Other North & South America Frequent Flyer Programs - Business Class Brisbane - Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro

Hi all,

looking for some good advise from all experts out there. Will need to attend 2 conferences in Brazil in April 2010 and have various questions. Have never been to South America so have no idea where to get the best deals and when to book. Simply not willing to pay the outrageous business class fares Qantas and Lan Chile want from Sydney to Brazil (approx. A$ 11,000.00 return) and am not keen on flying AR. Open for anything else even if this includes booking separate tickets (eg V Australia to the US and purchasing new ticket from US to Brazil) or flying via Asia or the other way around through Europe.

Looking for your input for following:

1) Which website would you recommend to get best business class deals ? Who offers the best deal or does it make sense to book directly on an airline's website . Was considering KE via ICN and LAX to Brazil or JAL via NRT and JFK.

2) Will leave from Brisbane on/around April 5, 10 and return on/around April 16, 10. When is the best time to book. Is it still too early for good deals or is this the right time to book ?

3) First conference is in Sao Paulo and second in Rio. Assume best is to book business class return in to Sao Paulo and book domestic air fare directly on TAM website ?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

3) Sao Paulo has the most international connections, so must be easier to find a route to. You can book domestic flights on TAM, Gol/Varig http://www.voegol.com.br, webjet http://www.webjet.com.br, Azul http://viajemais.voeazul.com.br/. Some of these sites may not accept foreign credit cards though. I think Azul does, and GOL allows booking just with a foreign AMEX, unless things have changed recently.
Or you can book an open jaw (Brisbane-Sao Paulo, Rio-Brisbane) if you can find, and one-way domestic

Can't recommend a route from Australia, but will watch with interest, as I'd like visiting Australia from Brazil

3) Can't recommend a route from Australia, but will watch with interest, as I'd like visiting Australia from Brazil

Thanks for your reply. Now I just need advice where to find the best business class deals.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Have a look at

http://www.bestflights.com.au/cheap-flights/phone-flights-details/latin-america/lan-airlines-business-class/100355

Business Class on LAN BNE-GRU/GIG $AU5729 minimum stay 14 days, valid until June 2010

Other possibilities that I have not checked on current availability/prices

1)SA via JNB to GRU usually priced around $AU7500 stopover in JNB allowed

2)AC via YYZ to GRU usually priced around $AU7000 in D class as long as you don't stop longer than 23hrs 59 mins at any point in Canada inwhich case the price rises to upwards of $12000.

3)Fly to Fiji next weekend for a holiday and while there buy a DGLOB34 from Air Pacific or QANTAS for FJD12199 (about $AU7500) plus taxes/levies and fly NAN-BNE-LHR-GRU//GIG-SCL-SYD-BNE and have a segment BNE-NAN left if you want to go back to Fiji. Note you could also fly ..r-GRU-EZE-SCL-GIG-SCL-.... if you had time between your 2 conferences for a few days in Buenos Aires or just use it as your way to get from GRU to GIG (4000miles flown to travel 400 miles^ )

4) Do the same as 3) above but buy an AGLOB34 for about $AU9500+taxes and fly NAN-BNE-SYD-LHR-GRU-EZE-SYD-BNE-NAN with SYD-LHR-GRU-EZE in 1st class and the hope that QF reintroduces the suspended 1st class on EZE-SYD
.

[QUOTE=3544quebec;12318877]
Business Class on LAN BNE-GRU/GIG $AU5729 minimum stay 14 days, valid until June 2010

Thanks for this excellent advice. Played around with the dates and actually managed to book flights on LAN Business Class for A$ 4350 in April 2010. Now just have to sort out domestic flights between Sao Paulo and Rio and book hotels.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

[QUOTE=3544quebec;12318877]
Business Class on LAN BNE-GRU/GIG $AU5729 minimum stay 14 days, valid until June 2010

Thanks for this excellent advice. Played around with the dates and actually managed to book flights on LAN Business Class for A$ 4350 in April 2010. Now just have to sort out domestic flights between Sao Paulo and Rio and book hotels.



Is LAN not able to provide a stopover and fly you GRU/GIG as part of an international ticket? (They can't sell you the route by itself, but I wonder if they can offer the stopover.)

[QUOTE=pswissoz;12324188]

Is LAN not able to provide a stopover and fly you GRU/GIG as part of an international ticket? (They can't sell you the route by itself, but I wonder if they can offer the stopover.)

I don't believe they have traffic rights on the segment although they supposedly codeshare with TAM on internal Brazilian flights and they have 2 daily flights SCL-GRU-GIG-GRU-SCL..

You can't even construct a direct international connection without stopover using this GIG-GRU flight eg GIG-GRU-EZE on LAN flights.

Depending on the fare restrictions they should be able to provide a through ticket but with the GRU-GIG segment on TAM

Will look after domestic travel myself as I am not yet 100% certain where I have to be during my trip. Can anyone give me some advise which domestic Brazilian carrier is regarded as the safest and/or most reliable. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Will look after domestic travel myself as I am not yet 100% certain where I have to be during my trip. Can anyone give me some advise which domestic Brazilian carrier is regarded as the safest and/or most reliable. Looking forward to hearing from you.


Lan Brasil. (Oops, they don't yet exist. But there are talks...)

3)Fly to Fiji next weekend for a holiday and while there buy a DGLOB34 from Air Pacific or QANTAS for FJD12199 (about $AU7500) plus taxes/levies and fly NAN-BNE-LHR-GRU//GIG-SCL-SYD-BNE and have a segment BNE-NAN left if you want to go back to Fiji. Note you could also fly ..r-GRU-EZE-SCL-GIG-SCL-.... if you had time between your 2 conferences for a few days in Buenos Aires or just use it as your way to get from GRU to GIG (4000miles flown to travel 400 miles^ )
.

Just curious,

I'm assuming DGLOB34 is a Oneworld RTW fare. I tried to jump on the OW website and do a routing commencing in Fiji but the OW website does not show NADI as an available destination.

Any suggestion on where one could find this airfare?

Cheers

Just curious,

I'm assuming DGLOB34 is a Oneworld RTW fare. I tried to jump on the OW website and do a routing commencing in Fiji but the OW website does not show NADI as an available destination.

Any suggestion on where one could find this airfare?

Cheers

The Oneworld RTW booking site is for the Oneworld Explorer fare eg DONEX4 not the Global Explorer fare DGLOB34. You can still see info by going to www.oneworld.com. clicking on International version, then Fare Options, RTW Fares and Global Explorer. Fiji appears in the drop down list for fare estimate.

More info can be found by going to the FT Oneworld forum and searching within it for Fiji and finding the topic about cheap RTW options and currency fluctuations.

Will look after domestic travel myself as I am not yet 100% certain where I have to be during my trip. Can anyone give me some advise which domestic Brazilian carrier is regarded as the safest and/or most reliable. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

There are only two national airlines in Brasil: Gol and TAM. In principle Gol is low-cost and TAM is full-service, but in practice they are nearly equivalent. Both offer only economy class on domestic routes. There is a little more space between the rows of seats on Gol; neither Gol nor TAM offers any inflight service to speak of, but you can usually get a can of beer and a small pillow on TAM if you ask. Gol offers mileage on AA and AF/KLM; TAM has United, Lufthansa, and a few others, and will soon be joining the Star Alliance. If you fly via Campinas (São Paulo), you can take the newest airline Azul, which is also low-cost. Azul has no loyalty partners.

TAM flies Airbus 319 and 320, Gol uses Boeing 737-800, Azul has Embraer jets.

There are only two national airlines in Brasil: Gol and TAM. In principle Gol is low-cost and TAM is full-service, but in practice they are nearly equivalent. Both offer only economy class on domestic routes. There is a little more space between the rows of seats on Gol; neither Gol nor TAM offers any inflight service to speak of, but you can usually get a can of beer and a small pillow on TAM if you ask. Gol offers mileage on AA and AF/KLM; TAM has United, Lufthansa, and a few others, and will soon be joining the Star Alliance. If you fly via Campinas (São Paulo), you can take the newest airline Azul, which is also low-cost. Azul has no loyalty partners.

TAM flies Airbus 319 and 320, Gol uses Boeing 737-800, Azul has Embraer jets.

Hey Ajnaro, thanks for above detailed response. Will be staying at the Marriott Renaissance Sao Paulo, Alameda Santos, 2233 in Sao Paulo and at the JW Marriott Hotel, Avenida Atlantica, 2600 right at the Copacabana.

Which departure airport at Sao Paulo and arrival airport in Rio are advisable based on my hotels ?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Hey Ajnaro, thanks for above detailed response. Will be staying at the Marriott Renaissance Sao Paulo, Alameda Santos, 2233 in Sao Paulo and at the JW Marriott Hotel, Avenida Atlantica, 2600 right at the Copacabana.

Which departure airport at Sao Paulo and arrival airport in Rio are advisable based on my hotels ?


pswissoz

São Paulo: CGH - Congonhas
Rio: SDU - Santos Dumont

Both of these airports are right in the CBD. You may find cheaper flights from GRU Guarulhos and GIG Tom Jobim / Galeão. If you want to see local prices, try

submarinoviagens.com.br
tam.com.br
voegol.com.br


They may not accept non-Brazilian credit cards.

Another option that isn't horrible is the executive buses that go between SP and Rio. Not the quickest, but not a bad way to see some of Brazil, either.

Another option that isn't horrible is the executive buses that go between SP and Rio. Not the quickest, but not a bad way to see some of Brazil, either.

Sounds interesting. Do you have a website ?

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Sounds interesting. Do you have a website ?

http://www.autoviacao1001.com.br/en/

[QUOTE=3544quebec;12318877]
Business Class on LAN BNE-GRU/GIG $AU5729 minimum stay 14 days, valid until June 2010

Thanks for this excellent advice. Played around with the dates and actually managed to book flights on LAN Business Class for A$ 4350 in April 2010. Now just have to sort out domestic flights between Sao Paulo and Rio and book hotels.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

You may wish to consider flying WEBJET which operates 5 daily flights GRU-SDU which means you land in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Tickets are very cheap, about R$100 one way or less than USD 50.

http://www.webjet.com.br

Other airline operating between Sao Paulo and Rio is OceanAir. And as mentioned Azul has its hub in nearby Campinas operating several daily CPQ-SDU flights.

As mentioned above, GOL and TAM are two very reliable airlines. TAM is the biggest and best airline in Latin America.

TAM and GOL run shuttle service CGH-SDU with attractive fares. I would not bother searching for bus services, the journey is long and time consuming. They also offer GRU-GIG with more attractive fares but both airports are located outside the respective cities. (if you have ticket with TAM, GOL or Webjet they offer free bus shuttle between CGH and GRU).

Rgs,

Azul is worthless if you are travelling from downtown SP. Campinas is more than 100km/60miles from SP!

Hi all,

flight is booked. Went with GOL as their website was in my opinion the easiest to use and had no issues using foreign credit card.

After getting so much excellent help and advice hope someone will be able to guide me in to the right direction.

After my conference ends in Rio 14.04. still have 4 nights until my return flight to Australia leaving Sao Paulo 18.04. in the afternoon. Does any one have a recommendation where to go and just relax and chill out with a good book at the pool/beach ? Looking for 4 or 5 star hotel with nice beach/pool area but should be close to a town/city so I can go out at night for dinner and a few drinks as I am not a person who likes to stay in a hotel 24-hours a day. Thus, area needs to be safe for tourist to go out at night for dinner and a couple of drinks. Don't mind flying from Rio to Salvador or whereever and afterwards to Sao Paulo for my return flight to Australia.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Some recommendations:

1. If you would like to stay in Rio area, I would recommend Buzios, Angra dos Reis or colonial Paraty. They are towns located about 3h drive from Rio where you have stunning beaches and small towns with all service you need. My recommendation is the Pestana bungalow in Angra dos Reis.

2. Jump into a flight and fly down to Florianopolis (FLN). This is an island in South Brazil (2h flight with GOL or TAM nonstop), it is a favourite with Brazilians and Argentinians which pack the city in the Summer. April is perfect, low season, with good deals, and nice weather (about 25 degrees). I would recommend Sofitel hotel, which has a great pool, excellent service, and very good rates. FLN also has the best-rated resort in Brazil: Costao do Santinho, but its location is far from downtown. [FLN has several daily flights from GIG and GRU therefore you may easily book with GOL GIG-FLN-GRU].

3. Salvador is another option, I would strongly recommend the new Pestana Bahia Lodge (its is located adjacent to the hotel Pestana Bahia Hotel which is a bit runned down). The area (Rio Vermelho) has very good restaurants and even a top rated churrascaria. The pool is fantastic and many 1-day tour packages availabe to nearby beaches since the beaches in Salvador city are not nice.

Rgs,

Some recommendations:

3. Salvador is another option, I would strongly recommend the new Pestana Bahia Lodge (its is located adjacent to the hotel Pestana Bahia Hotel which is a bit runned down). The area (Rio Vermelho) has very good restaurants and even a top rated churrascaria. The pool is fantastic and many 1-day tour packages availabe to nearby beaches since the beaches in Salvador city are not nice.

Rgs,

Hi Hardiwv,

think I will go with your above recommendation. Looks like a brilliant facility. Which website would you recommend to book ?

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

I would book directly with the hotel's website (Pestana). Sometimes they give you a better rate if you write directly to the hotel e-mail.

http://www.pestana.com/hotels/en/hotels/southamerica/BahiaHotels/BahiaLodge/Home/

I stayed at the above referred hotel in September and strongly recommend the lodge.

However, as I told you, as a destination, Florianopolis is still my favourite city in Brazil and it really reminds me of the time I spent in Brisbane ;)

Rgs,