Attending Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been on my bucket record since I first visited the nation greater than a decade in the past. So, whereas planning a three-month journey by means of South America earlier this yr, I questioned if this is able to lastly be the yr I might make it occur.
I anticipated it could be very costly to attend official occasions and guide a resort keep within the metropolis throughout Carnival. Nonetheless, I used to be optimistic that I might leverage my bank card rewards to assist reduce prices. Fortunately, I am glad to report I made my dream journey occur for an affordable value — here is how I did it.
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How I secured a reduced Carnival ticket
Carnival has each official and unofficial occasions. You may attend “blocos” (road events) free of charge. However I wished to go to the Sambadrome, as I might been wowed by the photographs and movies of the processions.
I missed out on the primary spherical of tickets that went on sale in August, however secured one in November at the next value of $148, together with charges, by means of a third-party reseller throughout a 30% off Black Friday sale. That appeared like an affordable quantity to pay for this expertise.
Then got here the step of determining the place to remain and evaluating my reserving choices.
Award Lodge choices in Brazil
As you could think about, money costs for resorts and trip leases had been fairly excessive throughout these dates, particularly within the fashionable neighborhoods of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon.
I wished to leverage my resort elite standing free of charge breakfast and doubtlessly snag a room improve. Nonetheless, I used to be unable to seek out any high-value redemptions or reasonably priced money choices with Hyatt, IHG or Marriott.
However I did discover resort award availability with a property that had been a part of the Hilton portfolio for a yr. The Tapestry Assortment’s Yoo2 Rio de Janeiro is conveniently positioned in Botafogo (between Copacabana and downtown, the place the Sambadrome is). And it was priced at an affordable 40,000 Hilton factors per evening.
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With complimentary Hilton Diamond elite standing that comes with the Hilton Honors American Specific Aspire Card, I might get free breakfast for 2 (protecting my buddy and me) in addition to the possibility at a room improve (which we did not get as a result of the resort was full).
Nonetheless, my Hilton Honors steadiness was zero, on condition that I undertake the strategy of incomes factors and utilizing them as quickly as doable, since loyalty packages are vulnerable to devaluations. In addition to, life is brief.
Although I had some American Specific Membership Rewards factors in my account, which switch to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 fee — even once they run a switch bonus — the conversion fee is so low that it nearly by no means is sensible. So, I made a decision to look into shopping for factors as an alternative.
The data for the Hilton Amex Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Ought to I pay Money or redeem Hilton factors?
Utilizing money:
A five-night keep at this resort was retailing for about $1,778 (or 10,325 Brazilian reais).
I might’ve used my Hilton Aspire card to pay the money fee, incomes me a complete of 60,452 Hilton Honors factors. To interrupt it down, I obtain 10 base factors per greenback spent when reserving a resort inside the Hilton portfolio, plus 10 bonus factors for each greenback spent due to my Diamond elite standing, plus a further 14 factors per greenback spent for buying a room at a Hilton resort on my Aspire card. Subsequently, I might earn 34 factors per greenback spent on this resort keep.
Based on TPG’s April 2025 valuations, these factors could be value $363, giving me an efficient 20% return on my buy. So the efficient value of a money keep would drop from $1,778 to $1,415, making an allowance for the factors earned.
Associated: Which bank card must you use for Hilton stays?
Shopping for Hilton factors:
Alternatively, I might purchase factors for this Hilton redemption. I had a hunch this is able to work out advantageously for me, however I wanted to do the mathematics to ensure it made sense.
The resort was priced at 40,000 Hilton factors per evening, which might make the price of a five-night keep 200,000 factors.
Nonetheless, you probably have a minimum of Silver elite standing with the resort loyalty program — which Hilton Amex cobranded cardmembers do — you get your fifth evening free on award redemptions. So, meaning I might solely must pay for 4 nights for my five-night keep, paying 160,000 factors as an alternative of 200,000 factors.
Hilton Honors often provides purchase factors promotions, throughout which they provide a bonus or low cost when buying factors. Fortunately, Hilton was operating a promotion on the time I had bought my Carnival ticket, providing factors on the splendid value of 0.5 cents per level.
Shopping for 160,000 factors at 0.5 cents every would value me $800, lower than half of the $1,778 money fee.
I made a decision to go this route and used my Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card — my go-to card for on a regular basis spending — to buy the factors. This may earn me 1,600 Capital One miles, value $30, in keeping with our April 2025 valuations. That decreased the efficient value of shopping for the factors required for this redemption to $770.
| Technique | Use money | Purchase factors | Financial savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value of keep | $1,778 | $800 | $978 (55%) |
| Worth of factors earned | $363 | $30 | – |
| Efficient value | $1,415 | $770 | $645 (46%) |
Associated: When does it make sense to purchase factors and miles?
Backside line
By leveraging the ability of shopping for factors, I used to be capable of save over $600 on the price of a five-night resort keep in Rio throughout Carnival.
Whereas my first calculations confirmed 55% in financial savings, it was vital for me to calculate the worth of the factors I might earn if I had booked with money. Once I factored the earnings by means of each strategies, the financial savings went right down to 46%, which continues to be a fantastic deal.
And I made a decision to place half of these financial savings ($320) towards one other factor I had on my bucket record — going skydiving for the primary time, on my final day in Rio.
These two experiences — Carnival and skydiving — made my week in Rio top-of-the-line journey experiences I’ve ever had — and it was all thanks to purchasing Hilton factors.
