Smashing news ahoy! I’ve found the following bit of information on payments at GOL’s website:

Foreign passenger, now you can buy Gol’s tickets with your American Express Card, Mastercard or Visa.
Gol only operates with banks which are part of the MasterCard SecureCode system. In the event of any questions contact the customer service center of your bank credit card issuer.

Up until now, you could only buy flights with GOL through their Brazilian website with an American Express card.

Will this be the end of the torment that was trying to purchase a GOL ticket from abroad? Straightforward purchase of GOL tickets had become the Holy Grail of the foreign visitor to Brazil, and it would seem the problem is now about to end. Don’t forget to let us know if you manage to buy a ticket for a GOL flight!

UPDATE: a reader of De viaje a Brasil reports serious problems trying to purchase a GOL ticket with her VISA card. Apparently, the payment went through but GOL denies having received it as “they don’t allow payments with VISA”. A serious communication problem within GOL, it would seem.

The sky seems to be the limit for Brazilian airline GOL. The latest giant step on its continuous expansion is the announcement of the purchase of (the healthy part of) Varig. The move still needs to be approved by the Brazilian government, and for the time being what we know is that both companies will continue to operate separatedly.

I don’t know whether this is good or bad news. GOL and TAM hold now 85% of the market of civil aviation in Brazil. GOL is far less of a low-cost than most people think. Yes, they have amazing off-season promotions (so do TAM), but their average fares are quite similar to those of TAM (as you can see on this blog’s fare check section). While at the same time providing low-cost service. The good news is that it seems there is now a future for Varig – and an end to the endless injection of public money into an ailing company.

subscribe to the Brazil Travel Blog by Email
follow the Brazil Travel Blog on Twitter
follow the Brazil Travel Blog on Facebook