Best Ways to Book Royal Air Maroc Business Class with Points and Miles

The national carrier of the Northern African country of Morocco, Royal Air Maroc is among the largest airlines in Africa by passengers carried. The airline also operates a fairly extensive route network from its hub in Casablanca, including transatlantic routes to some North American destinations (such as Toronto, New York and more). And, if you’re taking a long-haul transatlantic flight between North America and Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc (which can take seven hours or more), you may want to consider flying in business class.

Royal Air Maroc business class isn’t considered to be one of the premium business-class products in the world (such as ANA’s The Room or Qatar Airways Qsuites). Nonetheless, you’ll still enjoy some premium amenities when flying in Royal Air Maroc business class, including high-quality Moroccan cuisine, lie-flat seats with a massage function, a privacy wall, a personal entertainment monitor, airport lounge access and more.

However, paying for Royal Air Maroc business-class tickets with cash can be rather expensive. So, if you want to experience this business-class product and keep your out-of-pocket costs low, the best way to do so is by booking with points or miles.

In this article, we’ll explain some of the best ways to book Royal Air Maroc award flights with points and miles. We’ll also take a look at what you can expect when flying in Royal Air Maroc business class.

What to Expect in Royal Air Maroc Business Class

The business-class experience you’ll receive when flying on Royal Air Maroc depends on the route type and the type of aircraft you’re flying on. According to the Royal Air Maroc website, the airline’s fleet comprises the following aircraft types:

• Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
• Embraer 190
• Boeing 737 MAX 8
• ATR72-600
• Boeing 737-800

The best business-class products can be found on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, which are used to operate long-haul flights (including those across the Atlantic). The next-best business-class products are found aboard Boeing 737 MAX 8 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which are typically used for medium-haul flights (such as those between Europe and Morocco). And, finally, ATR72-600 and Embraer 190 aircraft are used for short-haul and regional flights and offer the least-impressive business-class products.

On long-haul Royal Air Maroc flights, seats in the business-class cabin convert into lie-flat beds, have an electronically-controlled massage function and feature a privacy wall that converts your seat into a private suite. Your seat will also feature a 15.3-inch personal entertainment monitor with access to over 45 current and classic Hollywood films, Arabic films, documentaries and TV series. You’ll also have access to a selection of over 150 albums of diverse music, as well as comfortable over-the-ear noise-reducing headphones.

Business-class seats on long-haul flights also include USB charging ports and AC power outlets so you can arrive at your destination with all of your devices fully charged. There’s also an adjustable lamp that’s great for reading or working.

Upon boarding the aircraft, business-class passengers (regardless of aircraft type) will receive a “Mint Lemon” welcome drink. And, throughout the flight, you’ll be able to request complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Alcoholic options include spirits (such as Bacardi rum, Smirnoff vodka, Chivas Regal whiskey, a Moroccan liquor made from dates known as “mahia” and more), white wine, red wine, sparkling wine, rosé and more. Non-alcoholic options include juices, coffee, tea, soda and more.

Long-haul business-class passengers will receive a menu of a la carte food options inspired by Moroccan and international cuisine. Long-haul business-class menus always feature a traditional Moroccan tagine (which refers to an aromatic slow-cooked stew prepared and served in an earthenware pot). To keep your hands and your space clean, all meals are served with an orange blossom-scented towel.

After your meal, you’ll be served a dessert, such as a pastry or fresh fruit platter. Your dessert will be accompanied by your choice of a hot drink or digestif.

And the Royal Air Maroc business-class experience begins before you even board your flight. Business-class passengers will receive priority treatment at the airport, including dedicated check-in desks, expedited security lanes, priority boarding and priority baggage handling.

Plus, with a Royal Air Maroc business-class ticket, you can access the Royal Air Maroc lounges in Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN). Since Royal Air Maroc is a member of Oneworld Alliance, you can also access Oneworld partner lounges all around the world. To see if there are any Oneworld partner lounges in a specific airport, use the Lounge Finder tool in the My10x web app.

Finally, when flying in business class, you get one complimentary cabin bag of up to 12 kilograms and a personal item of up to 2 kilograms. Business-class checked baggage allowance will depend on the route that you’re flying. The following table includes the business-class checked baggage allowance for each route type:

Best Programs Through Which You Can Book Royal Air Maroc Business Class

Since Royal Air Maroc is a member of Oneworld Alliance, there are several partner frequent flyer programs through which you can book Royal Air Maroc business-class award flights. However, each of these frequent flyer programs prices partner awards slightly differently. So, the same Royal Air Maroc flight might cost more miles through one program than another.

Plus, certain frequent flyer programs make it much easier for U.S.-based travelers to earn miles due to the fact that they allow transfers from major U.S. credit card rewards programs (such as American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards).

So, with these factors in mind, let’s take a look at a few of the best programs through which to book Royal Air Maroc business-class awards.

American Airlines AAdvantage

One good program through which to book Royal Air Maroc business-class award flights that is particularly relevant to U.S.-based travelers is the American Airlines AAdvantage program. This program offers Royal Air Maroc transatlantic awards at favorable rates. And using your AAdvantage miles for these types of redemptions can provide a lot of value.

For example, we found a round-trip Royal Air Maroc business-class award itinerary between New York (JFK) and Casablanca (CMN) for 115,000 AAdvantage miles and about $94 in taxes and fees.

If you were to book the same flights with cash through the Royal Air Maroc website, it would cost you about $4,687.

Thus, by booking this flight itinerary with AAdvantage miles instead of cash, factoring in the taxes and fees paid for the award flight, you’d be getting a value of about 4 cents per mile, which is excellent.

Unfortunately, the AAdvantage program isn’t a transfer partner of any of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs. This means that you’ll probably need to earn AAdvantage miles either by crediting flights to the program (which may not be an issue, considering American Airlines is one of the largest U.S. airlines) or by spending on an American Airlines co-branded credit card. However, if you are able to save up a balance of AAdvantage miles, you should be able to get great value out of them by redeeming them for Royal Air Maroc business-class awards.

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards

Another program through which you can find Royal Air Maroc business-class award flights at favorable rates is the Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards program (since Alaska Airlines is also a Oneworld Alliance member). You can often find these awards on transatlantic routes through the Mileage Plan program, which is particularly relevant to U.S. travelers.

For instance, we found a round-trip Royal Air Maroc business-class award flight itinerary for 110,000 Alaska miles plus about $653 in taxes and fees. These taxes and fees are relatively high (which seems to be the case with all Royal Air Maroc business-class awards through this program). However, compared to the cash price of this flight, those taxes and fees are still a relatively low out-of-pocket cost.

If you were to book these exact same flights with cash through the Royal Air Maroc website, this itinerary would cost you about $4,677.

Thus, even considering the high taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 3.7 cents per point, which is great.

The Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards program is only a 1:1 transfer partner of Bilt Rewards.

The British Airways Club

Another Oneworld Alliance partner program that allows you to book Royal Air Maroc business-class awards is the The British Airways Club. Unfortunately, despite extensive searching, we were unable to find any Royal Air Maroc business-class award availability on transatlantic routes through this program. Nonetheless, if you’re interested in booking a business-class flight between Europe and Casablanca, this is an excellent program through which to do so.

For example, we found a round-trip Royal Air Maroc business-class award itinerary between London (LGW) and Casablanca (CMN) for 44,000 Avios plus about $362 in taxes and fees. Note that these flights (and the vast majority of Royal Air Maroc flights to London) operate out of London-Gatwick and not London-Heathrow.

If you were to book these same flights with cash through the Royal Air Maroc website, they would cost you about $1,872.

So, accounting for the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 3.4 cents per Avios, which is very good.

So, if you’re trying to book a trip to Morocco with points and miles, it may actually be a good idea to first book an award flight to London (perhaps through a program like Flying Blue or British Airways Club) and then book a second award flight to Casablanca through British Airways Club.

The British Airways Club program is a 1:1 transfer partner of nearly every major U.S. credit card rewards program, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards. This makes it very easy to earn Avios with this program if you have a credit card from any of the aforementioned issuers.

And, although this program isn’t a direct transfer partner of Citi ThankYou Rewards, you can transfer Citi points to the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program. And, because Qatar Airways Privilege Club uses the Avios currency and Avios can be freely transferred between the programs that use it, you could first transfer Citi points to Qatar Airways and then subsequently transfer those Avios to the British Airways Club program.

The Bottom Line

Operating from its hub in Casablanca, Royal Air Maroc is the national carrier and largest airline of Morocco and a member of Oneworld Alliance. And, while the majority of this airline’s route network is in Africa and Europe, Royal Air Maroc also operates long-haul flights to several North American cities, including New York, Montreal, Toronto, Washington D.C. and Miami. And, if you’re interested in an elevated experience on one of these long-haul flights, you might consider flying in Royal Air Maroc business class.

However, business-class tickets can be rather expensive when booked with cash. So, if you want to experience Royal Air Maroc business class while keeping your out-of-pocket costs low, you can book these tickets with points or miles.

Because Royal Air Maroc is a member of Oneworld Alliance, there are several partner frequent flyer programs through which you can book these business-class awards. For one, the American Airlines AAdvantage program has excellent rates and low taxes and fees for these business-class awards. However, the AAdvantage program isn’t a transfer partner of any of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs, meaning it’s relatively difficult to earn AAdvantage miles.

If you want to use credit card points to book a Royal Air Maroc business-class award, then you can transfer Bilt points directly to Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards and use them for Royal Air Maroc business-class awards.

Finally, you can also book Royal Air Maroc business-class award flights through the British Airways Club program. However, it seems impossible to find these awards on transatlantic routes through this program. Nonetheless, you can find good rates on Royal Air Maroc business-class flights between Europe and Morocco.