Business-class deal to South America: Flights to Brazil have dropped to $1,200 R/T
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Would you like to fly in business-class for the price of an economy ticket? How about escaping the Northern Hemisphere winter for some sun down in South America?
We're seeing deals from New York (JFK) and Newark (EWR) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG and SDU) starting at just $1,200 round-trip on any of the U.S. "Big 3" carriers -- American, Delta or United. Even better: if you choose to fly American or Delta, your flight will be nonstop. We're finding the deals through Google Flights, so make sure to play around with dates and prices there first.
We first spotted the deals to Brazil on Dans Deals. These deals are even more widespread than ones we first reported on Dec 5th.
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American flies the Boeing 777-200 on the route, which either features lie-flat forward and rear-facing seats or the much improved reverse herringbone configuration. Unfortunately, you won't be able to check which type of 777 you'll be flying until just a few days before departure.
Delta flies it's aging Boeing 767 on the route, which features standard lie-flat seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. The IFE is quite dated and the footwells are quite tight, but you can't beat the convenience of a nonstop flight.
Finally, United doesn't fly directly to GIG from its hub in Newark, so you'll need to connect in Houston or Sao-Paulo to take advantage of this fare. Flights from Houston-IAH to Rio are on UA's Boeing 767-400, which features one of the carrier's oldest business-class products. If you have the choice, I'd definitely recommend routing on the EWR - Sao Paulo flight, which is operated by the flagship Polaris-equipped Boeing 777-300ER.
To search, head to Google Flights and enter your origin and destination cities. Scroll through the calendar function to find dates and prices that work for you. Finally, click through to book directly with the airline or an OTA.
You score an even better deal by booking through the Amex International Airline Program. Read this for more info on the program.
Airline: American/Delta/United
Routes: JFK/EWR – GIG/SDU
Cost: $1,200+ round-trip in business
Dates: January – February 2020
Pay With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline and comes with a $550 annual fee. See rates & fees), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare when booked directly with the airline and comes with a $250 annual fee. See rates & fees.) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)
The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Here are a few examples of what you can book:
New York (JFK) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) for $1,274 round-trip nonstop via Amex International Airline Program:
New York (JFK) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) for $1,494 round-trip nonstop via Google Flights:
Newark (EWR) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) for $1,410 round-trip via Google Flights:
Maximize your purchase
Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express® Gold Card, Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this guide for more on maximizing airfare purchases.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card, please click here.
