When I chose Kalimah Tours to perform my Hajj with, I was a bit skeptical about the ‘shifting package’.
What is a shifting package?
In a nutshell, this means one will not be spending their entire stay in the main part of Makkah i.e. the hotels near to Masjid al-Haram.
Instead your package might have an option for you to stay in Makkah and nearby areas such as Aziziya, Rusaifah, Shisha and others. These are suburbs of Makkah and so if one needs to go to Masjid al-Haram, they’ll need public transport.
The package will be slightly cheaper than what it would have been had you had a ‘non-shifting’ package. For some people, the accommodation might be closer to the Jamarat or Mina, so you have access to your accommodation during the main days of Hajj.
People often don’t like this option due to having to literally shift accommodations.
My experience
Alhamdulillah Allah blessed us to have a very good package. We were able to spend seven days in Makkah, then six days in Aziziya: four days before and two days after Hajj. Thereafter we went to Madina for another seven days.
Our Makkah hotel was 5* rated – the Swissotel Al-Maqam – located in the clock tower. At such hotels you get a lot of services like buffet breakfast, room being cleaned regularly, very close to Masjid al-Haram etc.
Once we went to Aziziya, it was totally different; the accommodation didn’t have any stars! The apartment was quite basic and in a residential neighbourhood. There was a small Masjid in front plus a local supermarket, restaurants, pharmacies and a hospital within walking distance. And it was hot! Extremely hot that no one ventured out much between Zhuhr and Asr. I would love to live there for a long period!
Many people in our group were not fond of it. Coming from a 5* hotel to something with no stars at all really tested some of the Hajis; a few even left the same day and went back to Makkah, where the tour group kindly arranged accommodation for them.
But my family and I liked it. It was more homely; the food was locally sourced, and the meat and poultry were also locally hand-slaughtered. We really enjoyed the food provided, especially the roast chicken that was cooked for us when we got back after the Hajj! The tour operator looked after us well mashaAllah.
It was a nice change from being in the hustle and bustle of main Makkah and just being able to relax before the intensive Hajj days.
We felt Aziziya was a good preparation for Hajj – mentally and spiritually. The stay at Mina especially was made much easier from our experience of Aziziya. This was a major benefit of having the shifting package and helped financially too. The only downside of staying at Aziziya was not having easy access to Masjid al-Haram at any time of the day. The tour operator did have regular transport to the Grand Masjid; however, we couldn’t use this option due to our conveniences.
