New Brazilian Airline

[OkieMan]

Hey posters.  This may be some information that is interesting to some of you, and maybe not for others.  I just read an article in my Sunday paper about a Brazilian Airline name GOL.(pronounced like goal).  It is a low-cost airline that now just flies domestic flights inside Brazil.  However, this article said that there are some indications that they will be soon flying to Colombia and Peru, among other countries in SA.  I don't know if they plan on having any flights coming to Miami, or other US distinations.  But, for some of you guys that do travel within Brazil, you might be interested.  If someone has experience with this airline, then let the rest of us know.  Their website is:
www.voegol.com.br  Frankly, I am hoping that many new opportunities come our way, because for many of us, the airline ticket prices are our single highest expense to LA.

                                 OkieMan

[abrutha]

... in response to New Brazilian Airline, posted by OkieMan on Jan 30, 2005

i have flown Gol at least 3 times

they are at least 3 or 4 years old

the only problem was
1) couldnt accept credit cards from the USA
(that may be changed)
so tickets had to be purchased in person using reals

2) and you cant sit in the emergency row unless you are fluent in portuguese

3) they will weigh your luggage but then allow you to shift contents around to bring both under the weight limit

4) there are now 2 - 4 other discount airlines
they all serve either rio or sp
but some only fly to the other smaller cities 2 or 3 days per week

on my last trip i used ff miles to go from iad to salvador
then used gol to go from savador to recife - it was about either $30 or $45
then from recife to iad with a stop over in sao paulo

========
currently all (most?) of the US originating flights go from the usa to either rio or sp

about a year ago Varig(?) ad a weekly flight from Miami to one of the northern cities (fortaleza, or salvador)
i'm unsure of the status of that flight

last summer there was a group of people in houston trying to get continental to offer a daily flight between houston, fortaleza, salvador and recife
i'm unsure of what happened with that proposal

[Brazilophile]

... in response to New Brazilian Airline, posted by OkieMan on Jan 30, 2005

I looked into flights on GOL while I was in Brazil as a substitute for a BrazilPass on TAM or Varig.  The prices I found on their website were not a bargain.  My original intinerary of flying both internationally and locally on TAM was the best deal.  I did see many Brazilians using that airline.  The lines at its check-in counters were long.

But, things are often more impressive from far away than from close up.  I would put a good deal of stock on Bueller's experience.

[Bueller]

... in response to New Brazilian Airline, posted by OkieMan on Jan 30, 2005

It's modeled after Southwest, with a very late-model fleet of 737's. I used it once and was very happy with it; I showed up at the Porto Alegre counter half an hour before flight time and bought a ticket with my American Express card, and they didn't try to jack up the price-- the ticket price is the ticket price. I was so pleased overall I decided to use Gol exclusively from then on, even when it wasn't the cheapest option.

Trying to buy a ticket in Florianópolis two weeks later, I wasn't quite so impressed, because they wouldn't accept my American Express card, saying they don't accept foreign-issued credit cards. Their slogan is "Linhas aéreas inteligentes (intelligent airlines)", but the doofus agents and supervisor would have preferred to send a seat empty and lose several hundred Reals than simply run my card through the machine and see if it charged-- I told them this didn't sound like a very intelligent way to do business. I almost missed my flight while putzing with the only AX-linked ATM in the airport, which was out of order that day. Fortunately, I was able to scrape up enough cash from my money belts, etc., to pay for the ticket just in time to board.

 Agents I talked to at other airports seemed divided on whether they could accept my card. They didn't seem to understand that the restriction on foreign-issued cards only has to do with people who want to pay on installments, not on people who want to pay all at once. I got ticked and used Vasp for several flights, who didn't have any problem accepting my card. I also griped to the company and told them they had lost R$1500 in business just from me because of this. I just noticed that on the "formas de pagamento" page there is now the statement, "*Foreign passenger, now you can buy Gol’s tickets with your American Express Card."

 With the above gripe noted, it's otherwise a good airline.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: New Brazilian Airline, posted by Bueller on Jan 31, 2005

For an airline where half the employees don't seem to know what the f--k is going on try Avianca.
In the US we are used to employees knowing enough to do their job,or someone would figure it out right away and fill them in.A little different in mananaland,and Avianca only one example.
Aces,who Avianca took over,seemed to have it all together.I miss them.American,a company that is pretty poor in service at least seems to have their act together
with reservations,tickets,employees knowing whats going on.
But even here in SA they lose  compitencecompared to their employessin the US.Twice I didn't get food on the Cali - Miami flight/.One time I got up at 3.30 AM to catch the 6.30 flight,thought I would have time for breakfast after checking in.Wrong,barely made the plane.The line was not long but they were so SLOW.And no food,even though they tell you the flight serves food.Then In Miami immigration and customs were slow and I barely made the plane to San Francisco.3.30 PM I got to eat.
Avoid checking in with Aviacain Miami if you can.Better to check in elsewhere and just transfewr through Miami.Avianca check in in Miami is a 3 hour zoo.

Pete