Rio, Copacabana, and Taylor Swift

Allison and Jackie take over the pod to discuss the news and to share more about their recent trip to Rio de Janeiro to see Taylor Swift in concert.

The Award Travel 101 Podcast is brought to you in part by Thrifty Traveler Premium. Get Thrifty Traveler Premium deal/award alerts sent straight to your inbox. Use promo code “AT101” for $10 off your first year. Recent finds include:Business Class to London for 49,000 milesBusiness Class to Seoul for 61,000 pointsRound-trip to Mexico for 11,000 pointsYou can find these at ThriftyTraveler.com/Premium.

Post of the week Alicia Carroll shared that her miles were stolen by hackers. Use unique passwords, Two-Factor Authorization (2FA), and AwardWallet. NewsAmerican Airlines Adjusts How Card Spending Counts Toward AAdvantage StatusBritish Airways Hikes Avios Awards on American and AlaskaYou Can Now Redeem Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles Online for Aeromexico FlightsCredit Card Perks You Can Gift for the HolidaysHighlight feature:Jackie’s flights - Entire trip reportAllison - AA economy down DFW-GRUHow's economy on LatamCheap AA award for GOL AA Business Class GRU-DFW (55,000 AAdvantage miles, topped off with BILT Rewards)Traffic in Sao Paulo is deceivingHilton Copacabana - A+ views of the beach, 50k and 5th night freeTaylor Time - making friendship bracelets (with friends from Award Travel 201) presidential suite, extreme heat alert day and concert postponementOther Rio things - Christ the Redeemer, Brent’s meat map, caipirinhas, parrot pet, Escadaria Selarón and best $1 caipirinhas (2000 tiles from 60 countries)ParatyBrazil Visa requirement beginning Jan 10, 2024$80, electronic visa submissiona flight reservation showing arrival and departuretwo free visa pagesa bank statement showing a balance of at least $2,000 and the most recent 30 days of transactionsTip of the week Passport turnaround times are short right now! Great time to get or renew yours, turnaround within a few weeks. Where To Find the Award Travel 101 Community

For questions, you can join us in the free 100,000+ member Award Travel 101 Community. For more intermediate and advanced strategies, join Award Travel 201 community To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at [email protected]. Our next meetup is located in San Antonio, TX on April 26–28, 2024. If you want a waitlisted ticket, see this post in AT101. Support the AT101 Podcast/Community