Bom dia, it is my unique privilege today to talk about the best ways for Canadians to get to Brazil, the gateway to all of Latin America, on Miles & Points.
I strongly recommend the country of Brazil due to the warmth of its people and the quality of the food, as well as the sheer size and diversity it offers both in terms of culture, locations, and biomes for you to explore. Whilst there are parts of it that are doubtlessly dangerous, so too are there others that are so fun they have to be experienced to be believed.
Guarulhos Airport outside of the São Paulo megalopolis is one of the largest airports in this hemisphere, and one that connects all sorts of carriers from across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with the rest of the continent.
That means even if you’re more interested in going to Argentina, Chile, or Peru, Brazil may be a stop along the way. Why not step outside and see what the country has to offer?
For redemptions going from North America to Brazil, there are a plethora of options in terms of economy, premium economy, and business class. Unfortunately, for more premium cabins, options like United Mileage Plus may not be the best use of your hard-earned points. Instead, I’ve found the sweet spot for Canadians to be via Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Avios, with a quick (but deserved) honourable mention to American Airlines AAdvantage.
The Best Ways to Fly to Brazil on Aeroplan Points
Direct Air Canada Flights
The first option on our list, direct flights via Air Canada, is ideal for avoiding headaches or transit issues. It’s not always going to give you a single low fixed price to get to Brazil, but it’s the routing I’ve personally flown the most. As Air Canada is priced dynamically on Aeroplan, this gives us a good benchmark for seeing why some of the other options might be better for more frugal flyers.
The airline flies directly to Rio during the winter months, so let’s do that most stereotypical of tourist activities: going to the legendary Carnaval festivities in February.
As we can see, this is pretty expensive in any class of service, but then again, Carnaval starts on February 13th. So what about just a few days before?
Well, that’s annoying. However, this is where you get more for your Aeroplan points if you’re from Western Canada:
Well, that’s interesting. It’s actually 300 Aeroplan points cheaper on Economy, and more than 7,000 Aeroplan points cheaper on Premium Economy. This makes this option much more sensible for people with connecting itineraries coming from abroad. It also proves that Air Canada Premium Economy is often a great option when traveling internationally.
Of course, this is the peak period when everyone is flooding into the country. What about in January, which is the blazing heat of the Brazilian summer, and so a softer travel season? Let’s say we start in Vancouver for this one:
As we can see, the Premium Economy with a short-ish layover still only costs 73,300 points, while an all-day layover in Toronto puts Business under 100,000 points (though you’d have to fly economy between Vancouver and Toronto… but not direct to Rio). For that price, I’d stop in and visit the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, from Toronto on the exact same day:
It’s really annoying knowing that you have to pay almost 20,000 Aeroplan points more just to fly Premium Economy direct from Toronto! But such is life on dynamic pricing.
Azul Brazilian Airlines
So now we’ve seen all the fun and games we can have with dynamic pricing, let us consider instead the possibility for the real value space on Aeroplan: the ability to use it for fixed points redemptions on partner airlines.
This next strategy is very niche and requires you to be willing to look far in advance, book potentially only one seat, and be willing to put up with what might be two red-eye flights. However, you will get the vast majority of your flights in business class on one of my favourite airlines: Azul Brazilian Airlines.
So it requires serious planning, but you can reap the spoils if you can find availability.
As you can see, both of these flights stop in the United States, in either Fort Lauderdale or Orlando. If you wish to go out and about for your overnights, then I recommend you enroll in NEXUS Membership to make your time at the airport more efficient.
You also need to note that these flights land at Campinas (VCP) airport, which is outside of São Paulo. Whilst not as big a hub as other airports, it does have plenty of regional flights around Brazil. But look, this is a very significant discount from the normal price for Business or Premium Economy, and in the modern award availability context, it’s harder to be picky.
Avianca
For the braver of heart, there’s always the choice of potentially routing through Bogota and taking Avianca to get to your destination. Do be advised: the Avianca flights themselves are something straight out of a nightmare. I’ve never heard anything good about the Economy cabin, and service is terse on a good day.
On the other hand, you can do split itineraries on Air Canada and Avianca for not a terrible deal:
While this is a mixed cabin itinerary, at least 50% of your flights would be on Air Canada Premium Economy.
For pure Avianca itineraries, it’s hard to come by Business class on Aeroplan. There are lots of economy class tickets at fixed prices if you book in advance, though:
The Best Credit Cards For Earning Aeroplan Points
If you’re just getting started with Aeroplan, consider dipping your toes in with either the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card or the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, as they’re a great place to start and don’t take up too much of an annual fee commitment.
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card offers benefits that include a free first checked bag on Air Canada flights and a $100 NEXUS membership credit.
45,000 Aeroplan points
$12,000
$945+
$139 (FYF)
Yes
–
If you’re more advanced or want to really throw yourself into it, then you can see from above that you may need 60,000 or more points for one leg of your journey.
At that point, it may be worth trying something with a higher annual fee, like the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, or a card that earns the valuable and transferable American Express Membership Rewards points.
The American Express® Aeroplan®* Reserve card offers Air Canada benefits including Priority Airport Services, Eligible free first checked bags, and access to Maple Leaf Lounges™* across North America.
Check out our American Express Aeroplan Reserve card review for more details.
Earn when you apply through Frugal Flyer.
85,000 Aeroplan points
$10,000
$1,910+
$599
Yes
–
If you need to learn more about the Air Canada Aeroplan program, feel free to follow one of our many guides or articles on the subject.
The Best Ways to Fly to Brazil on Avios Points
Partnership with LATAM
The only real way to use Avios points to get to Brazil, assuming you’re not originating in Qatar or Europe, is via their partnership with LATAM. This partnership is generally only usable from the US, so you’ll have to get yourself there, perhaps with a positioning flight.
Also, keep in mind: this is mostly for Economy class. If you want to book Business Class, it is available, but you’ll need to book far in advance. Let’s take a look at a flight almost a year in advance that I was able to locate, starting with the Economy itinerary:
And now, we have the Business class flight on the same route:
Business class costs almost 3x as many Avios points, which is not a great value proposition, and availability is very limited. On the upside, the boarding and fuel surcharges are low, though that’s cold comfort compared to the price.
Before continuing on, I’d be remiss to fail to mention that Brazil legislates fuel surcharges and doesn’t allow them to be very high. Therefore, if you have a lot of Avios, you can consider flying British Airways. I wrote a review on a British Airways flight from Sao Paulo to London and was impressed, not least because taxes and fees were under $40 CAD!
The Best Credit Cards For Earning Avios Points
There are only a few ways to get Avios in Canada. One way is to get the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite, or to transfer from the RBC Avion Visa Infinite card or the American Express Membership Rewards program.
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite card earns 1.25 Avion Rewards points on all travel purchases. Avion Rewards points can be redeemed against travel purchases or transferred to popular frequent flyer programs.
Check out our RBC Avion Visa Infinite card review for more details.
55,000 Avion points
$5,000
$1,045+
$120
Yes
Nov 25, 2025
Feel free to listen to our podcast episode all about Avios for more, or follow our guide to the British Airways Avios program. Personally, I’d recommend trying out a mixture of all of the cards mentioned above and seeing what you can achieve!
Honourable Mention: American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
American Airlines
The last of my ways for Canadians to fly to Brazil is an honourable mention: via AAdvantage Miles. This is almost entirely useless for flying down in business class, but it can provide value if you’re looking somewhat far in advance, are OK with potentially multiple layovers and changes, and are flying either economy or premium economy.
We can see a degree of decent options below, via a readout scraped from Awardtool, an award search aggregator I often use.
Note that all taxes and fees pricing information above is listed in USD, and so is likely to be a bit higher depending on the exchange rate.
So why is this redemption opportunity merely an honourable mention? Well… we’ll get into that in the next part
The Best Credit Cards For Earning AAdvantage Miles
The reason this can only be considered an honourable mention is that AAdvantage Miles are hard to earn for Canadians. There are a few excellent ways, such as via the RBC Avion Visa Infinite card, which lists AAdvantage as one of the Avion program’s many transfer partners.
The normal transfer rate is 1000 Avion points points will convert to 700 AAdvantage miles. Thus, a single signup bonus of 35,000 Avion points would equal 24,500 AAdvantage miles, which is the cost of most of one economy fare.
You’d need to make some bigger spends or meet a signup bonus to get a flight. However, you could always follow our guide to get American credit cards, and could add a card such as the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard to your wallet.
The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard earns AAdvantage miles and offers perks when flying American Airlines including a first checked bag free and priority boarding.
50,000 AAdvantage miles
$2,500
$700+
$99 (FYF)
No
–
The $99 USD annual fee garners a 50,000 AAdvantage Miles welcome bonus, almost enough for a Premium Economy round trip. Not bad!
Conclusion
So, should you go to Brazil with the magic of Miles & Points?
Absolutely. Getting there from Canada is easier than ever, with plenty of flight options to get you to São Paulo or Rio, though you’ll have to make sure to search for a deal and be flexible if you insist on flying Business class.
One final word of advice: Brazil isn’t a destination where you can just switch your brain off entirely. It’s a place that demands a little situational awareness. A few basic phrases in Portuguese will go a long, long way. But for those willing to engage with it on its own terms, Brazil is one of the most vibrant, fun, and deeply rewarding countries you’ll ever visit. The payoff for a little bit of effort is immense.
Pack your bags, brush up on your obrigados and bom dias, and get ready for an incredible adventure.
Kirin Tsang
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