LoyaltyLobby
  • News
  • Hotel Promos
    • Accor
    • Best Western
    • Radisson Rewards
    • Choice
    • Fairmont
    • Hilton
    • World of Hyatt
    • IHG Rewards
    • Marriott
    • Ritz-Carlton
    • Starwood
    • Wyndham Rewards
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us
  • Blog View
  •  
LoyaltyLobby
  • News
  • Hotel Promos
    • Accor
    • Best Western
    • Radisson Rewards
    • Choice
    • Fairmont
    • Hilton
    • World of Hyatt
    • IHG Rewards
    • Marriott
    • Ritz-Carlton
    • Starwood
    • Wyndham Rewards
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us
  • Blog View
  •  
LoyaltyLobby
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT

What’s Going On With GOL Smiles And Their Mileage Redemption Options?

by Sebastian Powell
February 22, 2022
Reading Time: 4 mins read
6

It’s been a while since we’ve written about GOL Smiles, their promotion and award options so I thought it’s worthwhile to have a quick look again to reflect on the program in 2022.

GOL Smiles first made headlines back in 2015 when they ran the famous 200% bonus promotions for buying miles that could be used for high yield redemptions on Qatar Airways First Class.

GOL Smiles is a very “special” case as their website is entirely in Portuguese without an English language option and it’s a disaster to navigate. The program is also limited to participants located in Brazil and even requires a Brazilian Tax ID nr to sign up. It has always been pretty much a nightmare.

ADVERTISEMENT

It started when you could fly from Asia to the Middle East and North Africa for 32,5k GOL Smiles in First Class which was roughly 250 EUR after the promotional price of the miles. The core of the “deal” (error really) was that GOL did not price First Class as a separate category from Business Class and essentially it turned out to be the same price.

Well it was fun while it lasted and it didn’t take very long until either GOL, Qatar Airways or both decided to crack down on this loophole and blocked out Qatar Airways First Class altogether. Then GOL enhanced the award charts in some regions and over the years dropped several direct redemption partners including the most lucrative ones which were Delta, Qatar Airways, and Korean Air.

Even before that happened there has always been a very strange availability with their partner carriers and sometimes there weren’t any flights for months on end.

Here are the last two partners that dropped out, the worst blow was Qatar Airways:

Bad News: GOL Smiles Ends Partnership With Qatar Airways Effective Immediately, June 1 2021

And then Delta Air Lines a month later:

GOL Smiles Ends Award Redemption Partnership With Delta Air Lines Effective July 26, 2021

Right now GOL Smiles officially allows to redeem miles on GOL as well as 53 partner airlines but getting them to actually display availability and then represent reasonable value is another matter.

Here are some examples:

These are some of the GOL Partners displayed on the website

And available awards as a result from a search:

Bankok Airways for 55,000 Points one way Bangkok – Koh Samui. You can buy this flight for $70!

A British Airways codeshare flight operated by Qatar Airways Bangkok – London for 98,700 miles:

And a SCOOT flight from Bangkok to Seoul via Singapore for 101,900 miles. What a joke!

There are at least some decent options left such as Emirates Business Class to Europe where it would cost 87,000 miles plus US$1,150 to fly Emirates from Bangkok to Frankfurt:

This is at least one redemption that isn’t totally horrible but it pales in comparison to the options that were available in the past.

I frequently booked Korean Air awards between Bangkok and Seoul (among other destinations in the region) and Qatar Airways to worldwide destinations. With so many partners dropping out the program has become a shell of its former self.

In fact, I’m not even entirely sure what some of these awards actually book in. It appears to me that these will actually be revenue bookings and GOL Smiles just applies the miles in lieu of the cash payment, essentially operating as an OTA.

Further redemption options include travel services such as hotels, rental cars, UBER credits, and some shopping options (the latter ones for residents of Brazil).

I’m still a Clube Smiles member which is a paid subscription service, adding a small number of Smiles to my account each month, and that gives more attractive redemption rates. As of this moment I have about 90,000 miles left in this account. It’d probably be prudent that I find some purpose for these miles in the near future, the sooner the better. Ideally on Emirates or Korean Air to Europe or North America (if it ever pops up again).

Conclusion

For members who seek to use GOL Smiles for international itineraries, there really isn’t much left in terms of attractive awards. Aside from a few Economy Class awards the only halfway attractive option would be cash&points awards in particular with Emirates. Keep in mind though that this program isn’t even designed for members who normally aren’t residents of Brazil. As such I’m highly surprised that there are any significant international redemption partners at all.

The constant dropout of partners with little to no notice that you can’t trust certain programs that are located in countries without any noteworthy consumer protection legislation. A three-day advance notice that Delta will be dropped and zero notice of Qatar leaving the network. Sad indeed!

Previous Post

Virgin Australia Velocity Double Points Through January 17, 2023 (Book By March 1)

Next Post

Qatar Airways Moves From Qmiles To Avios

Related Articles

American Airlines & GOL Deepens Partnership

Avianca & GOL Merge

John Ollila
May 11, 2022
2

Avianca, with airlines around Central and Nothern South America and Brazilian-based GOL, have decided to merge under a UK-based company...

American Airlines & GOL Deepens Partnership

American Airlines & GOL Deepens Partnership

John Ollila
September 16, 2021
2

American Airlines on Wednesday announced that it would invest $200M in Brazilian airline GOL that represents roughly 5% stake, and...

Delta SkyMiles Medallion Accelerator April 1 – December 31, 2021

GOL Smiles Ends Award Redemption Partnership With Delta Air Lines Effective July 26, 2021

Sebastian Powell
July 23, 2021
3

Another one bites the dust: GOL Smiles has just sent out an email to its members informing them that they...

Upgrade Your Travel IQ

Make the most of your travel with our free and daily newsletter with the latest hotel and airline news and promotions.

We do not sell or share email addresses.

ADVERTISEMENT

Trending

Hilton Go Employee And Friends & Family Rate Plans
Hilton Honors

Hilton Go Employee And Friends & Family Rate Plans

July 25, 2021
American Express Modifies The Popular $300 Marriott Hotel Credit Of The Bonvoy Brilliant Card Effective September 22, 2022
American Express

American Express Modifies The Popular $300 Marriott Hotel Credit Of The Bonvoy Brilliant Card Effective September 22, 2022

June 24, 2022
DEMOTED: Lufthansa Loses 5-Star Skytrax Rating And Is Now Classified As 4-Star Carrier
Lufthansa - Miles & More

DEMOTED: Lufthansa Loses 5-Star Skytrax Rating And Is Now Classified As 4-Star Carrier

June 25, 2022
Bank ATM Currency Conversion Offers
Travel News

Bank ATM Currency Conversion Offers

June 24, 2022
Airfare of the Day [Business Class] SINGAPORE AIRLINES Bangkok to New York from $2,230
Airfare Of The Day

Airfare of the Day [Business Class] SINGAPORE AIRLINES Bangkok to New York from $2,214

June 24, 2022

Top Categories

  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • Hilton Honors
  • Accor ALL
  • Airfare Of The Day
  • Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)
  • Hyatt – World of Hyatt
  • American Airlines – AAdvantage
  • Travel News
  • United Airlines – Mileage Plus
ADVERTISEMENT

All Categories

In Case You Missed It

Suite Saturdays: Junior Suite Garden View @ Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong

Suite Saturdays: Junior Suite Garden View @ Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong

June 25, 2022
Airfare of the Day [Business Class] LUFTHANSA Helsinki to Chicago from 1,663€

Airfare of the Day [Business Class] LUFTHANSA Helsinki to Chicago from 1,663€

June 22, 2022
Best Western Rewards Korea 50% Off Through August 31, 2022

Best Western Rewards Korea 50% Off Through August 31, 2022

June 20, 2022
Emirates Is Now Offering Home Check-In For First Class Passengers In Dubai & Sharjah

Emirates Is Now Offering Home Check-In For First Class Passengers In Dubai & Sharjah

June 19, 2022
Marriott Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa 20% Off Escapes Through July 24, 2022

Marriott Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa 20% Off Escapes Through July 24, 2022

June 22, 2022
ADVERTISEMENT

Since 2011, we have been helping millions of visitors like you untangle travel loyalty programs for free upgrades, flights and hotel nights.

Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram

Site Navigation

  • About LoyaltyLobby
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Airfares
  • Contact Us

Hotel Promotions

  • Accor
  • Hilton
  • IHG Rewards
  • Marriott
  • World of Hyatt

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Our free daily newsletter sends you the latest information on hotel and airline programs.

We do not share or sell email addresses.

Site & Contents ©2011-2022 LoyaltyLobby.com
Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

  • News
  • Hotel Promotions
    • Accor
    • Best Western
    • Choice
    • Fairmont
    • Hilton
    • IHG Rewards
    • Marriott
    • Radisson Rewards
    • Ritz-Carlton
    • Starwood
    • World of Hyatt
    • Wyndham Rewards
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us
  • Blog View
No Result
View All Result

© 2011–2021 LoyaltyLobby.com - Site & Contents