USA & Brazil: Starting at €1,505 Business Class From London With TAP

tap business class

Star Alliance member TAP Portugal offers discounted business class fares from Heathrow & Gatwick to North America & Brazil. Prices start at €1,505 for flights to Rio de Janeiro. The flights require a layover in Porto or Lisbon, where free stopovers are possible.

More destinations:

lhr gig 13.12
Reasonable flight times at a great price

An Airbus A319, A320 or A321 aircraft will take you from London to Porto or Lisbon and back. The two latter ones are most probably NEO versions of the respective airplane. The intercontinental flights are in most cases operated by TAP’s A330-900neo with their new business class that features a 1-2-1 seat configuration. The Points Guy wrote a comprehensive review about it. Partially, TAP may use their A330-200 airplanes with their old business class. Please be careful when booking. The flights to New York feature TAP’s A321neo airplanes with their new business class in a single-aisle and alternating 2-2 and 1-1 seat configuration.

Search & Book

The fare rules do not state any restrictions. You can add a stopover in Porto or Lisbon in both directions. There is no information about any expiry date of this deal.

There are available dates in every single month from January 2020 onwards. You can use Google Flights to find suiting flight dates (instructions). Using your results, you can either purchase your tickets at the online travel agents displayed by our flight search, Skyscanner, or directly through TAP‘s homepage. It’ll be much easier to include a stopover in your journey, if desired, too.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Mileage

Tickets are issued in booking class J. This is a regular business class fare. A London to Rio de Janeiro roundtrip earns you the following award mileage*:

  • 27,154 Miles on Hainan Fortune Wings Club
  • 23,176 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
  • 23,008 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
  • 23,008 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
  • 23,008 Award Miles + 11,504 Tier Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
  • 23,008 Points on SAS EuroBonus
  • 23,008 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
  • 23,008 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
  • 23,008 Miles on Egyptair Plus
  • 19,558 Miles on Azul TodoAzul
  • 17,256 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
  • 17,256 Award Miles on Emirates Skywards
  • 17,256 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
  • 14,954 Miles on GOL Aéreos Smiles
  • 14,382 Award Miles + 2,398 PQP on United MileagePlus
  • 14,382 Miles on Asiana Club
  • 14,382 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
  • 14,382 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
  • 14,382 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
  • 14,382 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
Data provided by miles.travel-dealz.com. Without guarantee on correctness.
Information & Tips for Brazil

Brazil is probably the country in South America that is most frequented by tourists. Whether it’s the carnival or the Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro or touring the Amazon, visitors will get their money’s worth here.

Traditionally, flights to South America and Brazil from Europe are quite expensive, but since a few years, there are increasingly cheap offers, especially with Iberia and TAP.

Best Time to Visit

Brazil is a vast country – so there is no such thing as an overall best travel time. It all depends on what you want to see. It is best to visit the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo autumn and spring while the dry season fort the rainforest is from May to September.

Climate diagram for Sao Paulo (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)
Climate diagram for Rio De Janeiro (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)
Climate diagram for Brasilia (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)

Entry & Visa

EU citizens do not require a visa for stays of up to 90 days and can enter with a passport only. Note that, similar to the USA, that after your first stop in Brazil your luggage must be collected and brought through customs. Calculate accordingly when booking a connecting flight.

Finding the Best eSIM Plan

We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as Airalo and Maya Mobile. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:

The Best eSIM Plans for Brazil 🇧🇷 Compared

→ All Dealz for Brazil

Information & Tips for USA

The USA offers many sights, natural wonders and cultural significance. Thanks to numerous airlines offering flights across the Atlantic, it is always pretty inexpensive to get there. Alternatively, you can also cross the Atlantic by boat.

Immigration, ESTA & Visa Requirements

The USA has one of the strictest entry regulations in the world. Most EU citizens, among others, are lucky to be able to participate in the so-called Visa Waiver Program. If you get an electronic entry permit (ESTA)  for approximately €20, you don’t need a visa for entry.

The Best Time to Visit

Due to its sheer size, the perfect time to visit the USA varies greatly from region to region. In winter, Florida is very popular due to the mild temperatures. In the summer the West and East Coasts are flooded by tourists which drives up the prices for hotels and flights and during the Indian Summer in late autumn New England is a very popular destination. The hurricane season between July and September can be dangerous in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida and the southern states are regularly struck by these tropical storms. Blizzards occur from the East Coast to the Midwest during the winter months and regularly put air traffic and public life on hold.

Climate diagram for New York City, New York (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)
Climate diagram for Los Angeles, California (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)
Climate diagram for Miami, Florida (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)

Currency

The US dollar is widely used throughout the world and accepted as a currency in most tourist hotspots worldwide. That being said, carrying cash isn’t necessary in the US, all you need is a credit card! These are very common in the USA and are accepted pretty much everywhere without any issues. If you already have a credit card in your wallet, you should make sure that it does not charge a foreign currency fee if possible. Carrying a few dollars in cash doesn’t hurt though. You might need cash e.g. for the bus ticket if you want to buy it directly from the driver. Most of the time you even have to give exact change.

Finding the Best eSIM Plan

We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as Knowroaming and Ubigi. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:

The Best eSIM Plans for the USA 🇺🇸 Compared

→ All Dealz for USA

Cover Picture: © TAP Portugal

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