New Great Award Value: Just 44,000 Miles for Business Class, US – China

by Gary Leff

One of the 10 best deals in all of travel is using Etihad Guest miles to fly business class on Royal Air Maroc.

You can transfer American Express, Citibank, and Capital One miles to Etihad and then Etihad charges just 44,000 miles each way for any trip on Royal Air Marco that is over 2000 miles.

  • Royal Air Maroc, based in Casablanca, is joining oneworld
  • They offer service from New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Boston, and Miami to Casablanca
  • They are starting flights to Beijing January 16, three times a week.

Once the new Beijing flight becomes bookable you’ll be able to redeem 44,000 points each way for business class to China from four U.S. cities.

Now, I’ve seen reports that it’s possible to get a stopover in Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc awards booked via Etihad however I’ve never managed it myself. I am always told no.

Previously this was a great way to get to Europe, the Mideast, pr North Africa since award availability on Royal Air Maroc has been very good for two passengers in business class for a long time.

Surely once Royal Air Maroc is a oneworld member and you can redeem AAdvantage miles with them ubiquitous availability will change.

Of course for trips to Japan you can do first class on ANA for not many more miles than this through Virgin Atlantic, which also partners with three different bank currencies for transfers.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. I recently booked JFK/RAK via Casablanca with a 3.5 hour layover and Ethiad charged me 112K instead of 88K round trip. Did I get over charged or is it different because my second flight was within Morocco? I can’t find anything stating getting charged for the connecting flight but the person making the booking in Serbia insisted at the time.

  3. @Mike D, you were not had. There was a policy change with Etihad/RAM in mid-August where now awards are charged per segment.

  4. It’s crazy to me that all of the blogs are blasting this sweetspot out in the open and nobody can even book it yet. It’s like the perfect time for Etihad or RAM to realize this isn’t right and to patch it out before even releasing an award seat…

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