How to fly to Europe from Brazil as cheaply as possible?

[Max Bono]

Problem for a frequent rravellers flying to the other side of the world frequently.

Max

[Tony Abreu]

I'm not an expert on South American fares but I'm going to give this a try.

IMHO, you can wait for a sale from Air France (mostly requires 93 days advance purchase) or from Lufthansa; or go the Condor Flug's website http://www.condor.com/ibe/cfi/us/offersLong/flightOffersListView.xhtml and try your luck there.

Their flights are via Salvador da Bahia airport, though.

[Max Bono]

Thanks Tony

Problem is that the flights you mention are only from Luftansa as far as I understand. No problem if they go via Salvador. What about the other airline companies?

Max

[Tony Abreu]

Max, I looked up the fares using my GDS and currently I only found Air France and Lufthansa fares on sale (discounted).

I did not find a cheaper fare for Iberia and Alitalia. The problem is that there are not too many flights to Europe from Rio or Sao Paulo. With limited capacity, then the need to put fares on sale is less (I suppose).

[Max Bono]

Tony

I am not very familiar with GDS. Can you actually find discounted fares? I thought it was only for travel agencies, which do receive discounted fares anyway. The problem is that atrave journalist should receive better fares, shouldn't it?

Max

[Tony Abreu]

Max, I need to provide some clarification so I don't confuse you more.

Travel agents use a GDS to search for fares (with their associated rules) AND seat-class availability for specific flights.

I used a GDS to lookup fares for RIO/SAO to major European destinations (PAR, ROM, MAD, LON, FRA) for you.

Almost all fares below Y class (full, unrestricted) are considered Discounted. Discounted does not mean much since unless you pick the fares for the lowest classes, most discounted fares are still generally expensive. In other words, discounted fares are NOT NECESSARILY priced on sale. If you want something cheap then you need to find a fare that's on sale.

The problem is a non-travel agent does not have the same tools like a GDS. So a person like you will find it harder to search for fares, but it is still very doable.  I think you can use ITASoftware's Matrix Search and try the CALENDAR option (See calendar for lowest fares). In my opinion, if you learn to use ITA well, you can find the same fares a travel agent will find using their GDS. After you find the fare you like, simply go to the airline's own website and duplicate it.

[Max Bono]

Thanks Tony. Your explanation is quite good. However my initial question was a bit different. I am actually looking for a non-market solution. I explain what I mean.

I am not looking for the cheapest commercial fare because, unless it si ridicoulously cheap, it is still too high for me. As I travel extensively as a tourist journalist I cannot afford to pay for 6 to 10 raound trips from Europe to Brazil.

There must be a facility for travel journalists that avoid them to be treated as travellers and yes as workers.

It is the same as the fare charged for locals compared with the one charged for tourists to visits the same places in Brazil.

Max

[Max Bono]

6 to 10 round trips a year obviously