Great LATAM Business Class Fares From The US To South Africa

does that mean that 1 can credit miles to delta and then redeem it on virgin?

@ palty -- Yes, you could credit to Delta, and SkyMiles can be redeemed on Virgin Atlantic.

A couple of years ago, I saw pax from Brazil to S. Africa needed a yellow fever vaccination, does anybody know if it was still the case right before the covid19? I have several hours at GRU, I don't think international connections there aren't sterile?

Any recommended seats on those aircrafts?

Old news, about a week ago they were selling $436 r/t business from Mexico City to Cape Town with availability through all of 2020 going to March of 2021.

It is a bummer that Delta used a lower MQD conversion for LATAM compared to its other preferred partners. Aeromexico, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and Korean all earn 40% MQDs on all Business class fares. I know sometimes LATAM can have cheaper business class fares, but the same can definitely be said for Aeromexico. I have also had success with KLM and VS in the past.

I won't really be booking this right now anyways, but looking ahead to the future...

@Maverik - I flew GRU-DOH-JNB in December 2014 and wasn't asked about yellow fever at all. I'd spent the day in the city too, never mind staying airside.

I'm not finding anything current on iatatravelcentre.com either, but check there with your own particulars.

Ah, cool, buying a nonrefundable flight credit with a foreign airline.

Also great fares nyc-lim was as low as $886 a few days ago, now around 1k

@NK3 - I stopped buying revenue tickets on JAL for a similar reason. AA now only awards14% of the miles flown on JAL business class towards EQDs. That’s way too low compared to the 20-25% awarded for flying business class in most other OW the partners.

How refundable are these tickets? Given the current situation, South Africa may decide to refuse US citizens for a while. Then the airline shrugs and says not my problem.

if you're writing about good fares, maybe you could write an article about the ongoing Icelandair deal, with ZRH-JFK business class return for 485EUR (with OTA discounts). On the other way, its around 780 USD, which is also not that bad. Many more city pairs available.

@ Ben -- Why would anyone want to fly now?

I saw IAD - JNB on Latam Business for $1410 last week with availability through early 2021. IAD-GRU was on a 777 with angled flat seats though.

@Gene OMG do you have some kind of reading desease? Literally nobody is saying “look at this deals folks, go fly” Ben is just sharing what for many of us is a solid deal for the FUTURE in case you where eyeing a trip to South Africa from the US later this year or beginning of 2021

@ Jose -- Yes, I can't read.

Thank you, @Jose. Can the mods delete/filter out posts with "who is booking air travel right now?"-type remarks? This deal is valid through MARCH 2021. Everyone has their own COVID-19 comfort zone, but if you're skittish about committing to travel 11 months from now, you don't belong on a blog for frequent flyers.

@Maverik, they dropped the yellow fever requirement a few years ago.

Due to COVID, US citizens can't enter South Africa right now. I don't think its clear how long the "ban" will last.

Before booking anything with LATAM, one should bear in mind that LATAM refuses to provide refunds for flights it canceled due to the Corona virus. Instead, it only is offering a voucher that expires one year from the ticket purchase date.

@BA from BWI. Not sure what you are looking at. I live in DC and in S.P. and commute back and forth. I can assure you LATAM is not flying out of IAD, let alone with a 777. United is the only carrier flying non-stop to GRU with a 767...not right now of course.

@Stuart I just had a quick glance at the fare and checked the plane types that day. I think it was DCA/BWI - MIA - GRU - JNB; sorry about that. I've never flown LATAM and my flights to South Africa were almost always on BA. Also, the MIA-GRU leg was on a B777 with angled flat seats.

@BA from BWI.

LATAM is all flat. Only the config changes between the old 2-2-2 and the new 1-2-1 (which is far better). But they are both flat.

Most of the Miami-GRU flights are using the new Business now. But it's still possible to get a 777 with the old. Which is still not awful.

Don't expect anything special though with food/service, etc. It's mediocre at best with whatever you end up getting for hard product.

If you get on the new config, seats 8A or 8L are the magic ones. The area is larger than the other seat cabins for some odd reason. And at the front of the rear mini-cabin.

@Maverik Yellow fever vaccine and proof of vaccination is required if you reside in Brazil, Argentina or in a yellow fever endemic country.

I've done a South Africa-GRU-North America transit several times using STAR awards on SAA and AC and no Yellow Fever (or other) sort of certificate was required (traveling on a Canadian passport) though I do suspect once international travel gets slowly back on stream we'll require some form of medical certificate issued on the basis of having an immunity test (issued within a short period prior to travel).