Virgin Atlantic Set to Launch Flights to São Paulo, Brazil
Virgin Atlantic is set to take its operations to a new continent. The UK carrier announced on Wednesday that it's going to launch nonstop flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and São Paulo, Brazil (GRU), beginning in 2020.
The new route is Virgin's first to South America and will feature daily service on board one of the carrier's Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Virgin's Dreamliners feature a three-cabin configuration: 31 Upper Class, 35 Premium and 192 economy.
Virgin's hoping to capitalize on Brazil as both a business and leisure destination.
"São Paulo represents an incredible opportunity for business, and we're very excited to be flying to a brand new continent for the first time," said Juha Jarvinen, Virgin Atlantic's executive vice president — commercial.
Although an exact launch date hasn't yet been set for the new route, Virgin did say that it'll be a daily, year-round service, set to begin sometime in 2020. The LHR-GRU leg is expected to take approximately 11 hours and 55 minutes.
The new route and first foray into South America falls into Virgin's optimistic growth plan. In February, the carrier announced that it was set to begin nonstop flights from London to Tel Aviv, Israel, beginning September 2019.
Virgin is set to take delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 aircraft later this year. That aircraft will feature the carrier's latest Upper Class product, though details on what that will look like have yet to be revealed. However, passengers hoping to fly on this route should not expect the new Upper Class product, as it won't be retrofitted on Dreamliners in the fleet.
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Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month

