Flying around Brazil: airpass?
May 18, 2009 1:45 PM   Subscribe

Where can I buy a Brazil airpass in Toronto? Or is the airpass a terrible idea? Any travel tips to the Brazilian Amazon (and Rio) generally?

I'm headed to Rio in August, and my girlfriend and I would like to make some side trips to interesting places. We're leaning towards flying to Manaus and heading from there to a lodge somewhere in the Amazon basin, but would also like to check out Iguacu falls if possible. We only have about a week, give or take, for side trips.

Plane tickets within Brazil, however, appear to be surprisingly expensive, and in some cases (e.g. on TAM) difficult to purchase without a Brazilian credit card. Rather than stringing together flights from Rio to Manaus to Foz do Iguacu (IGU), we've been eyeing the "Brazil airpass" offered by TAM, which seems to be a comparatively good deal. (There's a summary on TAM's website and some discussion on Flyertalk.)

The airpass looks like it has to be purchased outside of Brazil, and issued by a travel/ticketing agent of some sort. Because this may end up being a little complicated, and because I'd like to hear about the pros and cons of the airpass versus whatever fares can be book within Brazil (by someone more adept than me), I think I may need to talk to a travel agent. I'd prefer to be able to go in and chat with someone in person (hence the Toronto bit), but I'm also up for working with someone via the intertubes if he/she is especially knowledgable about this sort of thing. Alternatively, if anyone has any other great tips about buying flights within Brazil, I'd love to hear them. (Has anyone here successfully bought tickets on GOL or TAM from abroad?)

While I'm querying the hive mind: anything you feel like telling me about that part of the world? Anything I shouldn't miss? Any places to stay that you especially recommend?

Thanks!
posted by chalkbored to Travel & Transportation around Brazil (4 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Are you there for a week total or you have an extra week to play with that isn't scheduled?
If you only have a week, skip Iguacu and focus on the Amazon, Rio, and other day trips from there.

If you have extra time, make a side trip to Salvador, Bahia for a completely different kind of Brazilian city experience. Salvador is much more African influenced (and more foreign feeling) and Rio kind of feels like Barcelona or a mish-mash of lots of other European cities.
You should try to take a day to see Morro de Sao Paulo, an island with no cars and incredible beaches.
Another great day trip from Salvador is the small, woodworking and cigar-making traditional town of Cachoeira.

Don't bother going to Sao Paulo itself. It's industrialized and boring and impersonal (sorry to any residents).

Things to know about Rio: There is great food, and the culture is very night-life focused, so don't expect to get a lot done early in the day. Better to sleep in, have a relaxing day, do some stuff in the afternoon, eat late (after 9) and then go out. You should also take the cable car up Sugarloaf. And be sure to stop by the beautiful botanical gardens.
Another good thing to do in Rio is a favela tour. You might think it is weird and exploitative, which I did, but I am glad I went and learned so much. Most of the tour operators really integrate with the community and make sure profits go to them and their schools and community centers, so it is worth getting over the awkwardness of "going to see poor people in their natural habitat" as I called it.
But if you don't like clubbing, Rio is not where you should center your attention.


Both times I've been to Brazil on vacation, I flew TAM but didn't get the Airpass. When we flew internally, we just got tickets once we were already in Brazil, because it was so much cheaper than buying them from the U.S.
posted by rmless at 8:35 AM on May 19, 2009


Response by poster: Thanks for the info! We have a week to play with outside of Rio, and we'll be in Rio itself for about two weeks (not really negotiable, as part of it will be for work).
posted by chalkbored at 10:35 AM on May 19, 2009


No prob! One more thing I forgot to mention, there is a great coffeeshop (I think it is a chain that has a few branches throughout Rio) called Caffeina and they have awesome breakfasts and delicious little round pastries that they give you with your coffee and also sell separately.

Oh I miss those little pastries. I brought 2 bags home when I flew back and was going to give them to friends but instead ate all of them myself within a week. They don't seem to be orderable from afar, so if you like them, bring back at least 5 bags!
posted by rmless at 4:01 PM on May 19, 2009


Response by poster: Follow-up from the OP.

We did buy a Brazilian airpass, from TAM, as described in one of the links above. I ended up just walking into the Flight Centre (big chain travel agent) near us and asking about it. Initially they didn't seem to know much about it, but the agent who helped us (A.J. jakeman) found out all he needed to know, found some available flights, and ticketed it for us. Ended up costing us like $770 (canadian) for a series of four flights: Rio to Iguacu and back, then Rio to Manaus, then Manaus to Sao Paulo (where we're flying out of). It would've been cheaper had we been flying into Brazil on TAM. Not cheap, but still much cheaper than buying the flights separately.

Misc. tips from this extravaganza: seatcounter.com was a pretty good indicator of which fare classes were available on each leg, so we didn't have to consult the travel agent many different times. (The airpass is sold in several different fare buckets, which can sell out on any given flight.) TAM actually has an office in Toronto, which wouldn't ticket the pass for us directly but was happy to tell us about it in gory detail.
posted by chalkbored at 9:32 AM on July 1, 2009


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