Darel El Salam Travel Inc - Los Angeles, California

amal tolba

Just finished my hajj journey for this year 2024, I would like to thank each abd everyone who did work to make this trip an unforgettable experience, Dar El Salam was very helpful, organised, supportive, they did all they can to make our hajj goes so easy and so comfortable, since the moment we registered we where receiving information that without i don't know how would i figure out how to deal with nusuk, after registration they had so many hajj sessions, then when we arrived they did all in there hands to make us feel comfortable even when there was issues with service providers, Ahmed Atif, Dr.Adeel, sister Sahar, Kareem,Abdullah, Omar, Ahmed Billo
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU
May ALLAH swt make all you hard work in you mezan
JAK

Sam Raj

We just returned from Hajj 2017; I wanted to make sure I review this company to help brothers and sisters making decisions to do Hajj via one of the religious tourism companies. We chose DST because it was the most expensive and experienced we wanted the best in our first Hajj.
I was disappointed on many levels wth DST here are few points:
- Mena Camp: terrible bathroom service, no disinfectants of detergents ever used. It is always wet so many of us got sick. Line is always long there were only 8 bathrooms for the men section. Food was acceptable however many times food and specifically salad was rotten due to heat (they could have used ice with salad)
- Arafat camp: extra large tents, very crowded, management there was a fiasco. Women tent went without AC (in a temp above 112F) the entire day. DST did nothing to fix, worse than that is the attitude of their admins (specifically Azhar Zaidi) who was very upset for bringing 2 sisters (one pregnant and one with heat stroke) from the hell of their tent to a cool place in mens' tent. he disregarded any humanity in them and did not offer any reasonable alternative solution. Sisters were suffering the entire day. This is the most important day, you supposed to do supplication and focus on your worship, instead we were preoccupied with the above problem and DST negligence.
- Medina and Mekkah hotels were fine, this is not the work of DST rather hotel arrangements.
- DST apartment building in Azezeyeah: was way below average, 4 people crumbled in 12f x 12f room. Hot water was not working. Food below average. Cleanliness and hygiene way below average. No cell phone signal and no wifi either (costs pennies per day in SA to have yet the did not have it working)
- Transportation: is horrible with DST. ALWAYS delay of at least one and up to 3 hours for pick up. They always chose inconvenient time for travelers to do hajj rituals (such as Tawaf). The will pick you up at 11 pm from hotel and leave you in the street until 6 am where they come to pick u up from Haram. This is to avoid traffic and for their convenience. It left us very exhausted. Many people chose to pay taxies on their own to go and perform Tawaf in evening and return before midnight.
- Lectures: in general good, We had an excellent group leader from Boston. I cannot judge others. Sisters again were not treated fairly. They had literally Zero lecture or prayer in their tent.

In conclusion: with DST you get much less than what you paid for. If I do it again, I will most likely not use them again. I will chose a short schedule with another company and try to be independent (do things as I like). There is misconception about Hajj and need for good travel company. This is not necessarily true. All hajjis wll perform the same rituals/Manasik with small variations. A there are groups that left from los Angeles with a price per Hajji of half of what DST charged, I spoke to some travelers on the way back and based on what they describe it is really not too big of a difference to justify the price.

Khurram Tehseen

Tried to book a package for umrah. Heard good things about other offices, but this LAX office has horrible customer service from Mr. Akhter. I asked to add another city to an umrah package and he said that's not possible and I have to email him instead and he will reply in 2 days. Two days to do a flight and hotel search which can be done in 10 mins is ridiculous. 2 days go by with no reply, so I call back. He says I did not send him my birthday. What does the birthday have to do with me inquiring about prices. Even if you needed it for a quotation, you could have emailed back and asked for it. He emails back after a few hours and prices are much higher than if I was to do it myself. Prices aside, there is absolutely no customer service. People are calling you to give business, the least you could do is be appreciative and respond to them. Do not recommend to anyone.

Rija Javed

Extremely terrible experience with just trying to book a package for umrah. We were promised a booking and had even sent in the wire deposit but never heard back. A week later we called to check up and were told that the booking was never made and they no longer have any seats. They also lied about receiving our money. Not only did they not contact us when they received our deposit nor when the booking was made but they were unapologetic about the whole process. Terrible customer services. Completely unprofessional. Lack of commitment.

Syeda Omer

We have used DST for Alhumdulillah 2 Hajj and 2 Umrah including last 15 days in Ramadhan.
I must say they are the BEST and may Allah give them Ajar for all what they have done for my family. We were 9 family members who performed Hajj together in 2017. My mother was wheelchair bound and DST made it possible for her to perform Hajj.
I have no words to thank them.
JazakAllah Khair

Food lover

The worst service they lair and there not honest and they promised to do it then everything change and lair I don’t trust them anymore I don’t know how they run business like that I will not recommend this place too much headache and drama there not serious

Amanullah Hotak

There’s no customer service no reply about all

Lois Shreim