What should the duration of my trip be?

This is a difficult question based on many individual factors such as:

• Time the person have, if you only have 2 weeks vacation this will limit your options
• Your savings goals

Hajj can be a physically difficult trip and being younger and more fit makes the journey easier.  Umrah trips are much much less expensive compared to Hajj. The Saudi's are trying to make Umrah easier which will keep prices low for the near future.  If time is your issue (for example a parent needs to return to their family quickly) search for a short duration package.  You can return in the future to perform Umrah. 

The longer Hajj trips allow people to pray more at the Prophet's mosque in Madina or the Grand Mosque in Makkah.  It  allows one to explore the other historical sites in these regions.  And finally it allows one to perform additional Umrahs.  These are not part of Hajj.   These are the benefits of longer trips. If you have limited time, here is a suggested approach: Take a shorter trip sooner and then later in life go for Umrah.

Note, some longer trips work out to be less on a daily cost. The reason is that these longer trips spend time in Makkah 2 or 3 weeks of Hajj. Hotels 2 weeks prior to Hajj are cheaper than 1 week prior or right after Hajj.

As part of budgeting, you may want to have a larger plan to include 1 Hajj trip and 1 Umrah trip in your lifetime savings goal.