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Travel from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for $391+ roundtrip on Copa Airlines through mid-December 2015.

This is the only active sub-$400 fare to South America I see at the moment, but in the last week we’ve seen them on Copa from various American cities to Lima, Montevideo, and Rio. Keep your eyes peeled for fares from where you live to where you want to go on South America. Copa might just discount your preferred fare at any moment.

Contents:

  1. When are the $391 fares?
  2. Layover Trip to Panama Canal
  3. Mileage Earning
  4. Best Credit Card to Buy the Ticket
  5. Copa Baggage Policy

$391 Roundtrip from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro

Sample Dates: November 17 – 28 on Copa

You can search these fares on the ITA Matrix for a month at a time for trip lengths of your choosing. Your results calendar will look like this.

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Hover over an orange day to see what length trips are that price.

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Click through to select the exact flights, but you cannot book on ITA Matrix.

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Head to copaair.com and recreate the search.

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You can bring up the same fares that you found on ITA Matrix.Screen Shot 2015-10-10 at 8.08.39 PM

 

Panama Canal Layover

On some Copa itineraries, you may be able to build in a 5+ hour layover in Panama City, just enough time to visit the Panama Canal like I did in April.

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Mileage Earning

These are L class fares from Copa. United offers 50% mileage earning on Copa L fares.

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  • You’d earn 6,295 United miles on the Los Angeles to Rio roundtrip.

Best Way to Buy the Ticket

You should definitely purchase your Copa ticket with a credit card that imposes no foreign transaction fees. Your top choice should be the Citi Prestige® Card, since it comes with a $250 Air Travel Credit every calendar year that will cover the purchase of this ticket. If you haven’t used the credit yet, buy this fare with your Prestige, and you will receive an offsetting credit on your next statement: about a $141 roundtrip to Brazil!

Even if you’ve already used your $250 credit for this year, the card offers 3x on all airfare purchases.

See my review of the Citi Prestige Card which explains its many benefits like it annual $250 Air Travel Credit, 40,000 point sign up bonus, access to the American Airlines Admirals Clubs and Priority Pass lounges, 3x points per dollar on air travel and hotels, and a $450 annual fee.

Copa Baggage Policy

You can take one carry on and one personal item for free. You can have two checked bags of up to 50 pounds each for free. (Full policy.)

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Hat Tip Air Fare Watchdog