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I’ve written a lot about positioning flights, and it’s often one of the first questions I ask Award Booking clients regarding their search parameters because it opens up a ton of possibilities. In this situation, because our trip had to be changed, we needed to fly out of São Paulo instead of Buenos Aires. Under normal circumstances, flights like this would have been booked pretty far in advance, but we were on the last minute, and needed to just buy what we could when we could. Ultimately we paid around $220 per ticket for the flight, OUCH, but point availability wasn’t showing up, and at the end of the day, the total cost of our trip was super cheap. We also left out of SDU vs GIG, which saved us quite a bit in an airport transfer. In the end…it was a very pleasant flight, chalked full of snacks, on the short hope from SDU to GRU.
Flight details:
- When: November 2018
- Where: RIO to São Paulo
- Flight time: 1h 10mins
- Flight #: AD 2405
Check-in was a bit tricky
You need to check-in and, if you’re like me, and you’re checking a bag, you actually need to pay for it at a counter a few hundred yards away. Once you’ve done that, bring back your receipt, and the desk agent will check your bag and you’re on your way. If you don’t…disregard, get your boarding pass, and head to security.
First Impression of the plane
The cabin was configured 2-2 and had a very fresh vibe with seatback entertainment. It far exceeded what I was anticipating. The seats are 18inches wide with 31 inches of pitch. Not incredible, but not too shabby.
It was a fairly full flight, but for only an hour in the air…perfectly comfortable.
Snack on snacks on snacks.
This was the absolute best part. We got heaps of snacks that dwarf anything you’d get in the states. Maybe…Jetblue can compete, but that’s about it.
Overall:
The crew was very nice, the flight was uneventful, and I left with my backpack full of goodies. What more can you really ask for on an hour flight?
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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