Excellent LATAM (Avios earning) business class fares to South America for December

If you don’t have your Christmas plans lined up yet, LATAM is offering some excellent fares to South America.

These fares will earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points if credited to BA as LATAM is a BA partner.

These deals are only valid for travel in December 2018.  Christmas is included in theory but you might struggle to find availability unless you leave early in the month.

You must book by 21st August.

The only direct routing available is Heathrow to Sao Paulo.  Other destinations are available with changes on the way, either in Europe or the Americas.

Some options include the ability to route via Madrid or Frankfurt with a BA / Iberia connection in Club Europe / Business Class which is good for another 40 tier points each way.

Typical pricing booking on the LATAM website is (all checked as of yesterday):

Sao Paulo – £1280 (direct)

Rio de Janeiro – £1314

You can also route through to other cities in the region such as Manaus or Recife for a similar price.

It is also worth looking at third party booking sites such as Expedia or Opodo as they may offer lower prices.  As with the recent Gulf Air promotion we covered, smaller airlines like LATAM are often happy to dump capacity via third parties at lower prices than they charge direct.  It is also worth trying a ‘flight and hotel’ or ‘flight and car’ package via Expedia to see if that brings it down even more.

Be careful on the seating as not all aircraft have fully flat seats.  Our review of LATAM’s brand new Boeing 787 seat, which is good, is here.

Your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

The LATAM website is here.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.