"General Tips" Riyadh Favorite Tip by kalaika

Favorite thing: Not quite a favourite but...before you travel:
If you do not already belong to a “Frequent Flyer” scheme, it is advisable to join now. Flights to Saudi have been known to be double booked & passengers removed. Those holding FF cards are given preference.

King Khalid Int'l Airport is quite big & modern, you will always land at a pier & not have to suffer the heat until you are outside arrivals. There is no duty-free area in the arrivals hall of the airport (that said, there isn't even one in departures!). Proceed to the lower level, immigration. Everyone is treated with suspicion, however western expats tend to receive a little more courtesy. You should present your passport & landing card you filled out before landing to the officer here. You will need to know the name & address of your sponsor. Single females have a separate counter & visiting wives may be dragged out to the arrivals hall to fetch their husband to take over immigration proceedings! Onto baggage claim, one word of warning here: “Fragile” seems to be Hindi/Urdu for “throw heavily onto the conveyor” so try to carry your breakables with you. Your bags may then be searched, which sometimes involves putting your bags through an x-ray machine, or a thorough item-by-item search. They will be looking for alcohol, drugs, pork products, porn and any pirated software/videos etc. From here it is out into the arrivals hall where someone should be waiting for you. If you are doing your own thing, turn left & proceed to the domestic terminal, (about a kilo walk!) here you will find the car rental desks, if you are so brave. There are the ubiquitous Airport taxi drivers who will hassle you as soon as the customs doors open "Taxi Sir/Ma'am?" but keep in mind, as are all things in KSA, fair is negotiable - aim as close to 50SR but no more than 75SR.