Lisbon in January

Hello!

First of all, I'm sorry for the bad english, and I would like to thank you all for the great info that this board provides.

I'm brazilian and my wife works for an national airline company. Recently it was announced an interline zed agreement with Delta (Low Zed for spouses and parents) and I have some doubts on several details. Before this, let me explain my plans: I will speak at a congress in Lisbon, on january 12th, and I was hoping to use an zed ticket for this. As I'm departing from Brazil (GIG), I know that I must go first to ATL, DTW or JFK and only then take a flight to someplace in Europe. Now, the doubts:

1) Delta doesn't have any direct flight to Lisbon, but in the site there are plenty connections in CDG and AMS. These flights have a Delta code, but they all are operated by AirFrance or KLM. Can I take one of this flights, even though they are operated by AF or KLM?

2) In case of a "no" as answer for the first question, what is my best option? I imagine I could take the flight to someplace in Spain and go to Lisbon by train or bus. On the other hand, there are few flights from ATL to Spain. Is it possible to know if they normally are full in this time of the year?

These are my main questions by now. It seams to me that I must decide these before making any other plans or inquires.

Once more, thank you for the great info in the board and any help that you may give me.

Sincerely,
Paulo

Hi Paulo!

Unfortunately, the agreement has to be with the operating carrier, codeshares do not apply for ZED fares. If you really want to take advantage of the ZED low fare, and you can get to GRU, you could go JFK-GRU on DL and then GRU-LIS on TAP Portugal, assuming you have some kind of agreement with them. However, TAP does serve quite a few different cities in Brazil with nonstop flights to LIS, I would give that a try. Especially when switching airlines and factoring in taxes, it can save a lot to avoid connections when possible, so any savings you make with the ZED low could be very quickly wiped out when you compare it to a nonstop. Also, I don't know about Brazil-Portugal, but I know that flights between Brazil and the US can be pretty full.

Take care!
-Brian

Hi Brian! Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately, my company only has this agreement with Delta. I hope this will change soon.

I couldn't understand you sugestion: GRU doesn't means the Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo?

What about the flights to Spain (Madrid e Barcelona), are they full in this time of the year?

Just to check, do you not have any kind of agreements with any other airlines? Most airlines have *something* with others, it seems. GRU does mean that airport, yes. If you go to Madrid or Barcelona, you can go from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, or Brasilia to Atlanta (if it is not too full, winter could be bad) and then to Madrid or Barcelona from there. If you fly from Sao Paulo, you could go to New York instead of Atlanta.

In other words, if you can only fly Delta, your options are these:
BSB-ATL-BCN
BSB-ATL-MAD
GIG-ATL-BCN
GIG-ATL-MAD
GRU-ATL-BCN
GRU-ATL-MAD
GRU-JFK-BCN
GRU-JFK-MAD

(BSB = Brasilia, GIG = Rio de Janeiro, GRU = Sao Paulo, ATL = Atlanta, JFK = New York, MAD = Madrid, BCN = Barcelona)

Brian, thank you for your patience. Although I've flew in stand-by through Brazil and South America, this is my first non-rev international trip and, as you can see, I don't know nothing about airlines like Delta.

Answering your question: Yes. Until now, the only agreement is with Delta.

I hope I'm not being insistent, but would you risk a guess if my chances are higher at ATL or JFK? I'm thinking to travel around January 9th or 10th.

I really don't know, unfortunately. However, there are quite a few of us here (including me) that have access to DL loads and could check for you close to your departure date. As a warning, GIG and GRU can have weight restrictions due to cargo for nonrevenue passengers, so that's a little risky, and BSB is surprisingly full considering how much time there is until then - maybe 2/3 full? However, once you get out of Brazil you should be ok until you try to get back into Brazil.

Bom dia, Paolo!
Delta also has GRU to DTW (Detroit, Michigan) You can connect to Amsterdam then Lisbon.
Our winter weather can be a factor, mostly for New York and Detroit. ATL has a HUGE Brasilian community so traffic may be heavy any day. Good part is January is lighter passenger loads.
We'll all help find information when the time comes close.

Brian and mrs767er, thank you for the info and the offering to check the seat availability. I'll wait till we get closer to the date then.

My preference is for GIG-Anywhere, but if the chances might be higher in GRU or BSB, I can take the flight there. Right now, I'm putting the possibilities in this order:

Madrid is the best destination for me, as it's near enough Lisbon to go by train or bus and I could stay a few days there. Barcelona would be good enough, as it is easy to get to Madrid from there. As I said, BSB is an option, but more difficult than GIG or GRU.

1) GIG-ATL-MAD
2) GIG-ATL-BCN
3) GRU-ATL-MAD
3) GRU-JFK-MAD
4) GRU-ATL-BCN
4) GRU-JFK-BCN
5) BSB-ATL-MAD
5) BSB-ATL-BCN

If Spain wouldn't be an option (or at least a good one), I think that CDG ou AMS would be destinations to consider. I would have to buy a ticket to go from there to Lisbon, but the price is fair. I read a lot of people in this forum telling that CDG should be avoided, so, I'm thinking first of AMS.

Thank you all for the help.

Yeah, DL works a lot with AF and KL, so there are plenty of flights to CDG and AMS. I hear that AMS is generally preferred, but they're all possibilities. Just come on back when you're ready to go, and we'll help you out!

Hello again, Brian and mrs767er. As the trip date is getting closer, I'm now faced with the problem of decide the non-rev bit of my travel. First of all, there has been some change of plans, as now I'll be travelling with my wife and child (1 year old) and we are planning to stay a few days in Paris before going to Lisbon. I don't know if it is too early to ask for a load check, but any insight is welcomed, as I must order the ZED tickets in the next days.

That said, my plan A right now is that:

January, 4.
GIG - ATL (DL60)

January, 5.
ATL - CDG (DL28 or DL22)

January, 18.
CDG - ATL (DL21 or DL29)

January, 18.
ATL - GIG (DL61)

Any sugestions? Should I avoid ATL and CDG? In that case, DTW and AMS are the best possibilities in these dates?

Thanks in advance.

It is pretty early, but here's what I'm seeing:

04JAN DL60: Already pretty bad
05JAN DL28: About 30 seats available (plus no-shows help you out)
05JAN DL22: About 30 seats
18JAN DL21: Excellent
18JAN DL29: Also excellent
18JAN DL61: Looks ok now, but there's still time for it to fill up. Also, Brazil flights can carry a lot of cargo, so there may be weight restrictions and seats going out empty.

Thank you. Just like you warned me, my biggest problem will be going out from Brazil. I'm sorry about my anxiety, but I can request only one ZED Ticket for this travel (with a period of confirmation that can last 7 days) and, after that, make changes only in the dates of the flights.

If it isn't ask too much, would you mind to check if the things are any better in the following flights?
04JAN DL104 (GRU-ATL)
04JAN DL120 (GRU-JFK)
05JAN DL184 (JFK-CDG)
05JAN DL60 (GIG-ATL)

DL120 is better than DL104, but neither (especially DL104) is anything to get too excited over.
DL184 has lots of business seats, but slightly oversold in Y.
DL60 has some seats left, but considering weight restrictions and everything I'd still be a little nervous.

You MIGHT have a decent chance with DL222 BSB-ATL on 3Jan, if that's an option. That one doesn't seem to get the same weight restriction warning as everything else does.

Brian, thank you very much. I would be totally blind without this board and your and mrs767er help. The lack of weight restriction on BSB-ATL occurs only in JAN 3 or in all dates? In the present scenario, I think I'll take your advice and bet my chips in BSB-ATL.

I know that you already did too much, and that my frequent questions and requests must be very annoying. However, just crossed my mind the idea that the things could be a little better if we move some days through january. I know that this puts even more time until the departure date but, in your experience (and/or in the present data) is possible to say if JAN 9 is a better shot?

Once again, thank you very much.

Boa viagem, Paulo. I'm out for surgery tomorrow plus a few wks so you are in capable hands of spongbue and other DL folks. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Tchau!

Thanks, mrs767er. Good luck with the surgery, I hope everything goes well and that you too have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Hi Paulo, I just sent you a really long PM that should help you get a good idea of what you're up against. Give that a read and then feel free to come back to us.

See you soon!