Sao Paulo Visit
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We did have a wonderful time in Sao Paulo, visiting with new and old friends and attending a great wedding with 950 other guests!. Stayed at the West Side Suites, which is a good alternative to the American brand hotels at around $80.00 per night w/bfast. Don't count on any concierge services, but you get a nice two-room suite with a very reasonably priced mini bar. Location is good for leisure as well as business.
SAO has some outstanding restuarants including:
Dolce Villa (italian)
Gero (very trendy and excellent italian)
Barbacoa (churascuria)
We left SAO to spend our last two days in RIO.
Diners Club Lounge (CGH)
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Congonhas Airport is very conveniently located, and is used for many domestic flights and the SAO/RIO shuttle. This used to be a "pooled" service whereby flights left every thirty minutes and were operated as a cooperative by several major airlines. This anti-competitive set-up was recently dismantled, and now four airlines run competing shuttles almost every hour. They include
VASP: the low price leader, with a hideous maintenance record.
TAM: a relative newcomer with F-100 service and also the new A330 on certain domestic/intl routes.
TransBrasil: (don't know much, but their service to the US is code share with DL. These services are not heavily promoted to American travelers).
Varig: The "King" of south american airlines. Varig sets the price and standard of service.
We flew Varig, and I was quite pleased with the service and efficiency. Our flight was delayed 1 hr due to bad weather, so we waited in the Diners Lounge (Sala VIP). Very nice, with a selection of juices and espresso. One conference room and several computers, with modems, but no internet access without a dial-up account. This lounge is way too small, as it seems to be the only club at CGH. It was hard to find a seat here, but was a nice amenity for DC to provide.
Ponte Varig/Rio Sul is RG's shuttle between Rio and Sao Paulo. Check-in is very efficient, with agents (female) walking about the terminal with handheld computers which check passengers in and print a seating assignment (which was ignored on the plane). Though she did take my UA ff#, I got no credit. For some reason, the rules prohibit credit on the RIO/SAO shuttle.
The flight was full, but once we were airborne for this 250 mile trip aboard a 737, four flight attendants served a "box" breakfast of fruit and cheese. It also contained a tiny menu for the hot selections, which were a salmon/egg croissant and a sausage sandwich (I think). These were passed out in hot foil wrappers. I was very pleased with the quality and quantity of the food for this short flight. Also, RG planes have plenty of legroom...a far cry from the UA Shuttle. Fifty minutes later, with a great view of RIO, we land at Santos Dumont airport (SDU), right in downtown RIO.
RIO Stay
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After a quick taxi ride to the Caesar Park Ipanema, we checked in then went hunting for bathing suits to wear to the beach. Just as in SAO, all the stores had great winter sales, which were improved by the great exchange rate. I used my Amex Platinum Card (which I may cancel) to get rooms at the Caesar Park. The hotel has great service and superb concierges, but the price was $260.00. We got an Orchid and a Caesar Park luggage strap delivered to the room as a gift from AMEX. The interior design, however, was very dated and took away from the "world class" experience that the Caesar Park is known for.
We stayed there only because some friends warned that Copacabana was too dangerous. I found that to be rediculous. RIO is very safe if you are smart about what you say, where you go, what you wear (jewelry). I regret cancelling my room at the Rio Atlantica in Copacabana for only $ R 146,00. I will definitely avoid the Caesar Park in the future.
On our last day, we got a great english speaking driver who took us on a tour of the city, including Sugarloaf, Corcovado, Urca, etc. Got some great pictures feeding monkeys at Corcovado and some outstanding pictures of planes on approach to SDU (with the bay and city in the backdrop) from Sugarloaf. Rio is pure magic!
GIG-GRU-DFW-SAN
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Finally, we had to leave this great place.
Since we booked our Rio stay after we arrived in Brazil, We had to fly from GIG to GRU on a separate ticket from our international one. We booked with plenty of time to claim our luggage in GRU and re-check it with AA.
Again, we chose Varig for the domestic trip. TAM is flying some A330's on the GIG-GRU routing, but I wanted UA miles and lounge access, so RG was the only choice. At check-in I asked if my Premier Executive card would gain entrance to RG's C-Class lounge, and was told: "Of Course!". The lounge was smallish, because it serves only the domestic flights out of GIG. Still, plenty of free soft drinks and beer, and great Cheesebread, which seems to exist only in Brazil. the flight to GRU departed on time and was only 20% full (Tuesday evening). Free drinks and a newspaper for every pax, as well as a hot snack (again served in foil wrapper). This time, assigned seating prevailed. (I think Brazilians are not used to assigned seating on the RIO/SAO shuttle yet, so it is really not observed, esp when irregular operations occur). No problems claiming bags and checking in with AA. I only wish we were flying UA or DL or CO back to the states, though.