SV JED stopover programme
 

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the Saudia JED stopover programme, e.g., pitfalls, things to watch out for, etc.? Looking at a stopover (2 of us travelling). I see how to apply of the visa and the stopover hotel. No details of where the hotel is. Does that include transportation/transfer? I take it 2 persons is actually a sub-optimal way as they're not going to give 2 nts of hotel?

Bit more info from research

You can apply (for visa and hotel) once the trip is within the 90 day window. Reportedly 2 free nts for BC, 1 for econ. Available only in one direction.

Hotels are:
1. Royal Casablanca Hotel
2. Casablanca Al Salama Hotel
3. Crown Town Hotel

I did in RUH and hotel selection was better than that one. Super smooth process. Can’t answer for the visa as I have a valid VOA.

Someone posted this link on TripAdvisor:

Holidays by Saudia link

Enter PNR & name, it'll ask for which direction you want the stopover if on a round trip.

Currently offering 4 complimentary hotels at JED (no Crown Town but the Casablance Grand and a hotel at Al Andalus Mall) with extra upgrade options for others

Choose your hotel (I chose the Casablanca Grand as it is right outside the road entrance to the terminal- good for a 12 hr layover), choose number of rooms (defaults to 1 room per pax). The site will prefillall the information from the reservation. Add e-mail and phone no. and you;re booked. No CC necessary. Taxes, full breakfast and 1-way transfer included.

Now to get the visa info.

I wonder if you status and booking class / fare is taken into consideration when it comes to hotels.
As E+ been offered not that bad hotels (nothing fancy) but always been able to choose suites without extra fee.

I get "Unfortunately, your booking is not eligible for the Stopover promotionGet ready for endless adventure in the kingdom of Saudia Arabia."

And then it offers 4 hotels in Makkah Al Mukarramah for Umrah.

:confused:

I get the same message think mine is because I booked through a 3rd party and not direct. I get a few different hotels but my layover is short. Would be nice if they still offered it as you still fly with them

Same here. I wanted to book an open jaws but the SV website quoted for some reason in Indian rupees. That is easily 20 Euro in cc/exchange charges, and an OTA offered it with a 20 Euro discount or so, so I went for the OTA. I don't manage to get a stopover visa (payment does not work), and the hotel cannot be booked giving the same error message as described above. Well, that implies a night in the airport hotel I guess.....

It has been reported over at TripAdvisor (with confirmation from SV Holidays) that the free stopover hotel programme has ended.