Cheap Fares to Brazil

[trilingual]

In response to some inquiries, here are some U.S. sources for year-round cheap fares to Brazil. These are travel agencies serving the "ethnic" market, and they can offer significant savings. Many of these fares have a lot of restrictions (like not being able to earn miles, not being able to upgrade, definitely not being able to make changes after purchase, etc.) so be sure you understand what they are before you buy!!! You have been warned! :-) However, for my upcoming trip, I was told the ticket couldn't be upgraded. After purchasing the ticket, I called the airline directly and they said it could be, and they've done it. So be as creative as you can!

 

In New York there's the granddaddy of Brazilian agencies: BACC. It's been around forever, and I think acts as a consolidator. You can reach BACC at 1-800-222-2746. They used to charge a small "membership" fee, but I don't know if that's still their practice. For the membership, you get their monthly bilingual newspaper, "The Brazilians."

 

In San Francisco there's Paulo's Travel, in the Castro. 415-863-2556. I've used both of the above.

 

I haven't tried the following, but they seem to have been in business for a long time:

 

In the Bay Area Tropical Travel (1-888-7-BRASIL), or Santini Tours (1-800-769-9669 or http://www.santours.com).

 

In Houston, Sergio & Doris Travel (1-800-890-8009 or http://www.sergiodoris.com).

 

In San Diego, Copacabana Travel (1-800-471-6333 or 1-866-BRASIL-1; http://latinamericanvacations.com).

 

In L.A., Brasil Air Travel Services (1-800-441-8515 or http://www.brazilair.com)

 

If there's a sizeable Brazilian community in your city, look for local Brazilian community papers in places like Brazilian restaurants. They're usually full of ads for local Brazilian travel agencies who can fix you up!

 

A few tips: If you plan on traveling around Brazil, ask about the Brazil Air Pass. It's kind of expensive, though. It's worthwhile if you're traveling long distances all over the country, but if you're not traveling extensively, a regular air fare may be cheaper. It it's an unrestricted fare, it should allow you to make stopovers en route.

 

If you plan on visiting Argentina, too, call Varig or Aerolineas Argentinas for information on the Mercosur Pass, which can save you some money. However, do a lot of comparison of routes and variations to see what works out best. For example, it may be a good idea to buy an "open jaw" ticket from the U.S. to Rio with a return from Buenos Aires. Then buy an unrestricted one way ticket from Rio to Buenos Aires. That should allow you unlimited stopovers as long as they're included in the routing of the ticket (the airline can tell you). Usually you can stop in São Paulo, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Porto Alegre, and Montevideo on such fares. You can also stop in Foz do Iguaçu if you plan on seeing the truly breathtaking Iguassu Falls. An alternative is to buy a round trip from the U.S. to Rio, then a round trip excursion fare between Rio and Buenos Aires. Usually that fare allows one stop over en route in each direction, although on occasion I've been able to talk the airline into letting me make the two stop overs while going in the same direction. There are obviously many other permutations. This is just to give you some ideas of what's possible so you can start trying to figure out what will work for your trip! Hope this is helpful and saves you money that can be better spent on the men of South America!

[Guest Verde]

I would suggest checking out the airlines' web sites too. Recently Varig had a promotional r/t fare of $650 NY/Rio. In my last trip to Brazil in Sepember I took advantage of a special offer from Continental: $600 r/t NY/Rio via SaoPaulo which was cheaper than the best quote that BACC agency could give me. American Airlines, Delta, United also fly to Rio/Sao Paulo, although I think there are lesser flights now, the after effect of 9/11.

[trilingual]

For travel within Brazil, another source is http://www.Travelocity.com.

 

I just used Travelocity to make reservations and order a ticket for internal travel in Brazil from Rio to São Paulo, with a stopover in Belo Horizonte, for US$134. This is essentially the same price as indicated on the Brazilian websites of the airlines involved, so I'm pleased. It did take checking a couple of different flights and airline combinations to get the price to be right, but it worked!