Attn Brazilians: How's Varig doing? — Forum Archive

2 Sep 2006, 21:22

I've decided I'll fly between RJ and SP and I'm getting ready to book my flights.

After shopping around, it looks like Varig is offering the best deal at R$175 each way. However, I've also heard Varig is currently going through a bit of a financial crisis and many international flights have been cancelled.

So I'm wondering... what's the general sentiment about the current and future state of Varig down there? I know international operations have suffered, but does it look likely that the Ponte Aérea will still be honoring reservations in November? Should I play it safe and book with TAM or GOL instead?

3 Sep 2006, 04:34

That's my dilemma too. I have miles with Varig and I'm wondering if I should use them to fly to Buenos Aires. Varig almost went out of the business some months ago but they have been acquired by another company and it looks like everything is fine now.

Anyway, are you sure it is the best deal? Have you checked Gol flights at http://www.voegol.com.br/INT?

3 Sep 2006, 08:50

One Brain wrote: That's my dilemma too. I have miles with Varig and I'm wondering if I should use them to fly to Buenos Aires. Varig almost went out of the business some months ago but they have been acquired by another company and it looks like everything is fine now.

Anyway, are you sure it is the best deal? Have you checked Gol flights at http://www.voegol.com.br/INT?

I did... Gol was actually the more expensive of the three I looked up...

Round trip SDU-CGH-SDU Nov 13th to 15th, incl tax:

Gol R$466,04 TAM R$429,54 Varig R$385,04

Also, it doesn't look like Varig is flying to Buenos Aires anymore... at least not for now. I kinda wonder what's happening to all those international air carriage rights that Varig is no longer operating. Somebody's got to be picking them up.

3 Sep 2006, 10:08

Mr disco 99 wrote: I did... Gol was actually the more expensive of the three I looked up...

Round trip SDU-CGH-SDU Nov 13th to 15th, incl tax:

Gol R$466,04 TAM R$429,54 Varig R$385,04

You can save some notes booking 2 one way flights instead of round trip tickets. SDU-CGH with Varig (R$ 190.42) and CGH-SDU with Gol (R$ 131.62), with a total price of R$ 322.04 (including taxes).

Mr disco 99 wrote: Also, it doesn't look like Varig is flying to Buenos Aires anymore... at least not for now. I kinda wonder what's happening to all those international air carriage rights that Varig is no longer operating. Somebody's got to be picking them up.

Varig are not handling some international flights anymore, but the ones to Buenos Aires are operating normally. I got an e-mail from Varig the other day saying that I can use my miles to fly to Buenos Aires. Also, you can book fligths to Buenos Aires in their website.

5 Sep 2006, 10:51

Well, as it turns out it doesn't matter. Gol is the only one that'll take online payment with an American credit card. I went through the motions with both Varig and TAM and couldn't finish a transaction with either one. Good thing I have American Express.

So I bought my tickets with Gol. All my flights are now booked. :)

5 Sep 2006, 11:48

I'll fly all the internals with tam for 375 Euro. I bought it with tam-germany.de. Payment with bank transaction. KK possible, too.

TAM LINHAS AEREAS - JJ 3344 SAM 11NOV SAO PAULO SP BELO HORIZ MG 0945 1050 GUARULHOS INTL TANCREDO NON-STOP TERMINAL 1 DAUER 1:05 NICHTRAUCHERFLUG BUCHUNG BESTAETIGT Z ECONOMY CLASS AN BORD: IMBISS VERKEHRSMITTEL:AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200

TAM LINHAS AEREAS - JJ 3213 MON 13NOV BELO HORIZ MG SAO PAULO SP 0926 1047 TANCREDO CONGONHAS NON-STOP DAUER 1:21 NICHTRAUCHERFLUG BUCHUNG BESTAETIGT Z ECONOMY CLASS AN BORD: IMBISS VERKEHRSMITTEL:AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319

TAM LINHAS AEREAS - JJ 3912 MIT 15NOV SAO PAULO SP RIO JANEIRO RJ 0914 1005 CONGONHAS SANTOS DUMON NON-STOP DAUER 0:51 NICHTRAUCHERFLUG BUCHUNG BESTAETIGT Z ECONOMY CLASS AN BORD: ERFRISCHUNGEN VERKEHRSMITTEL:AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319

TAM LINHAS AEREAS - JJ 3901 FRE 17NOV RIO JANEIRO RJ SAO PAULO SP 0625 0714 SANTOS DUMON CONGONHAS NON-STOP DAUER 0:49 NICHTRAUCHERFLUG BUCHUNG BESTAETIGT Z ECONOMY CLASS AN BORD: ERFRISCHUNGEN VERKEHRSMITTEL:AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319

TAM LINHAS AEREAS - JJ 8010 FRE 17NOV SAO PAULO SP BUENOS AIRES BA 1030 1220 GUARULHOS INTL PISTARINI NON-STOP TERMINAL 1 DAUER 2:50 NICHTRAUCHERFLUG BUCHUNG BESTAETIGT W ECONOMY CLASS AN BORD: MITTAGESSEN VERKEHRSMITTEL:AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200

BASE FARE EQUIV AMT TAXES TOTAL USD404.00 EUR316.00 58.58 EUR374.58