GOL Airlines: The Complete Guide to the Smiles Frequent Flyer Program

What exactly is GOL Airlines? GOL Airlines is based in Rio de Janeiro and is best known for their ridiculously cheap air fares. The carrier captures 37.7% of the domestic market share, making it one of the largest domestic airlines in Brazil. GOL travels to a total of 62 destinations in 13 countries.

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Smiles is the carrier’s frequent flyer program. As a member, you will earn miles for every flight with GOL or any of its partners. Redeem miles to your choice of flights or more. We’ll get into all the best ways to earn and burn GOL Smiles Miles below.

GOL Smiles Elite Status

When you first join GOL Smiles, you automatically receive Smiles status. Above that are three elite tiers: Silver, Gold, and Diamond. To move up a tier, you need to earn a certain amount of qualifying miles or qualifying segments:

Elite status benefits include:

Earning GOL Smiles Miles

Compared to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Delta SkyMiles and other frequent flyer programs based in the United States, earning GOL Smiles Miles is not an easy task for Americans. Especially since GOLdoes not have any credit card or hotel transfer partners.

The easiest way for American to earn GOL Miles is by flying with GOL and their airline partners:

Other ways to earn GOL Miles include:

• GOL airline purchases.
• Booking rental cars with Hertz.
• Booking cruise vacations with Smiles.
• Purchasing prepaid credits with Uber and Uber Eats.
• Shopping via the Shopping Smiles portal.
• Referring friends to Smiles Club.

There are more opportunities to earn GOL Miles, but they’re not as relevant to those living in the United States.

Redeeming GOL Smiles Miles

Most GOL Smiles members use their miles for award flights with GOL and their partner airlines:

If you don’t have enough miles, you can combine miles and cash to pay for award flights. GOL Miles can also be used for:

• Booking hotel stays via Smiles.
• Renting a car with Hertz.
• Shopping via the Shopping Smiles portal.
• Credits for Uber and Uber Eats.
• Charitable donations.

There are more ways to burn GOL Miles, but they’re not as useful to United States residents.

Smiles Club: Buy & Burn Miles

Smiles Club is a paid membership with plans that vary in how many GOL Miles you get per month. Obviously, the more miles you opt to receive, the more the plan costs. At the time of writing, Smiles Club plans, promotions, and pricing are as follows:

All subscription plans come with the following benefits:

• Service fee waived on 5 award reservations
• Earn qualifying miles
• More bonus on purchases
• More bonus on miles purchases
• More bonus on miles transfers
• More bonus on miles reactivation
• Exclusive redemption discount
• Viaje Facil discharge bonus
• Miles valid for 10 years
• Bonus miles for referrals

Flat 20,000 members get additional perks, including:

• Automatic Diamond elite status
• Miles accumulation bonus
• GOL courtesy ticket
• Free luggage
• GOL Premium Lounge access
• Diamond special rate
• GOL guaranteed rate
• Hotel perks
• 24/7 service

Please note, Flat 1,000 to Flat 10,000 require a minimum 6-month membership. Flat 20,000 requires a minimum of 10 months.

GOL Smiles Miles Expiration

GOL Smiles Miles are valid for 36 months from the date they were credited to your account. As we mentioned before, having elite status or Smiles Club membership extends the validity of your miles.

GOL Smiles Tips & Tricks

American Airlines partnership. In September 2021, American Airlines announced that they will form an exclusive partnership with GOL. Both AAdvantage and Smiles elite members will benefit from the enhanced loyalty partnership with greater luggage allowance, lounge access, priority check-in and boarding, preferred seats on the plane, and more ways to earn and burn miles. If you’re an AAdvantage member, you might want to keep an eye on this development.

Best redemptions. Using GOL Miles for award redemptions is generally not a good idea, because Smiles award pricing is often much higher compared to partner airline loyalty programs for the same flights. The best redemption option is to pay for your award flight with both miles and cash, especially for business class. You’ll get the most value for your GOL Miles this way.

Family account. If you’re a Smiles Club member or a Diamond elite member, you can have up to six people on one GOL Smiles account. This means you can earn GOL Miles up to six times faster.

Promotions. We recommend checking the GOL Smiles promotions page regularly to stay up to date on the latest offers.

Bottom Line

If you live in the United States, then GOL Smiles doesn't have many avenues for you to earn and burn your miles. This is only a good loyalty program if you travel within or to Brazil a lot. Otherwise you can check out Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy all transfer to Privilege Club, so it’s easy to earn Qmiles.

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