Tomcal Posted February 23, 2018 Posted February 23, 2018 The games airlines play with the airfares always surprise me. Fares can go up or down on a moments notice. as a example I have learned in flying for business the last 25 years that you never make a reservation more then 3 months in advance and usually the sweet spot is around 6 to 8 weeks in advance. I made a reservation for my April trip the end of January and the cost for flying Calif. to Sao Paulo was $1825.00 What I do is put it on hold for 24 hrs.. which is free if you have gold/silver/plat. status with them. I then rebook every night first checking to see if prices have changed. Sp far I have changed the reserv. 4 times due to price drops but tonight I found that if I flew in to one city and out of another instead of a round trip it was cheaper. I booked flying into Belo Horzonte(where several guys I like a lot live) and returning via Sao Paulo. the price was $1100.r/t I now put that airfare on hold since most of the seats on that flight are open, it means prices could continue to drop. Quote
Members Tartegogo Posted February 23, 2018 Members Posted February 23, 2018 Wow, 1100 business return? I was looking at coach prices for July and it was roughly that! Quote
Members boiworship Posted February 23, 2018 Members Posted February 23, 2018 @Tomcal thanks for the pointer. Great approach! I did book a Delta business R/T to Croatia and return from Ukraine recently and the fare was the lowest I’ve paid in 10 years. Quote
Members tassojunior Posted February 23, 2018 Members Posted February 23, 2018 You can get a RT to Brazil for $149 (coach) by getting the Avianca credit card in a promo now: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/avianca-lifemiles-credit-cards-40000-60000-miles-bonuses-one-purchase/ It's good on any Star Alliance airline including United. Quote
Members Tartegogo Posted February 23, 2018 Members Posted February 23, 2018 58 minutes ago, tassojunior said: You can get a RT to Brazil for $149 (coach) by getting the Avianca credit card in a promo now: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/avianca-lifemiles-credit-cards-40000-60000-miles-bonuses-one-purchase/ It's good on any Star Alliance airline including United. Lol, I went through the whole process of giving them all my information and setting up an Avianca LifeMiles account, and at the end it just said “sorry, we cannot identify you” what a waste of my time. Quote
Members Walker Posted February 23, 2018 Members Posted February 23, 2018 5 hours ago, Tartegogo said: Wow, 1100 business return? I was looking at coach prices for July and it was roughly that! He didn't say 1100 is business class Quote
Members Tartegogo Posted February 23, 2018 Members Posted February 23, 2018 Just now, Walker said: He didn't say 1100 is business class You are right, seems I have misread “flying for business” as “flying in business”. Quote
Members Uqtyang Posted February 24, 2018 Members Posted February 24, 2018 Good American Airlines Business Class Award Space to Rio & São Paulo as of 23 February 18: https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2018/02/23/good-american-business-class-award-space-south-america-4-book-now/ Quote
Members tassojunior Posted February 24, 2018 Members Posted February 24, 2018 9 hours ago, Tartegogo said: Lol, I went through the whole process of giving them all my information and setting up an Avianca LifeMiles account, and at the end it just said “sorry, we cannot identify you” what a waste of my time. I assume the "no identification" is from non-recognition of your Lifemiles number as new. There's a phone #- 1-844-343-1010 so maybe they can add the bonus promo code on a telephone application. I'll be applying in the next few days since the 60K is a temporary bonus. Hopefully all their operations aren't in Puetro Rico. Quote
Members Walker Posted February 24, 2018 Members Posted February 24, 2018 7 hours ago, Uqtyang said: Good American Airlines Business Class Award Space to Rio & São Paulo as of 23 February 18: https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2018/02/23/good-american-business-class-award-space-south-america-4-book-now/ The promotion is 57.5k miles each way. What's the none promotional rate? 60k miles? Quote
Members Uqtyang Posted February 24, 2018 Members Posted February 24, 2018 For this “promotion”, It’s more about the availability of award seats, not the lower points required I guess. Quote
Members Lucky Posted March 2, 2018 Members Posted March 2, 2018 On 2/23/2018 at 6:35 AM, tassojunior said: You can get a RT to Brazil for $149 (coach) by getting the Avianca credit card in a promo now: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/avianca-lifemiles-credit-cards-40000-60000-miles-bonuses-one-purchase/ It's good on any Star Alliance airline including United. Thanks for that link. I was accepted on the spot. Quote
Guest jimboivyo Posted March 2, 2018 Posted March 2, 2018 coach on any flight of that length is ill-advised Quote
Members Lucky Posted March 2, 2018 Members Posted March 2, 2018 6 hours ago, jimboivyo said: coach on any flight of that length is ill-advised I couldn't agree more. When I can, I fly Business Class. When I can, I fly Premium Economy. When I have to, I fly coach with lots of sleeping pills! That 12 1/2 hour flight GRU/LAX the first time I was way back in coach. I slept about 8 hours on the flight in a cramped position, but I got there without much pain. But, never again. No doubt, however, that the younger guys can handle it a lot better! I did when I was young. (Way back when!) paulsf and TotallyOz 2 Quote
Members Tartegogo Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 How is Avianca’s business class? They have very reasonable fares, compared to the others. Quote
Members Walker Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 Tomcal's strategy of buying and holding for 24 hour may only for for U.S. based airlines. I don't believe any non-U.S. airlines adhere to this 24 hour free cancellation policy. Quote
Members Walker Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 9 hours ago, Tartegogo said: How is Avianca’s business class? They have very reasonable fares, compared to the others. Google, TripAdvisor and YouTube are your best friends for airlines reviews. Quote
Members Uqtyang Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 Also www.airlinequality.com for reviews Lucky 1 Quote
Members Lucky Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 BTW, when applying for the credit card, I left blank the line for entering the Life Miles account number since I didn't have one. I just entered the code. After I was accepted, today in fact, I received an email assigning me a Life miles account number and asking that I create a profile. It was all quite easy, and I hope that I get the 60000 miles instead of 40000. Quote
Members tassojunior Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 19 hours ago, Tartegogo said: How is Avianca’s business class? They have very reasonable fares, compared to the others. Avianca (at least Columbian, not Brazilian Avianca) was one of the first airlines and is extremely good. I've flown them twice and would rank them with the top airlines. I flew coach but I'm sure their biz is above average. Avianca Brazil was a different airline before some sort of merger/acquisition and has never had a great reputation. I would choose Avianca over any other airline to Columbia or Peru. Tartegogo 1 Quote
Members RA1 Posted March 3, 2018 Members Posted March 3, 2018 Cool. I have never ridden them but their history is interesting. Thanks. Best regards, RA1 Quote
Members tassojunior Posted March 4, 2018 Members Posted March 4, 2018 On 3/2/2018 at 8:47 AM, Lucky said: Thanks for that link. I was accepted on the spot. That was weird. I got immediately rejected with 810 FICO and perfect credit. I put self-employed instead of salaried. This bank seems to be totally hit-or-miss. Quote
Tomcal Posted March 4, 2018 Author Posted March 4, 2018 i tried it and got accepted immediately too, Quote
Members msclelovr Posted March 4, 2018 Members Posted March 4, 2018 19 hours ago, Walker said: Tomcal's strategy of buying and holding for 24 hour may only for for U.S. based airlines. I don't believe any non-U.S. airlines adhere to this 24 hour free cancellation policy. FWIW British Airways also has the policy of full refund if cancelled within 24 hours Quote
Members Walker Posted March 4, 2018 Members Posted March 4, 2018 23 hours ago, Uqtyang said: Also www.airlinequality.com for reviews I just checked this website for reviews on Avianca. There are plenty of reviews there, and Avianca's average rating is 3 stars (out of the full 5 stars). AA is 2 stars, Delta is 3 stars, United is 2-3 stars. Tomcal 1 Quote
