Change Masjid Aisha Return Pickup Time

If you need to change a Masjid Aisha return pickup time on a Makkah Cabs booking (Masjid al-Taneem), how you do it depends on when you find out. Days or hours ahead, open the booking in your Makkah Cabs account and use Request a new pickup time. The change is a request: it stays pending until the booking team approves it, so keep the original time in your plans until it does. If you realise at the mosque that you will be late or early, contact the booking team straight away with a realistic new time, and remember that waiting beyond the included allowance may be charged.

This guide explains what the account lets you change and what it does not, what happens after you ask, how to handle delays on the day, and what to do if a change cannot be made. For choosing the return in the first place, see a Masjid Aisha taxi there and back.

What you can change online

A paid Makkah Cabs booking offers two requests in your account:

Request a new pickup time. You pick a new date and time for the same journey. You can add a note explaining why you need the change.
Request cancellation. You give a reason and the booking team reviews it.

Those are the only changes the account makes online. It will let you request a new time only while:

the booking is paid and awaiting confirmation, confirmed, or already assigned to a driver;
the original pickup time has not passed;
the new time is in the future;
there is no other pickup-time request for that booking still waiting for a decision.

The account does not change the pickup place, the destination, the number of passengers or the vehicle. A return from Masjid Aisha to a different hotel, or for more people, is a different journey. For those changes, contact the booking team or book the new journey and deal with the old one separately; the table further down sets out the options.

What happens after you send a request

When you submit a new pickup time, the account shows Request received. It remains pending until the booking team approves it. The team then checks whether the new time can be covered.

If approved, the booking’s pickup time is updated and you are notified.
If not approved, the booking keeps its original time and you are told the request could not be approved.

Until you see the outcome, the original pickup time still stands. Do not tell your family “the car is coming at 13:00 now” when you have only asked for it.

Ask as early as you can. A request made the evening before is easier to accommodate than one made twenty minutes before the original pickup, because a driver may already be on the way.

Tracking your request in the account

Each request appears on the booking in your Makkah Cabs account, showing its type and its status. A pickup-time request shows as a reschedule request, pending until the booking team decides, then approved or not approved. Check the booking rather than relying on memory, particularly if several relatives are involved.

How far ahead to ask

There is no single deadline that guarantees a change, but earlier is always better:

Several days ahead: the easiest time to change, before a driver has been assigned.
The day before: usually workable, particularly for moving a return later.
The same day: possible, but the team has less room to find cover, especially at busy times.
After the original pickup time: the account no longer accepts a new-time request for that booking. Contact the booking team directly.

If you already know your plans may change, for example because another family member’s arrival time is not fixed, it may be better to book the return once the plan is settled than to book early and change it.

Deciding the new time

Rather than picking a round number, work out the new time from what has actually changed:

The outward trip has moved. If you leave the hotel later, move the return by at least the same amount.
The visit plan has grown. Adding an activity, such as buying Ihram garments on site, or a longer stay inside, needs extra time on top of your earlier estimate.
Someone new is coming. A slower walker or small children lengthen every step. If the party size itself changes, a time change alone is not enough; see below.
The season is busier than you expected. Ramadan and the weeks around Hajj lengthen journeys and time on site.

Our guide to visiting Masjid Aisha as a family group shows how to build a return time around the slowest member of the party.

On the day: running late at the mosque

The included waiting allowance, the short grace period at pickup, is designed for the normal minutes it takes to reach the vehicle. It is not meant for a visit that runs half an hour over.

If you can see you will miss the pickup:

Tell the booking team immediately, before the pickup time if possible.
Give a realistic new time, not a hopeful one. Saying “15 minutes” and then needing 45 makes things worse.
Say whether the whole party is delayed or only some of it.
Confirm the pickup point is still the same.
Wait for a reply before assuming the vehicle will wait or come back.

Here is an example message:

“Booking [reference], return from Masjid Aisha at 12:00. Our party of five is still regrouping. We expect to be at the agreed pickup point by 12:40. Can the pickup be moved or held? We understand extra waiting may be charged.”

Waiting beyond the allowance may be charged under the network’s booking terms. If the delay is long, the team may suggest a new pickup time rather than holding the vehicle.

On the day: ready early

Finishing early is common, especially with a quick visit. The booked vehicle may not be able to come sooner: the driver may be on another journey, or on the way from somewhere else.

If you are well ahead of time, send a message asking whether an earlier pickup is possible, and wait at the agreed point.
Do not leave on another vehicle without telling the booking team, or the driver will arrive to find no one there.
If waiting is not practical, for example for an older relative who needs to rest, ask whether the booking can be moved rather than abandoned.

Changing the outward journey as well

The outward trip to Masjid Aisha and the return are separate bookings. Changing one does not move the other. If your whole visit moves later, request new times for both:

request the new outward time first;
request a new return time that keeps the same length of visit, or longer;
check both show the new times before telling the family.

If only the outward trip moves, look again at whether your return time still leaves enough time at the mosque. A later departure with an unchanged return can leave you with a much shorter visit than you planned.

If a driver is already assigned

Once a driver is assigned, the booking still accepts a request for a new pickup time until the original pickup time passes. The request goes through the same review. The assigned driver may not be available at the new time, so the approved change may come with a different driver. Rely on the details in the updated booking, not on an earlier message from a driver.

Busy days

Some days are harder to change at short notice:

Fridays, when many people travel to and from the Haram around the midday prayer;
Ramadan, especially the last ten nights, when traffic and crowds build in the evenings;
the weeks around Hajj, when roads and sites across Makkah are at their busiest.

On those days, set a more generous return time when you book, and ask for any change as early as possible.

When the change is not just a time

Some changes cannot be made with Request a new pickup time:

What changed	Why a time change is not enough	What to do
Return to a different hotel	Different destination, different route and price	Contact the booking team, or book the new journey and request cancellation of the old one
More people coming back	The vehicle was matched to the original party	Search again to see which vehicles fit; contact the booking team before relying on the original booking
Some people returning separately	Two groups need two journeys	Book a second return for the smaller group; see different plans, one visit
You no longer need the return	Nothing to reschedule	Request cancellation in your account
A stop added on the way back	A different route	Search the journey with the stop; see if a requested stop is unavailable

If a cancellation is part of the answer, remember that a return you cancel yourself is subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept); the cancellation and refund policy is the reference. You are refunded in full if we or the transport partner cancel.

If a change is not approved

Sometimes a new time cannot be covered, especially at short notice or at the busiest times. You then have three realistic options:

Keep the original time, adjusting your visit to fit it. A shorter visit can still be worthwhile; see making a shortened Makkah visit useful.
Ask for a different new time that may be easier to cover.
Cancel the return and arrange another way back, accepting that a return you cancel yourself is subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept).

Whatever you choose, tell everyone in the party which plan now applies, so the family does not split between two plans.

A worked example

A family of four has a return booked from Masjid Aisha at 11:30 on Thursday. On Wednesday evening, the grandmother mentions she would like time to buy Ihram garments for a grandson at the shops on site.

Wednesday, 21:00. The son opens the booking in the family’s Makkah Cabs account and chooses Request a new pickup time, asking for 12:15 and adding a short note: “Extra time on site for shopping.” The account shows the request as pending.

Thursday, 08:00. The booking shows the new pickup time of 12:15. He tells the family.

Thursday, 12:05. They are still at the shops. He messages the booking contact: “Booking [reference], 12:15 pickup. We will be at the agreed point by 12:25.” The driver waits, and the family is told extra waiting may be charged. They are at the pickup point at 12:24.

If the request had not been approved on Wednesday, they would have kept 11:30 and gone to the shops first, before the rest of the visit.

Cancelling instead of changing

If you no longer need the return at all, perhaps because you decided to walk back with relatives or use another vehicle, use Request cancellation rather than leaving the booking in place. A driver may otherwise travel to the mosque for a pickup that nobody needs. The refund outcome follows our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept); recording the cancellation keeps your booking record accurate.

What not to do

Do not simply turn up later than booked and hope the vehicle is still there.
Do not book a second return as a backup without cancelling the first. Two vehicles may come.
Do not ask several people to request changes from different accounts. Only the account that made the booking can request changes to it.
Do not change the pickup point on the day by telling the driver a different place without telling the booking team.

A second example: when a time change was not enough

Two sisters and their husbands book a return from Masjid Aisha to their hotel near the Haram at 21:00. That afternoon, one sister’s family moves to a hotel in another district for the rest of their stay.

A new pickup time would not help, because the return now has to go to two hotels. The original booking was for four people to one hotel; the new plan is two people to each hotel.

The organiser works through it in order:

The new journey. She searches Masjid Aisha to the new hotel in the planner for her two-person household at 21:00 and books it. That return is now confirmed separately.
The original journey. It still shows four passengers to the first hotel. The account cannot change the passenger number, so she contacts the booking team, gives the reference, and explains that only two people now need that return. She asks how they want to handle it: keep the booking for two, or cancel it and rebook.
The outward journey. Nothing has changed there: all four meet at the first hotel and leave together, so she leaves it alone.
The family. Once both returns are settled, she tells each household which vehicle and time is theirs, before anyone leaves for the mosque.

The lesson: work out what has changed first. Only a change of time can be requested with Request a new pickup time.

Sample messages

Keep messages short and specific, and always include the booking reference.

Asking for a later time, the day before:
“Booking [reference], return from Masjid Aisha tomorrow at 11:30. We have requested 12:15 in the account because we are leaving the hotel later. Please let us know if that time is difficult.”

Running late on the day:
“Booking [reference], 12:15 pickup at Masjid Aisha. Party of four still regrouping, expected at the agreed pickup point by 12:35. Same pickup point.”

Ready early:
“Booking [reference], 12:15 pickup. We are ready now at the agreed point. Is an earlier pickup possible? Otherwise we will wait.”

If someone becomes unwell

If a member of your party feels unwell at the mosque, their care comes first. Ask site staff for help or call the emergency services, and deal with the transport afterwards. When you are ready, tell the booking team what has happened and whether you now need an earlier return, a later one, or a different destination such as a clinic or hospital. A different destination is a new journey rather than a time change, so the team will tell you how they can help. Do not let a booked pickup time rush a decision about someone’s health.

Keep the change in one place

One person handles changes, the same person whose account holds the booking.
Do not send several messages from different relatives with different times.
Update your shared plan only once the change is approved. Our note on agreeing one return deadline together helps a family stick to one plan.

Checklist

Is the change only the time? If not, see the table above.
Request the new time in your account as early as possible.
Keep the original time until the request is approved.
On the day, contact the booking team before the pickup time if you will be late.
Give a realistic estimate and confirm the pickup point.
If the request is not approved, choose between keeping the time, asking for another time, or cancelling.
Tell the whole party which plan applies.

To book a new return or check which vehicles fit a changed party, use the Makkah Cabs planner. The Masjid Aisha return planning page summarises what a return request needs.

How to change a Masjid Aisha return pickup time: requests, limits and backup plans