{"id":11541,"date":"2014-06-07T22:45:32","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T05:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?p=11541"},"modified":"2015-03-16T19:52:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T02:52:52","slug":"trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/","title":{"rendered":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next week, I’m heading to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil<\/a>. I will be in Sao Paulo for the home opener and visiting other Brazilian cities such as Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro. It’s a jammed pack 10 day trip and it will be my 6th time to Brazil within the past three years. I’ve been to Sao Paulo<\/a> three times and twice to Rio de Janeiro<\/a>. It will be my first time to the Brazilian state of Parana where I will be spending a night in Curitiba. It will also be my first time to the Brazilian state of Minas Gerias where I will be spending three nights in Belo Horizonte.<\/p>\n

Introduction to 2014 World Cup in Brazil<\/a>
\nAmerican Airlines DFW-GRU 777-300ER Business Class
\n<\/a>How to Get From Guarulhos Airport to Sao Paulo via Public Transit<\/a>
\nAugusta Boulevard Sao Paulo Hotel Review<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Catedral da Se in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Liberdade in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Rua 25 de Marco in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of the Mercado Municipal in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Faria Lima in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Rua Augusta in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of FIFA Fan Fest in Sao Paulo
\n<\/a>The Various Eats in Sao Paulo Brazil Part 2<\/a>
\nHow to Get From Sao Paulo to Guarulhos Airport on Public Transit<\/a>
\nGOL Airlines GRU-CWB 737-800 Economy Class<\/a>
\nFour Points by Sheraton Curitiba Hotel Review<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Downtown Curitiba in Brazil<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Old Town Curitiba\u00a0in Brazil<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Rua das Flores in Curitiba Brazil<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of FIFA Fan Fest in Curitiba Brazil<\/a>
\nCuritiba International Airport TAM Oneworld VIP Lounge<\/a>
\nGOL Airlines CWB-CNF 737-700 Economy Class<\/a>
\nEstoril Belo Horizonte Hotel Review<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of a World Cup Match in Belo Horizonte<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of the World Cup Protests in Belo Horizonte<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of\u00a0Downtown Belo Horizonte Brazil<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of\u00a0Mercado Central in Belo Horizonte<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Savassi in Belo Horizonte Brazil
\n<\/a>How to Get to Ouro Preto From Belo Horizonte Brazil<\/a>
\nThe\u00a0Sights and Sounds of Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais Brazil<\/a>
\nIs Belo Horizonte Brazil Safe For Tourists?<\/a>
\nThe Various Eats in Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais Brazil<\/a>
\nTAM Airlines CNF-GIG A320 Economy Class<\/a>
\nHospedagem Ledo Rio de Janeiro Hotel Review<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of the Beaches of Rio de Janeiro<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of FIFA Fan Fest in Rio de Janeiro<\/a>
\nRio de Janeiro International Airport Proair Sala VIP\u00a0Lounge<\/a>
\nUS Airways GIG-CLT 767-200 Envoy Business Class<\/a>
\nUS Airways CLT-LAX A321 First Class<\/a><\/p>\n

I started planning a trip to the 2014 World Cup<\/a> last year beginning in June 2013. Last year I wrote about The Real Costs of Attending the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil<\/a> and how I used miles and points to offset some of the expenses. Going to the World Cup<\/a> can be inexpensive if you know what you’re doing and early preparation is key.<\/p>\n

I used 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles to book a one-way milesAAver business class award ticket from Los Angeles, California to Sao Paulo, Brazil<\/a>. On the return flight, I used 30,000 AA miles to book a one way milesAAver economy class coach award ticket from Rio de Janeiro<\/a> to Los Angeles. I booked three intra-Brazilian flights with TAM and GOL (LCC, low cost carrier). Due to major schedule changes on my intra-Brazilian flights, I was able to cancel them for a full refund and rebooked them at lower prices. One TAM ticket was $123 and two GOL low cost carrier tickets were $49 and $89. My intra-Brazil flights were $261 and I was able to attach my Delta Gold Medallion (Skyteam Elite Plus) frequent flyer number on GOL and chose exit row seats. I wasn’t able to choose complimentary exit row or bulkhead seating on TAM even though I am an oneworld emerald American Airlines Executive Platinum top tier frequent flyer elite status member.<\/p>\n

My entire flight journey will look like this: LAX-DFW-GRU-CWB-CNF-GIG-JFK-LAX<\/p>\n

\"brazilworldcuptrip\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I obtained match tickets at the $90.00 nosebleed levels, but the games in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro<\/a> were almost impossible<\/a> to obtain during the 2014 FIFA World Cup ticket lottery.<\/p>\n

As far as hotels were concerned, I used 29,000 American Airlines miles for three nights in Sao Paulo<\/a> located in the hip Paulista neighborhood. I booked a Starwood BRG hotel in Curitiba, Parana for $140. I found a three night hotel in Belo Horizonte’s city-center on hotelscombined.com<\/a> for $100 a night which came out to $300 total. Thanks to miles and points, I was able to use 29,000 AA miles and only $540 for a total of seven nights in hotels. I was able to time my flights perfectly for Rio de Janeiro<\/a> and created a 15 hour layover without needing a hotel.<\/p>\n

All in all, I spent 109,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles and $891 for flights, hotels, and game tickets which isn’t too bad for a 10 day trip to the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For real time updates, follow me on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> during my 2014 FIFA World Cup journey<\/a> through Brazil.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next week, I’m heading to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. I will be in Sao Paulo for the home opener and visiting other…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[205,49,50],"tags":[1000,3261,3260,296,3259,658,606,293,3258],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro - Points Summary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro - Points Summary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Points Summary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/first2board\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-08T05:45:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-17T02:52:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/\/sites\/12\/2014\/06\/brazilworldcuptrip.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Points Summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jamucsb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@jamucsb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Points Summary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/\",\"name\":\"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro - Points Summary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-08T05:45:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-17T02:52:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e\"},\"description\":\"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/\",\"name\":\"Points Summary\",\"description\":\"A First2Board Travel Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e\",\"name\":\"Points Summary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Points Summary\"},\"description\":\"My name is Jamison and I write the Points Summary travel blog.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.pointssummary.com\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamucsb\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/author\/jammanxc\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro - Points Summary","description":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro - Points Summary","og_description":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio","og_url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/","og_site_name":"Points Summary","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/first2board","article_published_time":"2014-06-08T05:45:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-17T02:52:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":540,"height":540,"url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/\/sites\/12\/2014\/06\/brazilworldcuptrip.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"Points Summary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jamucsb","twitter_site":"@jamucsb","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Points Summary","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/","url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/","name":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro - Points Summary","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-06-08T05:45:32+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-17T02:52:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e"},"description":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro, 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/06\/07\/trip-report-2014-fifa-world-cup-sao-paulo-curitiba-belo-horizonte-rio-de-janeiro\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trip Report: 2014 FIFA World Cup to Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Rio de Janeiro"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website","url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/","name":"Points Summary","description":"A First2Board Travel Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e","name":"Points Summary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Points Summary"},"description":"My name is Jamison and I write the Points Summary travel blog.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.pointssummary.com","https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamucsb"],"url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/author\/jammanxc\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/\/sites\/12\/2014\/06\/brazilworldcuptrip.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dnP7-309","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11541"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}