cruser1

Earlier in the week I wrote about Copa's fare to Sao Paulo - CM - LAX-GRU - $457 Roundtrip - 1233 PQP - FlyerTalk Forums - which Delta, LATAM, and American have matched or come close to matching in some markets. This represents an opportunity to earn MQM's toward Delta elite status at a fairly good price.

The best price per MQM seems to be for flights out of LAX and SFO that contain a transcontinental flight to New York - JFK, then a connection down to Sao Paulo (GRU). The caveat here is that Delta won't award MQM's or miles for codeshare flights operated by LATAM Brazil (Brasil), so you need to find an itinerary with as many miles as possible operated by Delta, LATAM, or LATAM Peru.

The two best itineraries seem to be the following -
- LAX-JFK-GRU-BOG-JFK-LAX - $544.75 - 12168 MQM (Cost per MQM - 4.4769 cents) (GRU-BOG is operated by LATAM Brazil so no MQM's earned)

- SFO-LAX-JFK-GRU-JFK-SFO - $719.25 - 15051 MQM (Cost per MQM - 4.7787 cents) (Best price is this weekend! You can remove the connection at LAX and the fare drops $5. You'll earn a few hundred fewer MQM's, but the cost per MQM is still pretty good!)

Fare Rules
Fares to GRU from other markets
SFO-GRU
SFO-JFK-GRU-JFK-SFO - $715 - 14678 miles
SFO-LAX-JFK-GRU-JFK-SFO - $720 - 14904 miles
SFO-ATL-GRU-ATL-SFO - $715 - 13596 miles
SFO-JFK-GRU-ATL-SFO - $715 - 14137 miles
SFO-MSP-LGA/JFK-GRU-ATL-SFO - $720 - 14160 miles
SFO-DTW-LGA/JFK-GRU-ATL-SFO - $720 - 14131 miles
SFO-LAX-JFK-GRU-ATL-SFO - $720 - 14363 miles
SFO-MSP-LGA/JFK-GRU-ATL-SFO - $725 - 14160 miles

LAX-GRU
LAX-JFK-GRU-BOG-JFK-LAX - $545 - 14871 miles
LAX-ATL-GRU-BOG-ATL-LAX - $545 - 13343 miles
LAX-JFK-GRU-LIM-LAX - $755 - 13560 miles
LAX-JFK-GRU-SCL-LAX - $794 - 14432 miles
LAX-SCL-GRU-GIG-SCL-LAX - $809 - 14816 miles

LAS-GRU - $729+ (June)

DEN-GRU - $485 (May)

AUS-GRU - $745 (May & June)

IAH-GRU - $1115

ORD-GRU - $696 (May & June)

YYZ-GRU - 857 CAD (May & June)

YUL-GRU - 909 CAD (May & June)

BOS-GRU - $503 (late May & early June)

JFK/EWR-GRU - $689 (mid-May, early June)

IAD-GRU - $415 (late May, June)

ATL-GRU - $1045 (late May, June)

MCO-GRU - $403 (mid-May, June)

MIA-GRU - $461 (June)

Delta Partner Earning - Earning Miles With Airline Partners | Delta Air Lines
Delta - Earning MQM's - Earn Miles With Delta | Delta Air Lines

More Info
LAX-JFK-GRU-BOG-JFK-LAX - Best Option - GRU-BOG is operated by LATAM Brazil so no MQM's

https://www.google.com/travel/flight...wRPJBQiNLtv6QA









SFO-LAX-JFK-GRU-JFK-SFO - Second Best Option - Totally Operated by Delta - You can remove the connection at LAX and the fare drops $5. You'll earn a few hundred fewer MQM's, but the cost per MQM is still pretty good!

https://www.google.com/travel/flight...McuyGiQiHCcau7









Terrible option! Almost entirely operated by LATAM Brazil.

NYCStrategyConsultant

Long time lurker here, but just wanted to chime in and say that I think you can earn MQM on LATAM Brasil. I received MQM credit on flights on LATAM Brasil before, so it may just be an IT error that's showing no MQM earned on the booking page.

cruser1

Thank you! It very well could be an IT glitch. It doesn't make any sense to me why you wouldn't receive miles, MQM's or MQD's on LATAM Brazil flights. This morning before posting I read Delta's page on partner earnings, their page about MQM's, and the fine print on SkyMiles (the SkyMiles terms) multiple times before posting and couldn't find anything that said you can't earn elite credit or miles on LATAM Brazil. I just wanted to note that you might not earn miles for LATAM Brazil flights because I thought I might be unaware of some silly rule Delta hasn't published since people here are so quick and harsh pointing out faults if I accused Delta of being in the wrong.

The V fare code is supposed to earn miles with both Delta and LATAM and Delta is pretty clear that those flights should earn miles since they make no distinction as to which LATAM airlines earn miles. Here is what Delta says -

Other: Mileage earn is only eligible for flights operated by LATAM, Delta, Delta ShuttleŽ or Delta ConnectionŽ.

(1) Partner-marketed flights will earn miles based on a percentage of distance flown* as determined by the fare class paid. Unless otherwise noted, mileage credit is only applicable to Delta partner flights that are marketed and operated by that partner or Delta.

skchin

its gone