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As reported by The Flight Deal, American Airlines is bringing back a route from Dallas-Fort Worth to Rio de Janeiro this winter (Brazilian summer) and award space is widely available.
The Deal
- Plentiful award space from Dallas-Fort Worth to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Business Class = 57.5K miles (flat-bed seat)
- Economy Class = 30K miles
Example Availability
Here is availability in business class next January for 2 passengers in business class, which is just 57.5K miles one way:
And here is the total in miles and taxes for 2 passengers:
That’s not bad for a 10-hour flight. This One Mile at a Time post reviews a 787-8 business class flight to give you an idea of what to expect in terms of the seat.
Alternatively, economy class is widely available as well for just 30K miles one-way. Here’s January into February:
Quick Thoughts
Remember that these months would be summertime in Rio. Availability begins in December and flights are available around both Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Also remember that even if you are not based in Dallas, you can connect to these flights from throughout North America for the same price in miles.
Furthermore, American Airlines allows you to place award seats on hold for 5 days. If you need time to make arrangements for time off or to transfer Starpoints into AA miles, you can place seats on hold for 5 days. Rather than entering credit card information, select a hold:
Note that if you are holding an itinerary that includes some segments in economy class (for example, if you are starting in a different city in the US and flying economy class to Dallas), you may want to read this article to be sure that your reservation isn’t cancelled.
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Awards wide open, but cannot buy an economy flight. Strange.
This all sounds good but I avoid Brazil due to the visa PIA. I do find that countries that require more visa work or are really restrictive on visa’s have much more availability. I assume there is less demand for award flights. For example I usually find a ton of available on flights to Saudi Arabia to visit a friend there but that’s a really tough country for visa approval of course.
I wonder if it would be interesting to do research on the top tough visa countries to see if any extra-sweet spots show up.
Nice post btw.
Flew this route last year, on 777er…
First rendition of TEN ACROSS seating in economy…..NEVER AGAIN !
Good luck finding that connecting flight to dfw.
I see nearly daily availability from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle and availability on almost all of these dates from Orlando and Atlanta as well — in saver economy class. Your domestic segment would be in economy class, but the 10-hour flight to Rio would be in business class. Perhaps not ideal, but not terrible.
Janeiro this winter (Argentine summer) …
Maybe you mean Brazilian summer?
Well, it’s Argentine summer, too….. 🙂
But you’re right, I surely did mean Brazilian, thanks!