Seville or Madrid to Morocco?
 

Hi Fodorites....I am going a little insane trying to plan a May 2011 trip for two using my 80k AA frequent flier miles. I wanted to go to Morocco, but that requires 150k FF miles, so I am thinking maybe flying into Seville (or Madrid?) and catching an inexpensive flight into Fes and out of Marrakesh or visa versa. None of the cheapy airlines (Ryan Air or Easy Jet) publish their flights this far in advance and it's hard to coordinate anything with any certainty. Royal Air Maroc wants a ridiculous 890 Euros to fly from Spain to Morocco...no thanks. I have a FF flight on HOLD to Seville, but don't know whether Madrid may give me more options for what I am trying to do. Any advice? Thank you in advance! Allison

We are doing the same and flying back into Madrid.
First, I want to say that I totally agree with you that Royal Air Maroc prices are ridiculous!
We are using EasyJet, flying into Marrakech from Paris and then returning Marrakech to Madrid.
EasyJet (we have had nothing but good luck with them) does not fly from Seville. Their flights to/from Morocco go to Marrakech and Casablanca but not Fes. Easy Jet flys the routes every day.
Ryan Air does fly from Seville and serves both Marrakech and Fes. However, you would need to look at their schedules very carefully as they only fly these routes twice a week. I know that their schedules for May 2011 are not out yet but I can't imagine them adding extra days to the schedule.
The Ryan Air Madrid/Fes and Madrid/Marrakech flights are more frequent.
Madrid would give you more options with the Easy Jet flights and more Ryan Air flight. I would choose Easy Jet when I could. Seville is just too limited.

Dear LynnAustin,

Thanks so much for your insight....it was really helpful. I think I will secure flights to Madrid, not Seville and then try to use EasyJet and/or RyanAir to fill in the Morocco portion. Do you know offhand how much those flights typically cost from Madrid to Marrakesh? Thanks! Allison

For two people we paid a total of 63.63 euro (total, not each). That included the fare and taxes, a small charge for using a Visa credit card and some "rinky dink" charge for booking online. It does NOT include the baggage charges which will be an additional 11.00 euro per person (one bag each).
We will each take a bag but I don't add those to the booking until right before we go. You can do it online (it is 1/2 the price of doing it at the airport. The reason I wait is that the tickets are non-refundable. I figure that if for some reason we can't go then I'm out the ticket cost but not the baggage fee. You can buy cancellation insurance on their site.

You can put in a "practice" purchase for some date in the future and it will show all the charges (some depend on how you pay). You can go right up to the purchase page but not purchase. This will give you an idea of the "extras".

Take a look around their website, it is so user friendly. Ryan Air's gives me a headache! Be sure that you know the baggage weight and size allowances. If you go over they really charge you, although now you can pay a little extra for more weight ahead of time. They will weigh your bag, put the really heavy stuff in your carry-on.

Easy Jet is now booking into March so keep a watch on their website. As soon as your days are up go ahead and book, it won't get any cheaper. Just pick a date in March and see what price they give you. On that page they will give you a list by month of price averages. September was 51.96 euro per person and the months after to March all seemed to be about 21.68 euro per person.

One thing to be aware of with both Ryan Air and Easy Jet is that when you fly them you must directly check your luggage at their counter. It cannot be transferred to/from another airline. We never fly to Europe from the States and then connect that same day with the budget airlines. We always wait a day or two. If your luggage is lost or your flight is delayed then you are out of luck.
If you are a person who uses only carry-on luggage then no problem. If you are staying in Madrid for a few days before/after Morroco then you shouldn't have a luggage problem. ( I highly recommend seeing some of Spain!)
The budget airlines are also very strict on when you must check in so don't be late.
Have fun planning your trip.

Dear Lynn,

Wow...you are a wealth of knowledge...I'm am very grateful that you took the time to share all this info with me and other Fodorites.

I have had the pleasure of spending some time in Spain and loved it!

Thanks so much for all your help! I really appreciate it.

Allison

You bet. We're going in early January. I'll let you know if we have any problems with those flights. That is if we make it back (ha!)- my son talked me into doing the hot air balloon excursion.

You can always take a train and ferry to Morocco from Spain.

www.seat61.com is an excellent site.

Yes, you can. I didn't include the ferry option due to the cities that the OP mentioned.
That is an excellent website you mentioned.