I have a bit of dilemma I'm trying to work through. For background, I'm taking a trip to Morocco in January (Marrakesh followed by Rabat). For my return, I originally booked Air France Business RBA-CDG-PHX (for 60k Flying Blue miles); AF has since cancelled the CDG-PHX nonstop for Sunday in the winter schedule, requiring me to reroute if I wanted to keep my return to Sunday, which I selected RBA-CDG-JFK-PHX. My thoughts on that routing is potentially upgrading to La Premiere on the CDG-JFK route, though I know that is very unlikely to be possible with AF cracking down on upgrades for award tickets. It does allow me to visit the Delta One Lounge JFK (which I believe I have access to) or the T4 credit card lounges. The biggest issue for this flight is the 5am departure from RBA, which would be a bit brutal.

Yesterday, I decided to do a search on Roame for alternatives, and found an alternate routing out of Casablanca (CMN) with one stop in JFK that is currently slotted on the 787-9 (in 1-2-1 configuration) for 57.5k AAdvantage miles. It would give me an afternoon departure, which would allow me a proper night's sleep, but with the addition of a train to CMN and dealing with exit immigration from a much busier airport. The other issue is the short connection at JFK (90 minutes), which gives me little room to maneuver (and none if I check a bag, which is undecided), and would get me stuck in NYC for the night if I miss it. And while I could visit the Soho lounge, it's likely I won't have the time to bother (or only have a few minutes there at most). 

I am personally leaning toward keeping my original flights just because I hate the stress of a short connection (the short CDG connection doesn't concern me because I don't have to deal with the border or baggage like I would with the short JFK connection), and also I heard CMN can be "fun" to travel through, but I'm curious what opinions others will have. I'm in no rush to cancel either flight (especially the Air France flight since I'd have to pay a cancellation fee), so I have plenty of time to decide my route.

Comparison below generated by Gemini:

Flight & Transit Comparison: Rabat (RBA) vs. Casablanca (CMN)

Date: Sunday, January 24, 2027 Origin: Four Seasons Hotel Rabat Kasr Al Bahr Destination: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Side-by-Side Comparison

Strategic Trade-Off Summary

1. Connection Timing & Feasibility

• Option A (RBA / Air France): With AF 1359 landing at CDG at 9:05 AM and AF 4 departing at 10:30 AM, you have a 1-hour 25-minute connection at Paris (CDG). This is a realistic, legal connection time. At JFK, you have a 5-hour 05-minute layover, giving you plenty of time to transfer from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 and relax in the Delta One, Capital One, or Chase Sapphire lounge.

• Option B (CMN / Royal Air Maroc): AT 200 departing CMN at 2:50 PM lands at JFK at 5:55 PM, leaving a 1-hour 34-minute connection at JFK before AA 636 departs at 7:29 PM. Transferring from Terminal 1 to Terminal 8 requires clearing U.S. Passport Control, collecting checked bags, clearing Customs, re-dropping bags, taking the AirTrain, and re-clearing TSA security at T8 in 94 minutes. This leaves minimal margin for error.

2. Hotel Morning Schedule

• Option A (RBA): Requires arriving at RBA by ~3:00 AM for the 5:00 AM flight (2:00 AM wake-up call, departing the Four Seasons around 2:30 AM).

• Option B (CMN): Requires arriving at CMN by ~11:50 AM for the 2:50 PM flight (7:30 AM wake-up call), allowing you to enjoy breakfast and take a ~9:30 AM train or private car from Rabat.