Real vs Dollar and other currency issues

[Frankfurt]

Thanks Java Man -plan to use uber from GRU to hotel and since I will arrive in afternoon, will use an ATM or a recommended exchange office by another ISG member near my hotel.

Frankfurt.

Uber is available in RJ. Get the Uber app on your phone. Pay the taxi by Credit Card. If that does not appeal to you, exchange $50 - $100 USD at the airport. If you arrive during the day, hit an ATM near your hotel / apt. Also keep enough Reals on your departure, to have when you return.

[Java Man]

Java Man -so how to get Reals for taxi and immediate expenses on arrival at GRU? I doubt money exchange would offer a good rate. Please advise. Thanks, Frankfurt.

Uber is available in RJ. Get the Uber app on your phone. Pay the taxi by Credit Card. If that does not appeal to you, exchange $50 - $100 USD at the airport. If you arrive during the day, hit an ATM near your hotel / apt. Also keep enough Reals on your departure, to have when you return.

[Frankfurt]

Java Man -so how to get Reals for taxi and immediate expenses on arrival at GRU? I doubt money exchange would offer a good rate. Please advise.

Thanks,

Frankfurt.

Do NOT use the airport ATM's. They're well know to have skimmers. By the time you reach your hotel / apartment, your card will have been cloned and used multiple times.

[Java Man]

Thanks Java. I have heard of this. Why would the airport ones be any different than any of the others? My friends go to the Bradesco machines all the time. I haven't seen them hesitate and they are Brazilians. How do you know which ATMs to avoid?

Apparently, this scam has been going on for years at the international airport. The authorities and banks are aware of the problem and have done nothing to resolve it. On one trip, I was a victim of this and that card had a chip. Google search shows the most recent post about this was in 2016.

"Before inserting card, grab, twist, and pull that part of the ATM, skimmers will come off or feel loose. Also look at the machine itself, if the colors of the parts of the ATM do not match, chances are they may have been tampered with. Lastly, look around the machine, there should only be a single camera lens on the machine. If you see a second camera, walk away."

My last trip, I used Bradesco exclusively, they don't charge ATM fee like the other banks.

[Rio Bob]

Another good article about the currency.

https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-ne...ar-since-1994/

[HungryStud101]

Do NOT use the airport ATM's. They're well know to have skimmers. By the time you reach your hotel / apartment, your card will have been cloned and used multiple times.

Thanks Java.

I have heard of this. Why would the airport ones be any different than any of the others? My friends go to the Bradesco machines all the time. I haven't seen them hesitate and they are Brazilians. How do you know which ATMs to avoid?

[Java Man]

I also have no problem going to a place outside of the airport to exchange some currency.

Do NOT use the airport ATM's. They're well know to have skimmers. By the time you reach your hotel / apartment, your card will have been cloned and used multiple times.

[HungryStud101]

Don't believe all the "pro tips" you read in this forum.

Don't worry. LOL. That pro tip I would advise against. Luckily, when I arrive, my friends usually want the US dollars for vacations and we work out a deal. Otherwise I use an ATM. My Credit Union no longer charges an international fee. I also have no problem going to a place outside of the airport to exchange some currency. I shop around. But I'll be damned if I hand 1000 $ off to a cleaning lady.

[Sperto]

So, I should find the hotel maid and hand over $700 USD and tell her to exchange it for me?

Don't believe all the "pro tips" you read in this forum.

This pro tip reminds me of a gringo I met in Manaus. He arrived in the city and needed to exchange USD. He asked a guy selling scissors, displayed on a carton, on the street where he could exchange money. The guy said he could help him. The gringo handed over 1000 USD to the guy. The guy told the gringo to watch his scissors carefullt while he went to exchange the money. The guy left with the money. The gringo stayed watching the scissors. After a couple of hours the gringo realized the guy wasn't coming back.

[HungryStud101]

Here is a pro tip: If you guys want to get the best rate at a money exchange place. Let a brazilian person change the money for you. When I go to Brazil, I have my Brazilian maid change my money. She gets the exact rate. So if its 4.03 to $1 Dollar. I get exactly 4.03.

So, I should find the hotel maid and hand over $700 USD and tell her to exchange it for me?

[Sperto]

New record, USD: BRL 1:4,20.

https://veja.abril.com.br/economia/i...do-plano-real/

[JamieStarr38]

Fa-King dollar is 4.11 to the Real as I write this. The Highest its been is 4.17. The Euro is at 4.75!

Hello fellow mongers,

Traveling to Rio in late March, will be there for 1 month. What are the chances the exchange rate remaining at 4 -1?

[ShooBree]

Having been to Brasil since 1984, having worked in the industry, and remembering well many run-ups to elections, new currencies and devaluations, and the exchange rate drop during the 2002 campaign, refer the article link to give yourself an understanding of what is actually in play here in situations such as this:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07...s-2001-crisis/

Their "solution" is criminal, stealing, not paying back their loans. I expected better.

[ShooBree]

Having been to Brasil since 1984, having worked in the industry, and remembering well many run-ups to elections, new currencies and devaluations, and the exchange rate drop during the 2002 campaign, refer the article link to give yourself an understanding of what is actually in play here in situations such as this:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07...s-2001-crisis/

And it's absolutely not a conspiracy theory.

[Java Man]

Fa-King dollar is 4.11 to the Real as I write this. The Highest its been is 4.17. The Euro is at 4.75!