Advice on flying DL to GIG in J in mid-March
 

Hoping those with experience on flying to Brazil ex-US -- preferably WAS but I'm somewhat flexible on departure city -- can help. I have to be in GIG for a conference on Monday, March 16th. Ideally would depart ex-US on 3/14 and leave GIG on 3/17 (though could leave 3/16 if flight is late enough). Looking at J but prices seem nuts (~$5.5k on DL).

So, my questions:
1) Any reason to hope that prices might come down a bit (say to closer to 4k)?

2) Aeromexico has fares closer to 3k. Have no experience with them at all. Pro is that they are Skyteam; one con is that the flight there is into GRU but I could handle that. What are the other cons? Are the J class seats any good?

Thanks in advance for any insights you could provide.

I doubt that the fare would go lower, as your departure date is less than a month away. Most "discount" business class fares target the discretionary leisure traveler by requiring a 50+ day advance purchase. $5.5k sounds reasonable for a business class ticket purchased this close to departure.

I'm not familiar with AM J, but I know not all of their seats are fully flat yet. Connecting via GRU is a pain. I highly suggest just landing in GIG. I, too, live near DCA. Last December, I flew to GIG on DL and liked the timing and the J service.

Thanks for that response. Much appreciated.

I WISH I could get $5k for BE to GIG in mid-March!

I'm traveling from RIC (3/15 come back 3/17) and the lowest biz class was $10K RT! Coach is $2,300 RT so that's my best option. Now debating if I should burn GU on 2 overnight flights basically, or save it for a SIN trip in September! I think EC will work fine since it appears the plane isn't full yet

$4138 for complete itins with Z fares RIC-ATL-GIG-ATL-RIC in business. See, for example, ZNN14ESQ RIC to RIO

14-day adv purchase.

Availability for mid-march travel may be gone but it's still available in late March.

Fares appear to have dropped a bit over last 48 hours so might be worth checking again. Saw a BE fare for ~4.5k though return involved routing first through BSB. Ended up purchasing a B fare for DCA-ATL-GIG-ATL-BWI for 3.5k with confirmed upgrades using 50k SM. Could have saved a few hundred by getting a M fare but decided to get the extra MQM with the B fare.

Best of luck with your trip.