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There are tons of dates that you can search if you’re looking to get away to Brazil over the holiday season. Three of the Major hubs are featuring lots of American award space in business and first class – 2 routes also feature the newly redesigned products of the 787 Dreamliner and 777-300ER.
You can route Miami to Rio-
- currently it’s featuring the old 777-200 product
- not bad, but potentially worth redeeming for 1st class, as business is angled
Tons even around NYE
Or you can go through LAX
- few different routings here – either direct or through DFW
- direct features the 787
And out of DFW
Different American Products:
-
American 787 Dreamliner business class: Out of LAX to GRU
- image courtesy of aa.com
-
American 777-300ER business class if you go through DFW
-
American 777-200 business and first class
- 777-200 business class
It’s also worth noting that if you were to select a flight that routes through GRU ( which I would actually do because I’d rather have a nice long haul) then you can search for LATAM connecting flights from GRU-GIG on BA.com. The AA ticketing agent can then connect the itinerary over the phone the same way as they would connect you domestically…say DEN-LAX-GRU-GIG.
Don’t forget that Hyatt just opened a stunning Grand Hyatt Rio and the JW Marriott Rio is right on Copacabana.
Grand Hyatt Rio
- just opened and is a great use points at Category 4 redemptions
- 15000/night
- 7,500+$100
- free night cert with hyatt card
- can also apply diamond suite upgrade to cash+points res
JW Marriott Rio Copacabana
- Category 8
- 40,000/nt
- buy 4 get the 5th free
Maybe you’ll run into Miles in his speedo 😉
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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