The money situation in Venezuela

6-7 BV???

Where? I fought tooth and nail for 6 on numerous occasions and the best I found was 5.8

I got 6 at a posada in Merida but I was aware of some others getting a little better than that.
That was mid-February.

what is the possibility of actually paying for things (hotels/food/tours etc) in USD (at a rate bewteen 6 and 7). This would at least save the hassle of flashing your dollars around and trying to change them....

Hi Muzzz,

That is definitely one way around it. You just have to contact a tour operator who holds a foreign bank account, negotiate a rate for your US $, arrange a transfer and travel safe, without carrying to much cash on your hands.

Drop me a line if you need more info.

Travel safe,

All the best,

Thomas
Caracas
berry_venezuela@hotmail.com

Thanks to everyone for the info, because those were questions I had too.

How about Euros though? How good are the rates on the black market for Euros? and: do the black market money changers accept euros throughout the country.

I would lose a lot of money if i change to dollars at home and then change them to Bolivares in Venezuela, i would think...

Any recommendations?

Correct. Venezuela is a pain in the arse to travel around. The holiday will cost you a lot. It's just the way it is. Don't think Euros would make much difference.

Forget about Euros, in Venezuela think USDs.

Really, no euros? Not at all? I really don't want to change everything to USD so that I can change it to BsF?

Edited by: kovac

But you would be smart to do so.

Last time I went it worked like this for me: changed € to US$ while still in Europe, got an exellent black market rate for my $ in Caracas, had bolivares left over prior to departure, changed bolivares to € at the airport AND GOT MORE € FOR MY BsF THAN I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN US$ FOR THE SAME AMOUNT. Crazy! Pure luck? I don`t know.

OK,
after the replies i decided to change Euros to $ before i went... now that ive been here i mus say its not necessary... Alomost all hostels with an international crowd take euros at a pretty good rate (1 Euro = 8,2-8,4 BsF), either to pay for tours /accomodation or to exchange money. I guess its good to have some dollars for emergency situations if you´re in some non-touristy areas, but its defititely not necessary to take all your cash in $$