Money

Hi,

I am going to Venezuela for about 2 weeks, how much money should I take?

I've heard you are best to take mainly cash, although I am abit dubious to do this as it may get stolen. Is it really that difficult to use the ATM's or use travellers cheques? Or is it because of the exchange rate when dealing with banks is higher?

What is the going rate on the black market at the moment?

Am I best to take Euro's or Dollars? I would assume US Dollars is better for Venezuela.

Thanks for any help with the money situation.

Hello Annajane

There are plenty of atms and you could use travellers cheques but you will get only the official exchange rate of 2.1 Bsf for a dollar.
This will make Venezuela VERY VERY expensive. Taking cash, US dollars are problably best, you can change on the unofficial market and you should get at least 5 Bsf for a dollar. This will make Venezuela reasonably affordable, you will get plenty of offers to change money at airports and hotels etc, try to change with people asociated with an establishment.

Budget is very difficlut to estimate without more info, but i would guess at minimum 600- 700 dollars . Trips could add extra to this .
Take precautions with your cash by spreading it about yourself and luggage, and in money belts . Keep a small amount easily to hand

Enjoy your trip

In my research I am finding the same to be true, the black market rate is about double. As I am coming from Brasil and do not have access to dollars currently, is the black market exchange rate similar for Brazilian Reals as it is for US Dollars (i.e. if US$1 = R$2, US$1 = BSF$5, R$1 = BSF$2.5)? If not, do I need to find a Brazilian bank to issue me dollars before crossing?

Thanks.

Fairly certain that the only currencies you will be able to change on the unofficial market are US Dollars or Euros

near the brazilian border reales are accepted, and in western venezuela you can trade colombian pesos. you should be able to get nearly 3x the official, just find a rich venezuelan who wants to travel (there are lots) and you'll get a good deal... 600 or 700 seems like a lot to me for only two weeks, maybe if you're doing a lot of tours and spending money like its going out of style...

Hi annajane79,

The amount of money you plan to bring depends heavily on what you plan to do in Venezuela. Caracas, besides being dangerous, is a really expensive city so don't spend too much time there. As for using ATM´s and/or Travellers cheques, that is out of the question unless you want to pay through the nose for services as you will get the government official rate of BsF 2.15 per 1 US $. If you don't want to carry that amount of cash into the country with you, perfectly understandable, you may want to look in to booking some tours online, some travel operators have foreign bank accounts and therefore may give you the US $ parallel market rate when paying for a tour. This will definitely help you avoid carrying a large amount of cash around.

Travel safe,

All the best,

Thomas
berry_venezuela@hotmail.com
Caracas