June 23, 2003 -- There's one country where the US dollar still stands proud: Brazil. Our currency has gained 23% against the Brazilian Real (R$) in the past year, making dining, shopping and sleeping in this tropical paradise a true bargain.
Take some of our favorite hotels in Rio. At the budget Arpoador Inn a R$130 double room now costs only $46.40 per night. The somewhat roomier Copacabana Sol is a similar steal, with doubles going for $47.12. Restaurants are a similar steal, with R$25-30 main courses and buffets around town becoming a quite pleasant $9-11 when translated into US money.
One caveat: Because of a tit-for-tat, elementary-school-level slanging match between the US and Brazilian governments, you now need to pay $100 for a tourist visa to Brazil. (We raised our fees for their tourists, so they raised their fees for our tourists, and by the way, "nyah, nyah, nyah.") This has been a hot topic on our message boards (just click here to find out), and there's no way around paying this silly fee: the only thing you can do as an American is appeal to the State Department to back down on the fees they charge Brazilian tourists, so Brazil will back down on its side. If you feel like giving State a piece of your mind, head to https://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_suggest.html. For full details on getting visas, see www.brasilemb.org/consular_visa_tourism.shtml.
Pleasant Packages
Two of our favorite packagers are taking advantage of off-season prices with very reasonable air-and-hotel trips to Rio. Off Peak Traveler (www.offpeaktraveler.com/index.php?m1=1&m2=18&city=5) has a $597 (plus tax) deal for a week in Rio any time between August 18 and December 11 (including five nights' hotel accommodations, as you spend two nights on airplanes).
Go-Today (www.go-today.com/BR_FGRJ.ASP) has an extremely similar deal for $599 plus taxes and fees (from New York or Miami) between August 18 and December 11. Go-Today has a wider range of hotels, but they tend to add on more fees to the final price. Both of these deals assume double occupancy; single travelers will get slapped with a $200 surcharge.
Airfares For Independent Travelers
If you prefer to travel independently, we found some very reasonable airfares to Brazil in an unexpected place. Opaque-fare site Hotwire (www.hotwire.com) beat both consolidators and airline sites in a few tests we did, delivering an amazing $540 fare (including tax!) from Philadelphia to Rio during July and a $508 fare including tax from New York to Rio during September. We'd expect to see the same deals on Priceline (www.priceline.com), so if you're willing to commit to these sites' terms, head over to BiddingForTravel (www.biddingfortravel.com) to get a Priceline strategy before trying Hotwire.
If you'd prefer to deal with actual, live human beings, the best fares we found were from longstanding Houston-based consolidator Intratours (800/334-8069; www.intratours.com/Specials/specials.asp), which is currently offering up the following fares for midweek departures to either Rio or S?Paulo (none include tax, about $80 or so). On the list below, we're putting summer fares (before August 18) first, and then listing fall and winter fares (good between August 18 and December 11).
- Miami: $596/$485
- New York: $533/$490
- Washington, Boston: $533/$495
- Houston: $615/$499
- Chicago, Dallas: $608/555
- LA, SF: $633/$615
Once you're in Brazil, jet around with Gol (www.voegol.com.br), the nation's answer to Southwest Airlines and other low-fare carriers. Serving 25 destinations throughout Brazil, Gol lets you zip between Rio and S?Paulo for as little as R$163 ($58.18) each way. Book online, and in advance, for the best fares.