a trivial amount. And two live bookings for the same travellers create confusion on the day: two drivers, two sets of messages, and a real chance that the travellers follow the wrong one. Our guide to sorting out an airport transfer booked twice shows how easily that happens even without a cancellation.
The better route is patience for a few hours. Let the airline settle the new flight, then change the one booking you have. If the new flight is inside 48 hours of landing and you need something the account cannot do, contact the booking team rather than doubling up.
What to tell the travellers
When an Umrah flight is cancelled, the travellers themselves are often the most anxious people involved, especially older parents who may hear the news at the airport. They need a short, accurate message, not a running commentary.
Send one message when the new flight is settled, and one more when the transfer change is confirmed. Something like this works:
Your new flight is [flight number], landing in Jeddah at 22:40 Saudi time on Thursday. I have asked the taxi company to move your pickup to match. I will tell you when it is confirmed. You do not need to do anything.
Then, once the account shows the change approved:
Your pickup is confirmed for 22:40 Thursday at Jeddah Airport. There is a £5 change fee, converted into the booking currency, to pay the driver in cash. The driver will call [lead traveller’s number].
Avoid sending guesses or options to the travellers while you are still working things out. If the plan changes twice, tell them only the final version.
When the whole trip is postponed or cancelled
Sometimes there is no suitable replacement and the family decides not to travel on these dates. In that case the transfer is no longer needed, and the question is what happens to the money.
The rule is clear: 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. A full refund for the affected journey applies if we or the transport partner cancel, or cannot supply the journey and no suitable alternative is accepted. An airline cancellation does not turn your cancellation into ours. The full terms are in our cancellation and refund policy.
Before you press “Request cancellation or refund”, contact the booking team and explain what has happened. If the trip is postponed rather than abandoned, ask what options exist for the existing booking. Keep the airline’s cancellation notice, because a travel insurer may ask for it; what your policy covers is a question for your insurer.
If the return flight home is cancelled
A cancelled return flight creates the same problem in reverse, while the travellers are in Saudi Arabia. The departure transfer from the hotel to the airport is still booked for the old flight.
The steps are the same: settle the new flight with the airline, then match the transfer. If the new flight leaves from the same airport, request a new pickup time. If it leaves from a different airport, contact the booking team. Remember that the traveller may also need an extra hotel night, which is between them, the airline and the hotel.
If the airline provides accommodation and transport as part of its care, that is the airline’s arrangement and runs on the airline’s terms. Tell the booking team if your booked departure transfer is no longer needed or needs a new time, so that a driver is not sent to a hotel the travellers have left.
Keep two records, not one
The cleanest way to manage a cancellation is to keep the airline and transfer records apart, and to say clearly which state each is in.
Airline record: the cancellation notice, the replacement itinerary, any refund or compensation request and its reference number, and the dates you contacted the airline.
Transfer record: your booking reference, any request you sent from the account, the booking team’s reply, and the current status in your account.
Use the same plain words for both. “Requested” means you have asked. “Confirmed” means the account says Confirmed. Our note on four clear words for your travel status suggests wording the whole family can use, so no one tells the travellers a pickup is sorted when it is still pending.
Worked example: a cancellation two days out
Hamza Malik in Bradford has booked a Jeddah Airport to Makkah transfer for his parents, Naveed and Shabana, landing at 06:15 Saudi time on a Thursday. On Monday evening the airline cancels the flight and rebooks them onto a flight landing at Jeddah at 22:40 on the same Thursday.
Hamza reads the airline message and checks that the new flight lands at the same airport on the same date. He does not touch the cancellation button. In the account, he opens the transfer booking, chooses “Request a new pickup time”, enters 22:40 Thursday and adds a note: “Flight cancelled by airline. Was 06:15 Thursday, now 22:40 Thursday, new flight number [number], Jeddah, passengers and bags unchanged.”
The account shows the request as pending. The next morning the booking team approves it. Hamza notes that the £5 rescheduling fee, converted into the booking currency, will be paid in cash to the driver at pickup, and tells his parents the amount. He keeps the airline’s cancellation notice and a note of his call to the airline in a separate folder, in case he later claims anything from the airline.
Had the new flight landed in Madinah, Hamza would have contacted the booking team first instead, because a different airport is a different pickup place.
Umrah flight cancelled: checklist for the transfer
- Read the airline’s message in full and settle the replacement flight with the airline first.
- Do not request cancellation of the transfer until the new flight is known and you have spoken to the booking team.
- Write down the new flight number, airport, landing date and time in Saudi local time.
- Same airport, new time: request a new pickup time in your account.
- Same airport, new date: request the change with the date in the note and wait for confirmation.
- Different airport: contact the booking team; do not use a time request.
- Check every later journey, including the departure transfer, against the new dates.
- Keep airline records and transfer records in separate places.
- Tell the family which parts are Confirmed and which are only requested.
Once the airline has confirmed the new flight, check the rest of the trip in the same way. If you need a new journey for the replacement itinerary, open the Pilgrim Taxi ride finder with the new airport, date and time, and book it well before the 48-hour limit.