Originally Posted by
IAN-UK
The other consideration is that transfers of over 12H require a transit visa, whether or not you choose to stay airside: that's another $100. It's something Saudia polices at check-in, though it's not entirely clear if the rule is enforced and if challenged at check-in you could affirm that you intend to get a visa on arrival: but it's a concern. .
That's no longer the case. You can have long layovers in JED, not sure about RUH though. Although the checkin agents might ask you out of curiosity as to if you'd be fine spending a day in the airport. I just told them that I might get the Visa on Arrival if I wanted to go out of the airport, but they aren't going to bat an eye about your long layovers.
One more weird thing that happened was when I was about to take the trains to the arrivals in JED, a Saudi officer asked me if I was heading to the arrivals area, to which I replied affirmatively. He asked me for the length of my stay, to which I replied, 21 hours. He told that I cannot avail the VoA unless my stay exceeds 24 hours, which is weird because I saw the others get the visa and move on. I had a layover of a similar length on my way back and I was able to get the visa and visit JED with no questions asked.