Attending the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, BrazilIt has been on my bucket list ever since I first visited the country over 10 years ago. So, while planning on a trip to South America for three months earlier this year, I thought this would be the year when it would ultimately make it happen.
I thought attending an official event would be very expensive. Book your hotel stay In the city during the carnival. But I was optimistic that I could take advantage of myself. Credit card rewards To reduce costs. Luckily, I am happy to report that I have made my dream trip come true at an affordable price. This is how I did it.
Related: United Awards Sale: Fly to Latin America as low as 9,000 miles
How to secure a discounted carnival ticket
The Carnival has both official and informal events. You can participate in the “Brocos” (street party) for free. But I wanted to go to the Sambadrome.
I missed the first round of tickets that went on sale in August, but I secured one in November, with one at a price of $148, including the fee. Third Party Resellers During the 30% off Black Friday sale. It seemed like a reasonable amount to pay for this experience.
Then came the step to compare booking options, thinking where to stay.
Awarded Brazil hotel options
As you can imagine, cash prices for hotels and vacation rentals were very high, especially in the popular areas of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon.
I wanted to leverage my own Hotel Elite Status You may get a free breakfast and a room upgrade. However, I was unable to find a valuable redemption or affordable cash option Hyatt, ihg or Marriott.
However, I found the availability of hotel awards in real estate that was part of it Hilton One year portfolio. Tapestry collection yoo2 rio de janeiro It is conveniently located in Botafogo (between Copacabana, where the Sambadrome is located and downtown). And it was priced at a reasonable 40,000 Hilton points per night.
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Comes with free Hilton Diamond Elite status Hilton honors the American Express Aspire CardI got a complimentary breakfast for two (covering my friend and me) and a chance to upgrade the room (I didn’t get it because the hotel was full).
However, my Hilton’s honour balance was zero given that I take a point-to-point approach and use them as soon as possible, as loyalty programs tend to have devaluations. What’s more, life is short.
There were a few but American Express Membership Rewards My account points, that Transfer to Hilton’s Honors 1:2 rate – even if they do Transfer bonus – The conversion rate is very low, so it makes little sense. So I decided to consider purchasing points instead.
Hilton Amex Aspire Card information is collected independently by Points Guy. The card details on this page are not reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Do I need to pay cash or redeem Hilton Points?
Cash usage:
A five-night stay at this hotel sold retail for around $1,778 (or 10,325 Brazilian Reyce).
I would have used it myself Hilton Aswire Card To pay your cash fee, earn a total of 60,452 Hilton Honor Points. To break it down, you’ll receive 10 base points per dollar spent booking a hotel within the Hilton portfolio, plus 10 bonus points for every dollar spent on Diamond Elite Status, plus 14 points spent buying a room at the Hilton Hotel on Aspeare Card. Therefore, I get 34 points per dollar spent on my stay at this hotel.
According to TPG April 2025 evaluationthese points are worth $363 and give you a 20% profit margin on your purchase. Therefore, the effective cost of cash stays drops from $1,778 to $1,415, taking into account the points earned.
Related: Which credit card should I use to stay in Hilton?
Purchase Hilton Points:
Alternatively, I was able to purchase this Hilton red points. I thought this would work in my advantage, but I had to do maths to make sure it made sense.
The hotel costs 40,000 Hilton points per night, and costs 200,000 points for five nights.
However, if your hotel loyalty program has at least Silver Elite status – that Hilton Amex Cobrand card members do so – you get you 5 nights free with award redemption. This means you only have to pay 4 nights for a five-night stay, and you’ll have to pay 160,000 points instead of 200,000 points.
Hilton honors are frequently offered Buy Points Promotionduring which time, you will receive a bonus or discount when you purchase points. Luckily, Hilton was in the promotion when he bought the carnival ticket, but the points offered an ideal cost of 0.5 cents per point.
Buying 160,000 points for 0.5 cents each costs $800, which is less than half the $1,778 cash rate.
I decided to go this route and used me Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card – My go-to card for everyday spending to buy points. This will earn me 1,600 Capital 1 mileaccording to April 2025, it is worth $30 evaluation. This reduced the effective cost of purchasing the points required for this redemption to $770.
| method | I’ll use cash | Buy points | Save money |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staying expenses | $1,778 | $800 | 978 dollars (55%) |
| Value of points earned | $363 | $30 | – |
| Effective Cost | $1,415 | $770 | $645 (46%) |
Related: When does it make sense to buy points and miles?
Conclusion
By leveraging the power of purchasing points, we were able to save over $600 on the cost of a five-night hotel stay in Rio during the Carnival.
My initial calculation showed a 55% savings, but it was important to calculate the value of the points I earned when booking with cash. When taking revenue into account both ways, the savings fell to 46%, which is still quite a bit.
And I decided to go skydive for the first time on my last day in Rio, heading half of those savings ($320) towards another one that was on my bucket list.
These two experiences – Carnival and Skydiving – made my week in Rio one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had.
