The Trigger Happy Advice I Thankfully Thought to Retract

At the end of February I traveled to Rio de Janeiro and Buzios, Brazil. I'm a huge fan of Brazil and have traveled it more than any other country. The image above is from Buzios.

Using a sweetspot on the Etihad award chart, I flew roundtrip between Buenos Aires and Rio on Brazilian airline GOL for 18,000 Membership Rewards + taxes. Cash tickets are notoriously expensive between the two cities, so the value per point I got was over three cents.

Anatomy of an Award: Buenos Aires to São Paulo for 9k Points

A few months ago I booked Iberia Business Class from São Paulo to Madrid with 42,500 Avios because of the great mileage price tag and the lack of fuel surcharges departing from Brazil where fuel surcharges are illegal. This left a hole in my itinerary between Buenos Aires and São Paulo.

Here’s an index to give my whole travel experience from Argentina to Spain some cohesion.

Anatomy of an Award: Buenos Aires Rio on Aerolíneas Argentinas & Gol

In February, my parents flew down to South America to join me for a trip in Rio de Janiero, followed by a week spent in Buenos Aires, the location I call home for at least half the year.

I booked them in United Business between Charleston, SC and Rio de Janiero using United miles, and LATAM Business between Buenos Aires and Miami using American Airlines miles.

Etihad Sweetspots Flying GOL in South America

While Etihad miles offer poor value redeeming on their own flights, there are some great deals using Etihad miles to book partner awards. Etihad miles are easy to accrue as Etihad Guest is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Starpoints from SPG.

An Etihad sweetspot neither Scott nor I was aware of was brought to our attention by a saavy reader who wrote the following email:

Hi Scott,

I’ve read your blog for a long while now and really appreciate your tips.