When does Royal Air Maroc join the oneworld alliance? And where does it fly?

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It was announced back in 2018 that Royal Air Maroc would be joining the oneworld airline alliance at some point in 2020.

French aviation site Air Journal reports – in what seems to be a reliable story – that oneworld and the airline have agreed that membership will begin on 31st March 2020. This means that you can earn and spend Avios on Royal Air Maroc from 31st March.

Royal Air Maroc opens up a lot of new options in Africa. oneworld has, to date, been lacking a full member in Africa, putting it at a disadvantage vs SkyTeam (Kenya Airways) and Star Alliance (Ethiopian Airlines and South African).

oneworld alliance tailfins

Royal Air Maroc Express, the regional subsidiary, will become an affiliate member of oneworld.

Which airlines are in the oneworld alliance?

oneworld will have 14 full members once Royal Air Maroc is integrated. As well as British Airways, the other airlines involved, on which you can already earn and spend Avios, are: American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines. Fiji Airlines is a looser ‘oneworld connect’ member.

It won’t be 14 for long, of course, as LATAM is leaving in October 2020. It remains to be seen if Air Europa will become a full member if it is eventually acquired by IAG. It is also possible that Aer Lingus seeks to become a full member at some point.

Where can you redeem Avios on Royal Air Maroc?

Royal Air Maroc has a bigger network than you might think. It flies to 100 cities in 49 countries. Impressively, 21 of these countries currently have no oneworld flights at all.

Here is a route map, which is slightly out of date but is the current one on their website, of where Royal Air Maroc flies from its Casablanca base – click to enlarge:

Here are a few things you will be able to do on Royal Air Maroc from 31st March:

Fly direct from Manchester to Casablanca (Summer only)

Fly direct from London Heathrow and London Gatwick to Casablanca (British Airways does not fly to Casablanca so this is a new Avios option)

Fly from Casablanca to five North American cities – Boston, Miami, Montreal, New York, Washington

Fly from Casablanca to Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai

Fly from Casablanca to a very wide range of African cities – see the map above

When does Royal Air Maroc join oneworld?

What does Royal Air Maroc fly?

It is 20 years since I flew with RAM, but the fleet looks impressive on paper. The long-haul fleet is primarily brand new Boeing 787 aircraft, with fully flat beds in Business Class.

Here’s the real treat though: looking at this review here, short-haul Business Class has ‘proper’ seating. It is a 2 x 2 layout, as opposed to the ‘3 x 3 with a blocked middle seat’ approach taken by the European carriers.

This could mean a very relaxing trip down to Casablanca if you want a weekend away with a difference.

Would you really want to fly long haul via Casablanca?

On the face of it, it seems unlikely that you’d want to divert via Casablanca to get to New York! It is slightly less of a diversion from Rio, Sao Paulo etc.

There are two scenarios under which this might work, however:

on cash tickets, if Royal Air Maroc had good Business Class sale fares. You would earn 40 + 140 + 140 + 40 = 260 tier points return on most routes from London or Manchester via Casablanca.

on Avios tickets, IF taxes and charges are very low. We won’t know until 31st March how low (or not) the taxes and charges will be but there might be some interesting options.

When does Royal Air Maroc join oneworld?

One thing remains a mystery …..

Three years ago, Royal Air Maroc announced that it was adopting Avios as the currency of its Safar Flyer loyalty programme. Since then ….. radio silence. I have no idea if this deal is now dead or not.

Overall, whilst this isn’t an airline I can see myself using in the short-term, it is a good addition to oneworld and adds some valuable new destinations to the network.

You can find out more about Royal Air Maroc on its website here.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios, oneworld alliance partners

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Nick_C says:

3 Jan3 January 04:50

Typo. North America via Casablanca would be 360 TPs (not 260) return.
- Andrew says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 05:57
  
  Indeed, although isn’t LON-CMN (like RAK) a 80 TP each way route so it’d be (80+140+140+80=)440 tier points for a business class return to many places via Casabalanca.
  - Chris says:
    
    3 Jan3 January 07:31
    
    Unfortunately SH+ TPs are for BA flights only.
    
    e.g. Qatar flights just below 2000 miles only get 40 rather than 140
    - The Original David says:
      
      3 Jan3 January 07:52
      
      Although AY flights LHR-HEL get 80 TPs, so basically some chap at BAEC makes it up as he goes along.
      - Chris says:
        
        3 Jan3 January 08:50
        
        Good point, forgot about that one!
    - Andrew says:
      
      3 Jan3 January 07:58
      
      Ah my mistake – Sorry!
James says:

3 Jan3 January 05:38

Sharm in Egypt would have been a nice Avios destination but again only Cairo 🙁
- TripRep says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 08:34
  
  How safe is Sharm though, given it’s security history being worse than Cairo (which had flights suspended in 2019)
  - Graham says:
    
    3 Jan3 January 08:59
    
    Several years ago, I was airside at Sharm departures and needed a bit of cash for some beers as I had a couple of hours to kill before my flight.
    
    Unable to find an ATM airside, I asked some airport security men if there was an ATM. “Sure” they said. “Come with us” and took me down a dark corridor linking airside to landside, took my passport off me and showed me to an ATM. Of course, once I had withdrawn some cash, the only way that my passport was going to be returned to me and me being let back airside via said dark corridor was to pay the ‘security’ men a ‘fee’.
    
    With individuals and practices like that, it was no surprise to me when the Russian aircraft was downed over Sinai. Steps may well have been taken to satisfy the regulators and powers that be that it is now ‘safe’ – but personally, I wouldn’t touch Sharm again with a bargepole.
    - ChrisBCN says:
      
      3 Jan3 January 10:35
      
      You didn’t realise something was up when they asked for your passport?
      - aston100 says:
        
        3 Jan3 January 11:44
        
        In some non-western countries, it’s almost as if every other person employed at the airport is tasked solely with asking for your passport. You soon get desensitised to it.
      - Graham says:
        
        3 Jan3 January 12:21
        
        At the time, no. With hindsight, yes. But that’s not the point. The point is that I’d imagine anything or anyone can circumvent normal security protocols at Sharm airport if you know the right people…
    - Mark LLL says:
      
      3 Jan3 January 14:48
      
      Great traveller’s story though.
      One time I missed the last domestic flight of the day departing Bangkok. Ended up hiring an airport policeman to drive me. It was an 8 hour road journey. I’d love to say it was in a marked cop car but alas it was just his own Nissan. He was in uniform though and armed of course.
      - Shoestring says:
        
        3 Jan3 January 15:46
        
        when I was a student I got way too drunk on a bottle of DF vodka on a ferry to France, probs Dover-Calais, maybe Dieppe
        
        on arrival (completely wellied, trolleyed, out of it) I got off without my bags or passport and went to sleep on a beach, where some old women found me & called the cops – the cops told me to sleep it off in a cell but left the door open so I like to think I wasn’t actually arrested!
        
        next morning they turfed me out, I went back to the port to wait for my ferry to come in again and when it docked, again managed to get past passport control without any ID and got back on board
        
        naturally I went to Lost & Found and they said yes we have your stuff but the Captain wants a word – he gave me the biggest rollocking of my life for being so stupid (I was only about 19-20) and sent me on my way
        
        the dangers of vodka!
Erico1875 says:

3 Jan3 January 06:06

Banjul (Gambia) a good winter beach destination on my bucket list
- aston100 says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 16:37
  
  Sounds like a possible hidden gem? Tell me more?
  - Shoestring says:
    
    3 Jan3 January 16:44
    
    wasn’t so long ago (2017) that we had ‘THOUSANDS OF BRITISH TOURISTS ARE BEING FLOWN HOME AFTER THE GAMBIA ANNOUNCES STATE OF EMERGENCY’
    https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/the-gambia-state-of-emergency-british-tourists-flown-home-thomas-cook-package-holidays-a7532576.html
    
    It all died down & is now seen as a peaceful political handover of power – but my point would be: why choose The Gambia when you have 100 other alternatives?
    - aston100 says:
      
      3 Jan3 January 16:47
      
      Cos I like to go to different places when possible. Especially when there are fewer tourists.
Alex W says:

3 Jan3 January 06:59

Brazil could be a good option if redemption pricing is right. Nice stop over in Morocco on the way out, then direct back on BA with low surcharges.
- KevMc says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 08:59
  
  +1. Looks like CMN – GIG is just under 4k miles which will (hopefully) put it in Zone 5, which would be 62,000 in J.
  
  Sao Paulo just creeps over 4k miles so would be in Zone 6 (77,250 in J)
PeterK says:

3 Jan3 January 07:16

RAM also very useful tin getting to West and Central Africa, e.g. CMN-Dakar up to 3 flights per day.
Their economy service still offers complimentary hot meals with wine!
Richard M says:

3 Jan3 January 07:41

Three years back I travelled on an internal RAM flight from Agadir to Dhakhla in Western Sahara. I joined RAM’s loyalty programme and was able to convert the points into Avios by converting them first to Accor, and thence on auto-convert to Iberia Plus
John says:

3 Jan3 January 09:01

O/T I’ve been trying to book an redemption return flight using the Lloyds upgrade voucher which expires in a few days. BA advised me to call 0344 493 3349 (Avios) but I’ve been on hold for an hour then it disconnects several times. Anyone had any success recently?!
- The Original David says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 09:33
  
  I think they might have idiotic opening times, possibly doesn’t open until 9am? Perhaps their call centre software doesn’t direct calls that started before they opened…
- Reeferman says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 12:46
  
  John
  I had exactly this issue some weeks ago.
  Bottom-line, I called BAEC and they coordinated with Avios – who called me back, agreed to extend the (by then, expired) deadline and booked my flights for me.
  Good luck!
- Gerry says:
  
  3 Jan3 January 13:19
  
  Hi John,
  
  Happened to me twice last year, at one point I let the phone ring for over 1hr20mins. When I called the next day I got straight through. The advice i had been given was to phone late morning, early afternoon when it can be quieter. It was.
  Good luck!
Jk says:

3 Jan3 January 09:22

Flew them last week to Casablanca. Was worried but turned out to be the best short haul flight I’ve taken for a long time. They stopped anyone with 2 bags on the jet bridge so there was enough overhead space for everyone. Big comfy seats in economy with loads of legroom. Hot meal with drinks. Extremely polite and professional cabin crew. It was like flying in the 90s again! And I’m typically a hater. Look forward to them joining one world.