Brazil Now Charging 3 Nationalities to Enter

You’ll now have to pay around $81 to visit Brazil if you’re from the USA, Canada, or Australia. The country announced that it would implement a reciprocal visa a year and a half ago, but pushed it back several times. Now they apparently have the systems in place and you will be denied entry if you haven’t applied for and received your e-visa in advance. (Get it here). Brazil is a better deal than usual this year because of the exchange rate and originally this was going to be $160 for Americans—what the USA charges their citizens—but kids aren’t excluded. It’ll cost you if you’re a family trying to visit both sides of Iguazu Falls.

European Orgs Buying Burner Phones for US Entry

A few subscribers wrote and chastised me for overreacting when I highlighted the recent police state actions of U.S. immigration at airports, but the rest of the world is not taking it lightly. Many countries have issued official warnings about traveling to the USA in the past month and now “The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage, a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China.” See more here.

Stock Up on “Made in China” Goods

If you’re outside of the USA you can ignore this, but Americans could see a hike of 145% on anything made in China now, thanks to the economy-wrecking tariff war going on. A few items that provoked panic buying got a reprieve, like phones and computers, but even items with a “Made in the USA” tag often get their raw materials from there. This will dramatically impact the travel and outdoor gear you buy, so stockpile what you’ll need for the coming years for travel apparel, luggage, electronic gadgets, and camping gear. Get what you need on Amazon now, especially all those direct-from-China brands you’ve never heard of, or see my Insider Gear Deals newsletter that went out yesterday with other retailers’ sales.

United Airlines Denying Partner Points

I’ve been seeing a lot of complaints on miles and points forums about flyers getting tripped up by United, flying a very long distance on a Star Alliance partner and earning zero points from it. I thought I was savvy, but it just happened to me too. I flew to Tbilisi and back on a regular Turkish Air flight that had a Y fare class on my boarding pass, but United says if you use their secret decoder fine print page buried many clicks deep on their website, the ticket number indicates it was really a U class fare. That’s one of nine letters that they exclude from earning any points. Lesson learned: don’t assume you’ll get United miles from a partner unless you’re in business class. Even then you’ll probably need to request what you’re owed manually.

A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

04/24/25