Emirates experience:
Visiting Israel through Jordan or Egypt is also possible, if not flying directly in to Tel Aviv. We made flight arrangements to fly through Emirates. We love flying in Emirates, we enjoy wide choice of inflight entertainment options and service. The other thing that we usually enjoy in Emirates as family is good meal selection and the mango juice served in Emirates is one of the best. In my experience, except for Emirates and Etihad, no other airlines serves mango juice.
Emirates A380: We were one among the early birds to get inside
Excited to travel to Israel via Jordan
The title says it all: “In the footsteps of Jesus”
Our total flying hours from San Francisco to Amman was 21 hours and 45 minutes with 2 hour 40 minutes layover at Dubai. A pretty long flight.
Single entry or multiple entry confusion
Amman Airport had signs in English as we came to Immigration officers. Jordan issues single entry visa on arrival for most countries. Since we were crossing the borders twice, we requested if they can either issue us multiple entry or double entry. The answer was No. They just gave us single entry visa. [There was no definite answer for re-entry from Israel border in any of their official sites. So we asked few questions like “Since we come into Jordan through Wadi Araba border (Eilat/Aqaba border) after our 7 days from Israel, will they issue visa at the E/A border?”. Answer the officials gave was “May be, but we are not sure”. So it wasn’t very clear on our reentry visa]. But we didn’t have problems coming in to Jordan again after our visit to Israel.
Entry in to Jordan was just a single entry visa. They issue you another single entry visa at the border coming from Israel
At this time, I would like to introduce to the amazing Jordan Pass, which saves money, even if you visiting just Petra and Wadi Rum.
Jordan Pass:
The Jordan Pass is the ultimate sightseeing package that has been especially tailor-made for tourists visiting Jordan. It gives pass holders the ability to make the most out of their trip visiting over 40 attractions while saving time, money and efforts. It also waives the entry visa fee (one time) if you purchase the pass before arriving in Jordan and also stay in Jordan for 2 consecutive nights. (if you are reentering Jordan after visiting Israel, then you have to pay the visa fees if you stay less than 2 consecutive nights).
Jordan Pass is a no brainer purchase for us
Link to Jordan Pass: https://www.jordanpass.jo/
For kids under 12, it is free. Hence we purchased the pass for just my wife & I.
There are 3 different passes, you can explore the details through this link and choose the best for you: https://www.jordanpass.jo/contents/Prices.aspx
- JORDAN WANDERER 70 JD – (99 USD)
- 1 day visit to Petra
- Free entry to over 40 attractions in Jordan.
- Free downloadable digital brochures.
- Waiving of tourist entry visa fees if you purchase the Jordan Pass before arrival to Jordan and stay a minimum of three nights (4 days).
- JORDAN EXPLORER 75 JD – (106 USD)
- 2 day visit to Petra
- Free entry to over 40 attractions in Jordan.
- Free downloadable digital brochures.
- Waiving of tourist entry visa fees if you purchase the Jordan Pass before arrival to Jordan and stay a minimum of three nights (4 days).
- 3. JORDAN EXPERT 80 JD – (113 USD)
- 3 day visit to Petra
- Free entry to over 40 attractions in Jordan.
- Free downloadable digital brochures.
- Waiving of tourist entry visa fees if you purchase the Jordan Pass before arrival to Jordan and stay a minimum of three nights (4 days).
We went with Jordan Wanderer as we were short on time. This pass paid for my wife and my visa fees. We just paid the visa fees for our kids.
Jordan Pass provides access to more than 40 attractions in Jordan
Jordan SIMcard:
We arrived at Amman airport around 1:00 am, the sim card shops was open, next to the Starbucks. I needed to buy sim card in Jordan even though we stayed in Jordan for only for 3 days.
I went with Umniah (other option was Zain, which had a much longer queue) which costed around $15 with 2 GB data unlimited national calls. Their coverage was very good in my experience.
Airport Pick up:
I arranged with my hotel to pick us up at the airport. The car was great. Ride was smooth. Our driver was telling great stories of his life and it took 35 minutes to reach our hotel: W Amman, which by the way had their grand opening on the day we arrived. How cool is that!
Entire Holy Land Trip Index
Trip to Israel as family was amazing. Getting to see the Holy Land which we have read and heard about since our childhood Bible story days is truly special indeed. We have put forth 50 detailed post on our DIY trip to Israel & Jordan.
Check out our entire 10 Day Trip Index of Holy Land. We would love to hear your feedback.