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In December 2018, it was it was revealed that Royal Air Maroc would be joining the Oneworld alliance.
Is it a game-changer? For the majority of people, not likely.
Is it great for Oneworld loyalists? Perhaps.
Personally, am I excited about this development? Definitely!
Royal Air Maroc Is A Oneworld Partner
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is the first African airline to join Oneworld. Although their entire fleet is grounded at the moment, it will be nice to know that once aviation resumes, RAM will officially be in Oneworld.
Where Does Royal Air Maroc Fly?
Royal Air Maroc is based in Casablanca, Morocco and they fly to five destinations in North America (although their website has not been updated to reflect it) including:
- Boston
- Miami
- Montreal
- New York JFK
- Washington Dulles
As you can see above, Royal Air Maroc also operates flights to Brazil, the select destinations in the Middle East, various cities throughout Europe, many cites in Africa, and to Beijing (again not reflected on their website).
Again, the really exciting part is that this opens a plethora of new African destinations.
RAM + Oneworld = Logical
Royal Air Maroc is a fairly small airline (~60 planes), however, Morocco generated $8.16 billion from tourism in 2019. Morocco also had 13+ million visitors and accounted for 13% of all visits to Africa that year. Those are impressive numbers.
Given the stats above, it makes the RAM/Oneworld partnership mutually beneficial for a number of reasons:
- Morocco is a hot travel destination right now (at least pre-coronavirus)
- Royal Air Maroc often has great paid fares and that’s important for Oneworld loyalists seeking to earn Oneworld miles
- Royal Air Maroc releases a good amount of award availability which will make getting to Morocco (and further into Africa) 10x faster. At the moment, the “best options” are to connect in Europe or the Middle East which adds hours onto your itinerary
- Royal Air Maroc already partners with Iberia and Qatar (which are also Oneworld partners)
Redeeming American Miles On Royal Air Maroc
One of the most undervalued aspects about miles and points is being able to earn and redeem miles on alliance partners.
Now that Royal Air Maroc is in the Oneworld alliance, it’s possible to earn and redeem American AAdvantage miles for travel on the airline. In other words, you can fly on Royal Air Maroc and credit those miles to your AA account (and vice versa).
Additionally, now that Royal Air Maroc is in the Oneworld alliance, it’s now possible to also redeem American miles for travel on Royal Air Maroc.
Note: At the moment, these redemptions are not possible to complete online but you can call American to book.
So how much will awards cost? Since Morocco is in Africa, the award pricing will follow the standard Africa award pricing. If you are originating in the US, you’ll pay:
- 40,000 AA miles one-way in economy
- 75,000 AA miles one-way in business class
Personally, if I were to redeem 75k AA miles to arrive in Africa, I’d rather book Qatar Qsuites (also a Oneworld partner) and connect through Doha but to each their own. 😉
FINAL STAMP
This developement will not be terribly exciting for the average international traveler but it is nonetheless a positive development.
Royal Air Maroc serves an area that expands Oneworld’s current reach, the airline has a solid onboard product, is good about releasing award space, and will make flying to Africa so much faster. I can’t wait to officially review them for the blog.
Is anyone else excited about Royal Air Maroc joining Oneworld?
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