How to use FCF’s new connection widget to understand how to snag a deal to southern South America.
In October, FCF released its new “Sweet Redeems” (SR) widget for travel to Europe. It highlights mileage programs that offer a free add-on connection in the U.S. and Europe. So even if your departure city isn’t mentioned in a Newsroom Alert headline, the Sweet Redeem Widget can often still help you know how to get the mileage award. See last month’s report on how the Widget can get you to Asia.
how to use the Sweet Redeem Widget for travel to southern South America
In general, the southern South America widget is like the Europe one: Scour the FCF Newsroom for a deal on the long-haul route; then use the Widget to get an idea of the connecting flights that can potentially be made to/from the gateway(s).
Let’s take a recent American Airlines Sweet Redeem alert, which reported on good availability from Dallas and Miami to São Paulo, Brazil, in Business Class for 57,500 miles one-way. Did you Zone Out because you live in Detroit? Or Chicago?
Dallas-São Paulo one-way award Business Class on AA 963 screenshot below.
We say: Zone In—because very often, the connecting flight to the hub we mention in the report (in this case Dallas or Miami) is free. (The exception is usually Hawaii.)
Chicago-São Paulo one-way award Business Class on American connecting in Dallas on AA 963 screenshot below.
And very often, too, the same applies for travel in southern South America. So you may want to go to Santiago instead of São Paulo. Again, very often, the connection from São Paulo to Santiago is free, as long as you’re flying on a partner airline.
That’s mainly because, most airlines treat southern South America as one zone, so every destination costs the same as long as you fly on the same airline or a partner.
On American that means booking connecting flights on LATAM Airlines (former LAN and TAM Airlines), as both are part of oneworld. The same applies to United and its Star Alliance friends (Avianca and Copa), and Delta with its SkyTeam alliance buddy (Aerolíneas Argentina).
What to Keep in Mind When Using Flight-Distance Mileage Programs
Airlines that use a Flight-Distance Award Chart (British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, and Japan Airlines) can charge extra for a U.S. connecting flight or an onward flight, as the cost is based on distance flown.
Meaning point-to-point flights can cost less miles. A non-stop flight on American from Miami to São Paulo in Business Class using AA miles (a zone-chart program) costs 115,000 miles round-trip. However, if you use Japan Airlines miles (a flight-distance program) the cost is only 65,000 miles (50,000 fewer miles). Right, it sounds counter-intuitive, but you pay us to ferret out these anomalies.
Using Operating Airline Miles:
Free Award Connections to South America
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Using Partner Miles:
Free Award Connections to South America
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