One of the best things about American Airlines is the ability to use only 20,000 AAdvantage miles to travel in Economy class from North America to certain cities of Brazil such as Rio de Janeiro, Manacus, Sao Paulo, Salvador, and Recife. 20,000 American Airlines miles can only be used during the Off-peak season which is also called a MileSAAver Off-Peak Award. The off-peak seasonal dates are defined as “Mar. 1 – May 31; Aug. 16 – Nov. 30”.
I know a lot of people already have plans booked for this fall, so I am only going to focus on next year’s dates which are Mar. 1 – May 31. As of today, the award calendar only goes up to mid-May.
I have been to Sao Paulo two times and most recently got back from Rio de Janeiro. I would love to explore more of Brazil and visit different cities. It’s a great bargain with the ability to travel to Brazil from North America for only 20,000 miles.
Be aware that TAM has a lot of cheap fares if you need to travel within Brazil and you can earn miles on Star Alliance.
So which cities in Brazil have the best award availability for only 20,000 AA miles?
LAX-GIG (Los Angeles – Rio de Janeiro) March 17-18, 24-25, 31, April 1-3, 6-10, 14-17, May 5-6, 13, 19-20
GIG-LAX (Rio de Janeiro – Los Angeles) March 16, 23-25, 28, April 1, 7, 13, 20-23, 27, May 6-8, 11, 20
LAX-MAO (Los Angeles – Manaus) March 18-29, 24-26, April 1-2, 5, 6-9, 11, 14-16, 21-23, 25-26, 28-29, May 2, 5-6, 19-20
MAO-LAX (Manaus – Los Angeles) March 14, 16-18, 24-25, 28, 30-31, April 1, 7, 9-10, 13-15, 20-23, 28, May 5-7, 12-13, 19-20
LAX-GRU (Los Angeles – Sao Paulo) March 18-19, April 2-3, 8
GRU-LAX (Sao Paulo – Los Angeles) March 18, 24-25, 30
LAX-SSA (Los Angeles – Salvador) March 16, 18-19, 23, 25-26, April 2, 5-9, 11-12, 15-19, 23-26, 28-30, May 1
SSA-LAX (Salvador – Los Angeles) March 14-15, 17-18, 24, 28, 31, April 7-8, 10, 14-15, 21-22, May 6, 8-9, 13, 20
LAX-REC (Los Angeles – Recife) March 17-18, 24-25, April 21-22, 28-29
REC-LAX (Recife – Los Angeles) March 30
Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro, Manaus, and Salvador seem to have pretty good availability. The worst availability routes are Sao Paulo and Recife to Los Angeles.