Compare Hajj operators the way the outcome is actually decided — not by who ranks themselves first.
This page gives you three things: what your US organizer is responsible for and what the Nusuk package already covers, three checks you can run on any company using official sources, and a weighted scoring sheet you fill in for each candidate. Work through it in about an hour and you will have a shortlist you can defend to your family.
Scoring sheet · 100 points
Season · Hajj 2027 / 1448
What the Package Covers, and What Your Organizer Adds
Old advice misleads because it describes a market that no longer exists. Before 2022 a US agency held a quota and sold you a Hajj package. Today the package is bought on the Nusuk platform from a licensed Saudi provider, and a US organizer works around it.
The part most comparison articles get wrong is assuming a fixed split. There isn’t one. Nusuk describes its All-Inclusive packages as covering “visa issuance, flights, accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, catering, transportation between cities, Mashair services, and guidance” — so flights and religious guidance can sit inside the package. Shifting and non-shifting packages differ again, and providers vary duration and hotel tier on top. In other words, what your organizer needs to supply depends entirely on which package you choose.
- The package itself, and its Mina camp category
- Hotel tier, duration, room occupancy
- Your Hajj visa and permit
- Whatever else that package includes — possibly flights, catering, intercity transport and guidance
- Paid inside the platform, from your own e-wallet
- Help deciding which package fits you
- Anything the package does not cover — often the flight from North America
- A group leader or imam travelling with your group
- Pre-departure education and support on the ground
- Invoiced separately, in writing
This is why a list of company names, on its own, cannot answer the question. The same Saudi packages appear to every buyer on the platform; what differs is which one you pick and what your organizer contracts to add. Our guide to who really runs Nusuk Hajj packages covers the provider side in detail.
The Four Kinds of Operator in the US Market
Rather than naming companies, it is more useful to recognise the four shapes they come in. Most US organizers fall clearly into one, and each has a predictable strength and a predictable weakness.
| Type | How it works | Suits | What to check hardest |
|---|---|---|---|
| National agency with branches | Multiple US offices, large annual volume, standardised programmes | People who want a physical office to walk into | Who actually leads your group, and whether the person you met in the office travels |
| Community or mosque group | Organised around a congregation, often led by its own imam | People who want to travel with a community they know | Who handles logistics and refunds if the volunteer organiser cannot |
| Boutique operator | Smaller groups, one team running registration, flights and on-site support | First-timers and families who want close guidance | Depth of the team — what happens if one key person is unavailable |
| Reseller or broker | Sells a programme that a different company actually operates | Rarely the right answer for Hajj | Whether anyone from the company you paid will be in Makkah at all |
Three Checks You Can Run Yourself
These do not depend on anyone’s opinion, including ours. Each one uses an official source and takes minutes.
Several US states require travel sellers to register, and the registers are public. California’s programme, run by the Attorney General’s office, requires registration and requires most sellers to hold customer payments in a trust account or carry a bond. California also runs the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation, a fund that can compensate consumers when a registered seller fails.
- California Seller of Travel Program — searchable register; the office also tells consumers to ask the company for its one-page registration acknowledgement and check the expiry date
- Florida Sellers of Travel, run by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
- Washington Sellers of Travel, run by the Department of Licensing
Be clear about what this does and does not tell you. California’s own guidance is blunt: “registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California” (Bus. & Prof. Code § 17550.24). A valid registration signals that the seller “has at least followed the law to be registered” — it is explicitly “not assuring that a company is reputable.” So treat it as a floor, not a recommendation.
Requirements also depend on where a company operates and who it sells to, so absence from one state’s register is not automatically a problem. What is informative is the answer you get when you ask. A company that knows its status and produces the document is a different proposition from one that is irritated by the question.
Every Nusuk package is operated by a licensed Saudi company. Your US organizer works alongside one. Ask which, get the name in writing, and ask how long they have worked together. This single question does more filtering than any review score: an organizer with a real relationship answers in a sentence, and one that does not have a provider yet will hedge.
Then check that the name you were given appears on the platform when packages are released, rather than taking it on trust.
The Saudi package price is paid inside Nusuk, from your own e-wallet, to the licensed provider. No US company should ever collect that amount from you. Separate charges for genuinely separate services — a flight booked for you, for instance — are normal, but they should be invoiced clearly and in writing.
The Federal Trade Commission’s guidance for travel buyers is short and worth following exactly:
- “Don’t sign or pay until you know the terms of the deal. Get a copy of the cancellation and refund policies before you pay.”
- “Don’t pay anyone who says you can only pay with wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.”
- “If someone says you have to decide whether to buy a travel package… right away, don’t do it.”
Source: FTC, Avoid Scams When You Travel. Our own refund and cancellation guide explains what a reasonable written policy looks like in this industry.
The Scoring Sheet, and How to Total It
Take two or three candidates and score each one from 0 to 5 on the seven criteria below. The weights are our editorial judgement, not an industry standard — they reflect what we have found decides how a pilgrimage goes rather than what is easiest to market. If you disagree with a weight, change it; the method still works.
- Points for one criterion = your mark ÷ 5 × the weight.
- Example: you give a company 4 out of 5 on “named people on the ground in Mina”, which carries a weight of 25. That is 4 ÷ 5 × 25 = 20 points.
- Add the seven results together. The weights total 100, so a perfect company scores 100.
- 5 — answered specifically, in writing, without being chased.
- 3 — answered, but vaguely, verbally, or only after you pushed.
- 0 — no answer, deflection, or irritation at the question.
- Use 1, 2 and 4 for the in-between cases. A blank is not a zero — go back and ask.
| What you are scoring | Weight | How to score it |
|---|---|---|
| Named people on the ground in Mina | 25 | Names and roles given, or vague reassurance |
| Saudi service provider named in writing | 20 | Named and verifiable, or “we’ll confirm later” |
| Written cancellation and refund policy | 15 | Sent before payment, or promised afterwards |
| Payment path matches Nusuk rules | 15 | Package paid in-platform, extras invoiced separately |
| Pre-departure education programme | 10 | Scheduled sessions, or a PDF |
| Reachability before you are a customer | 10 | How fast and how well they answered these questions |
| Registration and paperwork transparency | 5 | Documents produced on request |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Your worksheet
Print this section, or copy the table below, and write each candidate’s mark in its column. Three candidates is usually enough; more than four and the exercise stops being useful. There is also a spreadsheet version that does the arithmetic for you.
| Criterion | Weight | Company A | Company B | Company C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named people on the ground in Mina | 25 | |||
| Saudi service provider named in writing | 20 | |||
| Written cancellation and refund policy | 15 | |||
| Payment path matches Nusuk rules | 15 | |||
| Pre-departure education programme | 10 | |||
| Reachability before you are a customer | 10 | |||
| Registration and paperwork transparency | 5 | |||
| Total out of 100 | 100 |
Write your 0–5 mark in each cell, then convert: mark ÷ 5 × weight.
Hotel photographs and website quality score nothing here, because neither helps you at two in the morning on 10 Dhul Hijjah. If you want the long-form version of these questions to put to a specific company once your shortlist exists, our twelve questions to ask before you pay is the interview script. This page is the stage before that one.
Red Flags That Should End the Conversation
- A guaranteed Hajj visa or a “reserved spot” outside Nusuk. Neither exists. This one is not a warning sign; it is the end of the discussion.
- A request to pay the Saudi package price to the company. That money belongs in your own e-wallet, inside the platform.
- Any request for your Nusuk password or a verification code. No legitimate organizer needs either, ever.
- Payment only by wire transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency. The FTC calls this a sure sign of a scam, and it is one of the few things in travel that is that black and white.
- Pressure to decide today for a season whose packages have not been released.
- A refund policy that will be “sent later.” Later is after your money has moved.
- A price far below everything else, with no explanation of why. Ask what the difference buys. Mina camp category, hotel distance and duration are the usual answers; if none of them accounts for the gap, something else does.
Hisar Tour, Measured Against the Same Criteria
A page that tells you to demand specifics should give them. Here are our answers against the seven criteria above, including the ones we cannot answer yet. Where something is not settled for the 1448 season, it says so rather than filling the gap with reassurance.
| Criterion | Our answer as of 21 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Named people on the ground in Mina | An experienced imam or group leader travels with every group. The name attached to a specific 1448 departure is not announced yet, because departures are built after packages are released. Ask us for it before you commit, and hold us to giving it in writing. |
| Saudi service provider named in writing | Not announced for 1448 yet. Providers and their packages are published on Nusuk when the season opens. We will give you the name in writing at that point — and you should check it appears on the platform rather than taking our word for it. |
| Written cancellation and refund policy | The Nusuk package is governed by the platform’s own terms, which you accept inside it. For anything we arrange separately, we set the terms out in writing before you pay. Our refund and cancellation guide explains how these policies are normally structured in this industry. |
| Payment path matches Nusuk rules | We never collect the Nusuk package price; it is paid inside the platform from your own e-wallet to the licensed Saudi provider. Anything we do charge you for is set out in writing before you pay it. We never ask for your Nusuk password or verification codes. |
| Pre-departure education programme | Our seminar series runs from Ramadan until departure, covering the rites and the realities of Mina, Arafah and Muzdalifah. The 1448 session dates are not published yet — Ramadan 1448 is expected to begin around 8 February 2027. |
| Reachability before you are a customer | WhatsApp +1 201-201-8992, in English and Turkish, before you are a customer. The fastest way to test this criterion on us is to use it. |
| Registration and paperwork transparency | We are a US-based organizer affiliated with UAMA, the United American Muslim Association, and its mosque network. For our seller-of-travel registration status in a given state, ask us and we will send the document — the same thing this page tells you to ask everyone. |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways if a row is cut off.
Three of those rows say “not announced yet”. That is the honest state of the 1448 season in September 2026, and any company giving you a confident answer to them today is telling you something it cannot know. What you can judge us on right now is the last four rows — and how quickly we answer when you ask about the first three.
What we will not claim: a ranking, an award, a customer count or a years-in-business figure that we have not put in front of you. If those numbers matter to your decision, ask us directly and we will answer in writing — and ask everyone else the same way.
Put us through your own checklist
Send us the scoring sheet questions before you commit to anything. We will answer every one of them in writing, including the awkward ones.
Hajj 2027 Pre-Registration
WhatsApp +1 201-201-8992
A UAMA community organization · The Nusuk package price is never paid to us
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn’t this page rank the top ten Hajj companies?
Because we are one of them. A ranking published by a participant is marketing, not research, and in this market the publisher is never ranked last. Instead this page gives you the structure of the US operator market, three checks that use official sources, and a scoring sheet you apply yourself — to us included.
How do I verify that a Hajj company is legitimate?
Three checks. Look the company up in a state seller-of-travel register such as California’s, Florida’s or Washington’s, and ask to see its registration acknowledgement. Ask for the name of the licensed Saudi service provider it works with, in writing. Then confirm the payment path: the Nusuk package price is paid inside the platform from your own e-wallet, never to a US company.
Can a US company guarantee me a Hajj spot for 2027?
No. Since 2022, pilgrims from Muslim-minority countries book through the Nusuk Hajj platform, and permits exist only where a package was booked and paid inside it. Any guaranteed spot or guaranteed visa offered outside the platform should end the conversation.
Should I choose the cheapest Hajj package?
Look at what the price difference buys before deciding. Between two packages covering the same rites, the gap is usually the Mina camp category and the hotel’s distance from the Haram — the two factors you feel most during the Mashair days. Our Hajj cost guide breaks down where the money goes.
What should I have ready before I start comparing companies?
A valid passport, a realistic budget, and a verified Nusuk account. Registration for the 1448 / 2027 season had not opened as of 20 September 2026, but account creation is available year-round. Our Nusuk registration guide covers the process, and the month-by-month timeline shows when each stage is expected.
Is a bigger company safer than a smaller one?
Not inherently. Size tells you about capacity, not about who will be standing with your group in Mina. A large operator running many simultaneous groups and a small one running a single group can both be excellent or both be thin; the scoring sheet above is designed to expose which, regardless of size.
This page describes categories of operator rather than named companies, and makes no comparative claims about other businesses. Registration requirements for sellers of travel vary by state and by where a company operates; verify current status directly with the relevant state programme. Nusuk platform status was checked on hajj.nusuk.sa on 20 September 2026 and showed the 1447 season. Last reviewed: September 21, 2026.
Sources: California Attorney General — Seller of Travel Program · Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services — Sellers of Travel · Washington State Department of Licensing — Sellers of Travel · Federal Trade Commission — Avoid Scams When You Travel · Nusuk Hajj platform