Stats: 3,190,490 members, 7,940,857 topics. Date: Thursday, 05 September 2024 at 01:01 PM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Travel / Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc (5261 Views)
Royal Air Maroc Aircraft Attacked At Lagos Airport / Warning:stay Away From Royal Air Morrocan Airline Worse In Africa / Nigerian Pilot, Ademilola, Makes History As First African To Fly The World Solo (2) (3) (4)
Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by 9jaStar: 5:11pm On Jun 04, 2017 |
....if you want to experience hell at the airport. I am writing this from the airport in Casablanca and I am tired, sleepy, frustrated and very very angry. These people are rude, unfeeling, callous and just plain dishonest. But let me start from the beginning. I got my Immigrant Visa last year and decided to fly Air Maroc. Usually, I fly Delta (got the SkyMiles card to boot). But at that time, Delta needed to leave in a hurry to catch a conference in DC before heading home to the family and so I was seduced not just by the price that RAM offered, but also because it was the next quickest. Less than 5 hours to Casablanca, and another 7-odd hours to DC. So I could leave in the morning, and be in the States same day. I was concerned about the 14-hour layover on the return leg, but the Arline assured me they had accommodation arrangements per IATA policy. It looked a great deal, so I took it. A couple of months after, a US Citizen friend of mine, who hadn't been home in years, told me of the harrowing experience he and his family went through with RAM on that layover. He vowed never to touch them again even if they offered him seats for free. Based on that, you can understand how I boarded the flight with a bit of trepidation last night. But I hoped that his tales of woe might be the over reaction of someone who has lived in the States for too long and blows any small inconvenience out of proportion. How wrong I was. We arrived in Casablanca nearly an hour behind schedule. Then formed a long, snaking queue at the transit desk to get our hotel vouchers. When it got to my turn, the lady looked at my boarding pass and asked me to go and sit down, that we would be attended to later. So far, so good. I joined a few others and went to sit down. After about an hour, a man came and asked those of us from DC to come with him. We all went down, he showed us to a bus which we boarded and were taken somewhere. That's when trouble began. The young man there blocked the entrance and launched into a staccato of Arabic. It took almost half an hour of confusion for us to calm him down and asked him what was going on, he told us we had to return to the transit terminal. Apparently, there was no space where we had been brought to. Back to the terminal we headed. Only, there was no bus to take us. So we had to wait in the sun for almost another half hour before they got us a bus. Back at the transit desk, we were told to queue again for hotel vouchers. Mind you, this wasn't as straightforward as I'm writing, trust me. It took a while, raised voices, hand signs, and near fisticuffs to get to that point. And so we queued again. Finally, we got hotel vouchers. By the time it got to my turn, some of those who had picked up theirs earlier had returned, saying they were turned back at the hotel reception because they didn't have meal vouchers to go with the hotel ones. They were told to join the queue again and wait till it was their turn. Incredible! Anyway, I finally got my voucher (both hotel and meal, thankfully) and proceeded to the hotel. Got there, only to be told that they are fully booked and the earliest checkout is 9PM! Yes 9PM. In case that doesn't compute, let me lay it out. Land Casablanca at 10am. Receive hotel voucher 3 hours later at past 1PM Can't check into hotel till 9PM Check-in time for flight is 11:15PM Ergo, we have to perambulate around the airport for 11 hours, then get a room for 2 hours. How very considerate of Royal Air Maroc. FINALLY, just like my friend, I've come to a decision. I'm NEVER, EVER flying Air Maroc again. Not just because of this entire fiasco, but because it was very clear to me that they knew exactly what they were doing. They have limited accommodation for the passengers coming through, they know this. And so they try all these delay tactics to waste time and end up giving accommodation to only the very few they can accommodate. And their attitude, rather than be courteous is haughtily rude and condescending. Even if I get a seat for free, I'm tearing up that ticket 4 Likes |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by Nobody: 6:46pm On Jun 04, 2017 |
Air Maroc is horrible apart: from their terribly old planes which they use in Nigeria , they also speak mostly French and Arabic at their airport so there's a language barrier. Their stop overs are long but if you had known you would have just spent your time at the airport instead at least you would have gotten three generous meals (*3) during your stay there. My experience with them wasn't good as well but thankfully I had a Cameroonian with me so it wasn't hard to communicate with their staffs Overall, it wasn't a good experience at all-apart from the meals we ate 1 Like |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by Bandeco(m): 7:01pm On Jun 04, 2017 |
Wow. Guys thanks for the eye opener. I am planning to fly with them (mainly because of the time convenience of their schedule) to Copenhagen Denmark. I think I will reconsider my decision. 1 Like |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by goryorhal(m): 10:00pm On Jun 04, 2017 |
Bandeco: Baba how far ? Can we talk regarding ur trip to denmark. |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by Nobody: 6:41am On Jun 05, 2017 |
Mynd44 day don break for Morocco oh |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by otokx(m): 7:05am On Jun 05, 2017 |
Their fares are quite cheap though |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by gowaga68: 1:55pm On Jun 07, 2017 |
though they are cheap but this long write ups made the cheapness something else. thanks for taking your time to inform us. |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by Bandeco(m): 6:12pm On Jun 07, 2017 |
goryorhal:Yes.. We can talk here |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by goryorhal(m): 5:53am On Jun 08, 2017 |
Bandeco: when are u leaving for denmark cuz i also will be moving there very soon.. Needs to get some contacts that's why |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by seyewest(m): 2:28pm On Jun 08, 2017 |
9jaStar:chai nawa oooo... I can't touch Egyptair and AirMaroc.. never |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by GoldCircle: 3:23pm On Jun 08, 2017 |
Sorry to hear your story OP. But now you know better. If sounds too good to be true; it obviously isn't true. I've never had any need to use Royal Air Maroc. But from the reviews they get online, I wouldn't touch them with a seven foot pole. |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by erico2k2(m): 5:26am On Jul 06, 2017 |
9jaStar:, |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by HokageTravels: 8:25am On Jul 06, 2017 |
As the Op said, its a deliberate step from them to keep the passengers occupied till the flight. Most people that buy tickets from us usually insist on the cheapest flight but then with cheap things come big problems. That's why most people go for direct flights. Even if your Budget is not huge enough, you can go for a flight with the least stop over time e.g 45 mins, 1hr and so on |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by gowaga68: 12:38am On Jul 07, 2017 |
HokageTravels:Whats your recommendation for one going to Czech Republic on a low budget? |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by HokageTravels: 9:44am On Jul 07, 2017 |
gowaga68: When are you going? It depends on how low your budget is... There are some stop-overs that are for 45 mins, some for 24 hours! Depending on your budget. You can drop the dates you wish to travel, type of ticket and your budget. I will take a look at some itineraries and get back to you. Thank you!!! |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by CanadianNurse: 3:25am On Jul 09, 2017 |
Do royal air Maroc flights have Wi-Fi on board? If not how can I provide my own Internet on board? |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by Squillionaire: 6:12pm On Jul 13, 2017 |
It's a good thing I found this thread. I have an event in Marrakech, Morocco later in the year and was looking around for flight and visa info. I think, I will explore other airlines afterall. |
Re: Be Sure To Fly Royal Air Maroc by Obinoscopy(m): 6:26am On Jul 28, 2017 |
Thanks for the heads up bro. My colleague had to cancel his flight booking with them after I told him about your experience. |
(1) (Reply)
Would You Leave A Well Paying Job To Relocate To The U.S Or Canada? / Canada 'chop Aduro' / ₦303billion, Inside Singapore Airlines New Airbus A380 Luxury Suites(Photo)
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 65 |