All you should need is the confirmation email etc. Otherwise it defeats the purpose of the free visa!

This post was the only one mentioning Natal. Anyone planning to go there? Advise on hotels etc? Last I went there had the direct TP flight. Very convenient. They also had direct at the time at least to the other northeastern cities.

Assuming I can get my hands on tickets, I'll be watching Mexico vs Cameroon and USA vs Ghana in Natal on 6/13 and 6/16. Would love to hear some advice on this city (hotels, tips, etc). It seems like hostels are widely available in Sao Paulo and Rio still, however not many to choose from in Natal which means I'll probably book a hotel.

Some nice places in Ponte Negra beach area.

There is a lot of coach and premium award availability to GRU on *A from at least NYC or Washington, perhaps other cities, as well. I have it on my blog: http://lazytravelers.net/fly-to-worl...price-of-taxes.

The trick is to search Copa to EZE, then Turkish to GRU. Availability is beyond belief for the whole WC period.

For Skyteamers leaving from Europe, award availability is there and quite cheap on AZ via FCO. Only 40K miles round trip CDG-FCO-GRU for instance.

Doing the same thing and I'll spend a few days in Natal, but I'm going down to Pipa for 4 or 5 nights afterwards and then eventually Recife for the other USA match.

Hi guys, a good friend of mine lives in Fortaleza so I'll stay at his next June. However, I live in Hong Kong and I'm having a really hard time finding a decent price for one-way tickets to Fortaleza. Does anyone has a suggestion for a stop-over somewhere (I don't mind stopping in the middle-east, or Africa, or Europe, or North America... wherever basically) that would make the trip a little bit cheaper? I've also looked at tickets to Natal and Recife but the price seems to be fairly similar. I don't have to leave at a specific date either so I've been looking at tickets between June 1st and June 10th basically. Any advice would be more than welcome. Thanks in advance :)

Personally, while I've already booked the family tickets using points, my ticket will wait several more months to see if sales pop up. I don't think the prices from the northern Hemisphere will get any worse than today in most cases, but they could certainly improve if the loads are down and there is less than 3 months to go.

I think the problem is that you are purchasing a oneway ticket-I don't usually use these (well, except for awards/Air miles (Canada) redemption.)
I think that the problem would be avaiability from XXX-SAO/RIO/MAO.
Do you have a US visa (or do you also hold a visa exempt passport?)
If you want I will be in the city on Sunday to discuss in person.

One-way ticket prices are enourmous. Maybe you can pay less if you buy a round trip and throw away the return portion.

The Brazilian hubs for international flights are São Paulo and Rio. There are a few exceptions, but best fares would be through there and a domestic flight (TAM, GOL, Azul, Avianca) from there to Fortaleza.

Hi Meitheisman -

VidaNaPraia is correct as always on the hub cities information for Brasil.

First, the good news is that you have a place to stay in Fortaleza during the games. Congratulations, you are in an enviable position on your free accommodation !

Conversely, the reality is that there are no one-way, or round-trip bargains to Fortaleza from Hong Kong.

What I suggest you try for the best value is a combination of two trips:

1. ) One HKG to LAX round trip, from the best Hong Kong provider who sells bulk tickets. Any carrier, best fare, RT to LAX, just by shopping around in HK.

2.) From LA, buy the best round trip fare LAX-GRU-FOR, again from a provider who sells bulk tickets for Brasil.

I can recommend one US West Coast Brazil specialist for you LAX-GRU-FOR ticket. Lucia Leonel @ Southwinds Travel email: [email protected]. PH: ( 310 ) 568-8426.

The fares purchased inside Brasil are very expensive at the moment, and will book out well ahead of the games.

FT has a good number of members who will alert this forum on any last minute " blitz " fares, at discounted prices. Southwinds travel can also keep you posted as they have access to those fares too. This can start and end in a few days, so keep updated here on FT and keep your credit card cocked and ready for any deals that may come up. They go quickly.

This too would be a long haul trip each way, similar to flying ZRH-MIA-GRU-FOR from Europe. I've done both and don't really recommend it as one becomes really jet-lagged for a few days as a result: Even Guarana, Coffee, and Caipirinhas don't help.

I would spend a day or two in LA at least to break up the trip, and arrive rested.

I hope this is helpful.

London/Doha/Dubai might be better for that purpose (especially if OP has no US visa.)
Even having flown HK-London, I felt that if I was really tired, I was able to sleep through the entire flight.
(plus London and Sao Paulo have a 2 hr time difference only...)
Another comment-availability might not be an issue for your dates-the fares themselves are very high.
I cannot seem to find the correct booking class for the Brazil domestic flight, but even to SAO/RIO it is not exactly easy.
The cheaper ones start at 9500+tax and including fuel they can easily be 14k+.
Tale a look at this one-booked in N/N/N/N/N/N/Q
HKG BA X/LON AA X/MIA AA SAO AA X/MIA AA X/LON AA X/DEL 9W HKG
Fuel alone is >5k and it has a 5M overage outbound and 15M inbound-not to mention the unfavorable connection times (including overnight in MIA, though according to LX this can be helpful...)
The dates do suit you for this one-outbound 31MAY arriving 02JUN and departing 28JUN arriving 2JUL.

I agree completely that flying west is way better than flying east. And DOH and DXB are also better than LAX, especially when you consider the US visa angle. However LON is probably going to be more expensive with the ADP.