This Samba Safari saves thousands with a stunning stopover that delivers two continents for—less than—the price of one.
Imagine taking the trip of a lifetime, not because you always dreamed of visiting these places, but because the airfare opportunity was so great, you’d be crazy as a bald uakari to miss it.
We’re heading to two amazing “souths”: South Africa and South America.
A Hypnotic Hybrid Holiday
This opportunity came about through LATAM, Latin America’s largest airline and a oneworld member and American Airlines partner.When you go to South Africa with LATAM (via Brazil), the savings are as spectacular as a Kruger sunset. Here’s why. On other airlines, the usual Business Class fare to Johannesburg runs between $3,800 and $6,000+.
But when you fly on LATAM in Business from Miami to Johannesburg via Brazil round-trip, you cut the cost by almost half: the lowest fare fluctuates between $2,300 and $2,500. Here’s a look at the flight schedule.
The 5:55 Arrive Jive
One of the triggers for this idea grew out of flight times. The upside here is obviously saving a few thousand dollars. One downside, though, is that you arrive in São Paulo, Brazil, at 5:20 in the morning, and don’t leave until 5:55 that night. That’s a lot of 5s.You might call that a deal killer, but I still call it a killer deal.
That’s because you can stop in South America each way (and then take side trips on secondary tickets from there to other places in South America) currently for an additional $329, as the lowest fare fluctuates between $2,650 and $2,850. So rather than hang around the airport for 12 hours, why not stay in São Paulo for a few days on the way to South Africa? Then, head back to the airport for your 5:55 departure to South Africa! Using this strategy you’ll pay currently only $329 more than a round-trip between Miami and Johannesburg to make a stopover in South America.
Even better, make a stopover in São Paulo going both directions for a total of $2,973 (again,as the fare fluctuates between $2,900 and $3,000)—currently only $468 more than a round-trip between Miami and South Africa. That’s (still) a killer deal.
If you go this route, consider taking different side trips on each stopover in São Paulo. Rio de Janeiro is only an hour’s flight away and dazzling Iguazu Falls, just two hours. If you haven’t been to these destinations, now’s your chance.
My favorite way to travel? Grabbing iconic, world-class destinations and experiences—that you might not otherwise get to—for next to no effort and even less in cost.
Beat that!
American AAdvantage Compatible
Another good feature of this amazing maneuver is that if you want to stop over in São Paulo both ways, you can fly American Airlines on the Miami-São Paulo segments and buy the ticket with American.This means you can earn miles and elite credit with American, and can do so currently for $2,974 round-trip. Note that trips to Africa on LATAM don’t earn American miles.
The adventure of Africa. The romance of Brazil and South Africa. From Carnival to Cape Town, this combination of destinations is a bucket-list-busting bonanza.
