How To Obtain Dollars In Brazil

[voyagingknoxvillian]

I am traveling directly from Argentina to Brazil soon, and would like to bring back money from my US account to use here. I have searched the forum, but the last entry on this topic is from 2012.

Does anyone know if you can withdrawal cash in dollars from Brazilian ATMs? Should I take money out of the ATM in reales and change them into dollars while still in Brazil? Is there a Blue Real here that I could use to sell reales here?

Thanks for your input!

 

[thorsten]

You can't get US$ from Brazilian ATMs, just reales. There is a real blue here, but the spread is way higher than the dolar blue and it won't be as easy to exchange them (for a reasonable price) as US$ are. Don't know how much you'd pay for the currency exchange BRL-USD in Brazil though...

 

[camberiu]

In Sao Paulo ATMs on the malls Villa Lobos e Cidade Jardim allow you to withdraw dollars. You can also withdraw reales on ATMs and exchange them for dollars on any branch of Banco do Brasil.

 

[voyagingknoxvillian]

Great info! I'm actually headed to Rio. Do you have any idea about what locations or banks would allow for the withdrawal of dollars there?

 

[camberiu]

Great info! I'm actually headed to Rio. Do you have any idea about what locations or banks would allow for the withdrawal of dollars there?

I don't, but the tourist info office at the airport should be able to point you to the right spots.

 

[bdk1]

As Camberiu said, you can get US$ from special ATMs in Villa Lobos and Cidade Jardim, and I think Butantã as well, but that's in SP - I don't think you can get US$ from ATMs in Rio. You can withdraw reais from any ATM though, and go to any agency to exchange them for dollars. The going rate is US$ = R$2.30.

If you bring reais to Buenos Aires, the going rate for the blue real is between 4.90 and 5. Most cuevas on Corrientes will be happy to buy them.

 

[tesstafarian]

Great info! I'm actually headed to Rio. Do you have any idea about what locations or banks would allow for the withdrawal of dollars there?

I'm headed to Rio tomorrow and I'm curious if you found any options for obtaining dollars in Rio. I spoke with Citibank and (surprisingly) even though I have debit and credit accounts with them, they said I'm unable to access US Dollars from one of the branches. ATM's do exist that offer dollars; however, they have no idea of knowing which ATM's those are.

I guess I can always pull reis out and exchange them for dollars...but math is not my strong suit (like...I still use my fingers to count). Does this make any sense? I assume you get hit with fees when 1) reis are pulled from an ATM and 2) when the reis are transferred back into dollars (in Braisl) or back into pesos (in Argentina).

Thanks!

 

[camberiu]

My advice for you when you get there is ASK. There might be ATMs that disperse dollars even at the airport itself.

 

[voyagingknoxvillian]

My Argentine husband has been in Rio for the past week and has searched extensively for an ATM machine that dispenses dollars. He has come up empty-handed. Neither the office of tourism (in person or on the phone) nor his Brazilian coworkers have ever heard of an ATM that dispenses dollars. He has tried ATMs from various banks in Centro, Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon without any luck.

One last option would be to ask inside Banco do Brasil. He hasn't been able to do this because he works at a location quite removed from a bank.

Thanks for all the tips, though.

 

[PhilipDT]

Who is your bank in the US? If they have branches in brazil (or affiliated branches) you can try and see if they'll cash one of your checks for you. HSBC did that for a friend of mine a few years ago.