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Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will be launching flights between London Heathrow and São Paulo, Brazil in 2020. The airline will operate a Boeing 787 aircraft boasting Virgin Atlantic’s standard Upper Class, Premium and Economy Delight, Classic and Light offering.

Why Brazil Matters to the Mile Collector?

If you collect Virgin miles (or Avios for that matter), you might be shocked by the surcharges added to the cost of a “reward” ticket. There are two well-known exceptions to this – due to local government prohibitions on surcharges. They are Hong Kong (although the rules have changed some airlines haven’t…)

And Brazil…

It isn’t clear where Sao Paulo will fit into Flying Club’s award chart, but it’s safe to assume that a one-way flight in Upper Class will cost either 57,500 miles (i.e. Caribbean) or 67.500 miles (i.e. US – West).  Either amount will be a steal if a one-way reward ticket departing Sao Paulo doesn’t have any surcharges to pay! And new routes often have great award availability, as the route beds in and the airline tries to fill empty seats…

Conclusion

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club has relatively few sweet spots, especially ones where you can avoid paying outrageous surcharges to redeem your miles. The new route to Sao Paulo should therefore open up another sweet spot that you might be able to use on your next trip to South America…