I’ve been offered a great fare on Saudia for travel Bombay to Los Angeles (insanely cheap), however the big dampener here is that it calls for a long 15 hour transit in Jeddah on the outbound and a more manageable 5 hours on the inbound. What’s Jeddah airport like? can I kill 15 (mostly day light) hours there. Will they go through my phone / ipad for movies or pictures they deem offensive? I’ve checked the reviews on Sleeping at airports and airline quality, they do seem generally discouraging…but I’d really love to try out an airline and airport, I’ve never flown on before. Ialso do have a couple of Israel stamps on my India passport, however that’s on an older passport, the one which also has my US Visa. The passport I will use to travel does not have any Israel stamps. Thanks for your feedback!
Re: Transiting in Jeddah
Check out for some airport lounges at the Jeddah airport. They may charge you some fee for usage like 30 or 50 dollar but you can get peaceful setting, tv, WiFi and MAY be some area to sleep. Check with Saudia airlines if they have some VIP lounge and can allow you to use it for some extra charges and I found this website, the north terminal at the Jeddah airport has one lounge for international flights.
Re: Transiting in Jeddah
i traveled with Saudia recently but my purpose was to do Umra on my way to New Delhi.
other than the general rudeness and arrogance on the part of Saudis towards the 'miskeens' of Indo-Pak, it was OK for the fare i paid and a chance to do 'Umra.
i suggest you stay at the airport because it's great. if you can arrange for a Transit Visa, you may consider doing 'Umra during your 15-hour wait.
Bon Voyage!
btw, how much did you pay for your fare, if you don't mind telling us? i paid round-trip $895 Canadian from Toronto to New Delhi as compared to $1200-1500 on other western/middle eastern airlines.
Re: Transiting in Jeddah
Thanks for the info guys. I will try the lounge on the outbound wait. I don't feel like going through the visa hassles to exit the airport for any purpose. I paid INR 42860/- for the return flight BOM - JED - LAX - JED - BOM. That's about USD 740! Must be the free fuel ;-) Any idea if they go through your personal stuff whilst clearing security in transit?
Re: Transiting in Jeddah
15-hour transit time is too much, no wonder the fare is cheaper compared to other options.
Saudia does not have daily flights so it must be the reason for 15-hr wait time at a 3rd rated airport
Re: Transiting in Jeddah
Thanks for the info guys.
Re: Transiting in Jeddah
15-hour transit time is too much, no wonder the fare is cheaper compared to other options.
Saudia does not have daily flights so it must be the reason for 15-hr wait time at a 3rd rated airport
no, it's the time the flight from the last destination arrives and the time the next flight to your destination leaves. the connecting flight has already left for the day before your flight arrives.
i think there is a quicker connection using two connections within Saudi Arabia [Jeddeh, Riyadh OR Dammam, Riyadh].