Airlines
You do not need to go to New York/Seattle in all cases. It depends upon the city of departure, and flight availability.
It is best to go with a group and return with a group, in order to avoid additional delays during arrivals and departures from Saudi Arabia. But, you can get your own ticket if you are going to your country first to drop your children. (You must get our approval before purchasing your ticket, because you must arrive and leave Saudi Arabia at a certain time)
Hajj seats are blocked seats and are treated as group booking. The airline normally doesn’t provide this information except until a month before departure.
It is best that you call the Airline 72 hours prior to departure and make and changes to your meal plan and seat assignment, or if you have any additional requests.
This is dependent upon airport and airline rules and regulations. If permitted then you may bring it accordingly.
Visa
The process takes roughly 2 weeks in the embassy. However, prior to transporting the passports, they must be prepared and organized by our staff and entered into the Saudi consulate site. As such, we request that passports be sent 2 months prior to departure.
The consulate releases passports, with visas, a few days before departure. The consulate process visas on dates of departure, those who are traveling first will get their passports back first. However, in some cases we may receive the passports earlier.
No, we do not sell or provide visas to individuals who are not performing hajj with ArRahman Hajj.
The Saudi Consulate has been excellent in issuing visas to all those who apply and meet the visa requirements.