Latin Business Traveler
Weekly Latin American business travel news  
May 16, 2013  

  

 

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In This Week's Issue:

Brazil's southernmost large city is both an important economic gateway and a cultural mecca.

  

Story and photos by Mark Holston

 

Sitting close to Brazil's Mercosur trading partners to the south, Argentina and Uruguay, Porto Alegre is one of Brazil's most important Mark Holston southern cities. The daily comings and goings of both large, oceangoing ships and small vessels set the rhythm of this key alluvial port (the city's name literally means "happy port"). From its perch in a protected bay on the eastern shore of the freshwater Gua�ba Lake (Rio Guaiba), it hosts ships coming from and going to the Atlantic Ocean, including many carrying products from the country's agricultural interior. The giant, connected freshwater Ducks Lagoon (Lagoa dos Patos) marks the confluence of five rivers.

 

If you're heading to this economic center for business, it's well worth adding a few days to your trip to enjoy the city as well. The capital of Mark Holston the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Porto Alegre metropolitan area is Brazil's fourth largest. Its location, population and history of European settlement have helped make it one of the nation's cultural centers. Ducks Lagoon hosts a variety of unique flora and fauna both in the water and on the small flotilla of islands that dot it. Perhaps most famously, though, Porto Alegre is known as Brazil's gaucho - cowboy - capital.

 

The defining presence of the regional gaucho culture is the key to the city's soul, and what most sets it apart from other Brazilian destinations.

 

Although founded in the mid-1700s by seafaring Portuguese from the Azores and populated ever since by a succession of immigrant waves from Ger.- many, Italy, Poland, the Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, local cultural mores were shaped by some of the same rural traditions Mark Holston that also influenced neighboring Argentina and Uruguay. Today, both ceremonial and practical aspects of gaucho customs can be seen at nearly every turn on Porto Alegre's broad boulevards and ambling side streets. Some men still wear the trademark flat-brimmed felt hat favored by cowboys who ride the range on area cattle ranches. And virtually every Porto Alegrense, as city residents are called, always seems to have a silver bomba straw) pressed to their lips, sipping mate, the herbal tea that's as central to life here as coffee is elsewhere in Brazil. When it's time to dine, grilled meats served up by the city's countless barbecues, a staple of gaucho culinary rites, are a local favorite.

 

Click to read the full Porto Alegre destination guide.

 

 

News from our Partners
(Click the headlines to read full stories)

 

  Delta

Delta and GOL Linhas A�reas Inteligentes implement GOL codeshare on Delta flights from Brazilian capital Brasilia to Delta's hub in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.): Delta international tickets now available for purchase through GOL sales channels.

 

Delta and GOL to further expand codeshare in June: All Delta flights between Brazil and U.S., plus key connecting markets, to be included.

 

Experience a preview of Delta's John F. Kennedy International Airport redevelopment in Manhattan at T4X: Open May 1-22 in Soho at 376 West Broadway and Broome, the space showcases new features that will be part of the $1.4 billion in work being done on Terminal 4.

Details on JFK's new Terminal 4, open May 24: www.delta.com/t4x

 

 

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Travel News
New Airline Routes and Route Changes

Spain-based Vueling will begin twice-weekly service between Barcelona and Beirut, Lebanon, on June 28.

 

Seoul, South Korea American Airlines launched daily nonstop service between its Dallas/Fort Worth (Texas, U.S.) International Airport hub and Seoul, South Korea's Incheon International Airport. The service is part of America's joint business agreement with fellow oneworld member Japan Airlines.

 

Delta Air Lines will start daily nonstop round-trip flights between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida (U.S.) and Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport on July 1.

 

La Paz, Mexico On June 20, Aeromexico will begin twice weekly flights between Los Angeles, California (U.S.) and La Paz, Mexico (capital of Baja California Sur).

 

Airline Alliance News

Brazil-based Gol Linhas A�reas Inteligentes and U.S.-based Delta Air Lines have implemented code sharing on Delta's flights between the Brazilian capital of Brasilia and Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.).

 

U.S.-based JetBlue Airways and Dubai-based Emirates plan to expand their partnership with bilateral codesharing (pending regulatory approval) on all flights between the U.S. and Dubai International Airport, as well as those between New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Milan, Italy.

 

Other Airline News

Silver Airways, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (U.S.) and flies within Florida and between the U.S. and The Bahamas, has upgraded its entire fleet to Saab 340Bplus turboprops, which have 34 leather seats and greater cargo capacity than its previous fleet. 

 

Air Transport News

Mexico's civil aviation authority (Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil) has certified the Sikorksy S-76D helicopter, which is Sikorsky's newest craft.

 

Hotel News

Ritz-Carlton will no longer run the Rose Hall resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, as of May 20. Spain-based Playa Hotels and Resorts (which operates under the Secrets, Dream and Barcelo brands) is negotiating to acquire the property, which was named the Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa Resort, Rose Hall.

 

 

U.S.-Cuba Travel

The U.S. government has licensed three new companies to offer trips to Cuba for U.S. citizens and residents. Central Holidays, Globus Family of Brands and Other Cuban Journeys are now arranging trips to Cuba that comply with the United States' trade embargo against the island. 

 

Photo credits, from top: Seoul, South Korea's Gwanghwamun Gate: 

�iStockphoto.com/carolinemaryan; La Paz, Mexico: �iStockphoto.com/Elisabeth2010

 

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Research by Mark Chesnut
 
(click on airline name to go to its website)
Mileage and segments are for Economy Class travel; status is attained either via miles flown, segments flown or points, unless otherwise indicated
 
 
Airline
(Program)
Alliance Miles/
Segments 
to 
Level 1
Elite Status
 
Miles/
Segments
to 
Level 2
Elite Status
 
Miles/
Segments
to 
Level 3
Elite Status
 
Elite 
Check-In 
Counter? 
Free
VIP
Lounge Access?
Aerolineas
Argentinas

(Aerolineas Plus)
SkyTeam 25,000 / 30
 (or 15,000 +
 15 sgmts.)
 50,000 / 60   (or 30,000 +
 30 sgmts.)
 ----------  
(Club Premier)SkyTeam 50,000  80,000 100,000   
top 2
tiers
(AAdvantage)
oneworld 25,000 / 30 50,000 / 60 100,000 / 
 100
  Fee dis-
 count
AviancaTaca 
(LifeMiles)
 Star Alliance 22,000 / 25 40,000 / 45 75,000 / 85  
Copa Airlines
(MileagePlus) 
 Star Allliance 25,000 / 30 50,000 / 60 75,000 / 90  √        int'l:
top 3
tiers;
discount for rest
Delta Air Lines
(SkyMiles)
 SkyTeam 25,000 / 30 50,000 / 60 75,000 / 100
  
top 3 
tiers
 √ 
tier 4
only;
discount tiers 2
and 3
GOL/Varig
(Smiles) 
 Air France, 
 KLM, Delta 
 10,000 20,000 35,000 √  
top 2 
tiers
 √  
top 2
tiers
JetBlue*
(TrueBlue) 
 Partnerships
 with
 American
 Airlines
 Emirates, 
 Hawaiian
 Airlines

 12,000 pts.
 + 30 sgmts.
 (or 15,000
 pts.)
 ----------  ----------   
LAN
(LANPASS) 
 oneworld 40,000 with
 LAN, TAM
 or oneworld
 or 
 30 legs with
 LAN or TAM
 80,000 with LAN, TAM
 or oneworld
 or
 60 legs with  LAN or TAM 
 150,000 with
 LAN, TAM
 or oneworld
 or
 100 sgmts.
 with LAN or
 TAM
  
top 3
tiers
Southwest
(Rapid Rewards)
 none 35,000
 or 25 flights
 70,000
 or 50 flights
 ----------   
TAM
(Fidelidade)  

 Star Alliance 12,000 pts. 48,000 pts. 100,000 pts. √  
top 3
tiers
 √ 
top 3
tiers
United Airlines 
(Mileage Plus)
 Star Alliance 25,000 / 30 50,000 / 60 75,000 / 90   √ 
int'l: top 3 tiers

*Base fare earns three points per US$ spent/six points per US$ spent when booked on Jetblue.com

 

Level 4 Elite Status

Several airline loyalty programs now offer a 4th level of Elite status:
  • Copa Airlines: 100,000 miles / 120 segments
  • Delta Air Lines125,000 miles / 140 segments
  • LAN210,000 miles with LAN or TAM, or 180,000 miles with 16 medium or long haul legs on LAN or TAM in Business Class
  • TAM150,000 points
  • United Airlines100,000 miles / 120 segments

 

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