Air Itinerary - help
 

Can I please bounce a couple of ideas off you smart folks? I apologize in advance if this is long winded, but I'm trying to make it easy to follow.

I'm flying from the U.S. to Casablanca in September 2006. I cannot decided between the following two options and am hoping someone can offer some advice (or perhaps a whole other option):

OPTION 1

Getting there --

Take Jet Blue one-way red eye flight from Sacramento (SMF) to JFK. Layover of about 10 hours. Take Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca.

Getting back --

Take Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca to JFK. Layover of almost 8 hours. Take cheap Jet Blue one-way flight home to Sacramento.

OR.....

OPTION 2

Getting there --

Bum a ride from a friend (or pay for a taxi) to San Francisco, and take British Airways flight from SFO to London. Layover of about 4 hours. Continue BA flight to Casablanca.

Getting back --

BA flight from Casablanca to London. Layover of 19 hours. Continue BA flight to San Francisco. Find a ride back home to Sacramento.

Here are my pros and cons as I see them:

Option 1 pros - Cheaper. More convenient flight times.
Option 1 cons - The itinerary is not all on the same ticket, so if there's a cancellation somewhere, I'm on my own. (right?)

Option 2 pros - The whole itinerary is on the same ticket, so if there's a cancellation somewhere, BA has to put me on another flight. (right?)
Option 2 cons - While London is my favorite city in the world, that 19 hour layover will be a pain. By the time I clear customs and immigration at LHR on that day (Sunday) it'll be early evening. The flight to SFO the next day is a morning one. I'd have to spend the night at an airport hotel. That wouldn't be so bad if I had enough time to actually DO something in London or Windsor, but I don't. And extending my stay in London is not an option, unfortunately.

Also, getting between Sacramento and San Francisco without the luxury of taking your own car can be a pain. Taxi service is really expensive. I once took a United Express flight from Sac to SFO thinking it'd be convenient - HA! The flight was delayed 30 minutes getting into SFO and I barely made it to connecting flight to London. Never again!

Whew! Any comments, ideas, suggestions? Thanks a million.

I would look for other options....:-D

Option 1 - yes, you'd be on your own but with 8-10 hour layovers built in I think you're relatively safe.

Option 1 - yes, BA would have to reaccomodate you.

Can't help with other options, sorry!

That should be "Option 2 - yes, BA would have to reaccomodate you."

Thank you, Patty! That helps.

Another way to get to SFO would be to Take Amtrak Capital Corridor train from Sacramento to Richmond. One Way is $ 14
12 trains from 4:30 am to 8:30 Pm
Or take a taxi from Richmond /oakland or :Connecting to SFO Airport via BART
To connect between Capitol Corridor trains and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), you will need to transfer to BART at the Richmond Intermodal Amtrak Station. From Richmond board a BART San Francisco/Airport train (available only on weekdays, during peak hours) or a Fremont train and transfer at the MacArthur station to a San Francisco Airport or Millbrae train, arriving directly at the International terminal of SFO. BART fare from Richmond to SFO is $6.00.
Works OK if you don't have much luggage to carry.

I will try to avoid LHR if I can, so instead I'd go AA SMF to Chicago via Dallas, 6:10 am or so arriving ORD 2:15, then Iberia to Madrid, leaving 4:45pm arriving 7:45 am, then Iberia to Casablanca, leaving 10:30 am arriving a half hour earlier (due to time change.)

You can also ride United nonstop to ORD at a more decent hour, but then you'd probably need to schlep bags at O'Hare.