To CRNK: How would you like me to explain my comment? What are you asking?
As an American, in most destinations that would like me to visit, then if they need to collect a tax or fee, I can pay it at the airport. Since there are a great many countries that allow this, without high motivation, I will never visit a country that doesn't. Macau and Hong Kong, the only countries in China I have visited, charged no fee. They WANT my tourism dollar. Mainland China has made it clear they don't so I don't go there. Bolivia was an exception because I was highly motivated to go there to observe a specific species of bird, most easily observed there. And, even they had a process for paying the reciprocity fee at the airport (with a warning that some airports, such as MSY, would not allow you to get on the plane) or else mail in the documents needed directly to a BOLIVIAN official, not to a third party service who would then (mAYBE) arrange matters with some official in Houston.
Brazil wants me to pay a very high fee not just to their gov't but to a visa service to "walk" my paperwork through Houston. This makes it clear they DON'T want me there. What else do I need to know? I don't pay off third parties or entrust my passport to third parties. I would LIKE to go to Brazil but I would LIKE to go to a lot of places. Those places that LIKE me back will get my money first. Places that appear to want a bribe or that appear not to want me at all will go to the back of the line. Don't get me wrong. I understand if Brazil wants to charge reciprocity. As long as the USA charges their citizens the fee, they should charge it right back, just like Bolivia. But all the other mess, to give money to a third party service...no. That is just not right, and I don't play that way. If I have given offense in my hastily written post, forgive me. Let's put it this way: I have no problem if my $$$ goes to helping the country I visit. But if it goes to a cashback/bribe to some private visa expediting service, that is just wrong and I would choose not to support that.
The countries that require this -- mainland China, Russia, and now Brazil -- well, I think the thing speaks for itself. They think they don't need the middle class tourist, and maybe they don't. Maybe they can make it all from the billionaires. If so, bless their heart!
The point of my post was to warn people who think they can earn miles that sometimes American Airlines has a reputation for checking visas and if you don't have the visa, you don't fly, EVEN to destinations where you can get the visa at the airport. I heard from other people this happened to. If I had not changed my usual rule and ordered a visa in advance from the Bolivian consulate, it would have happened to me and cost me a lot of money. At least, for Bolivia, the money went to Bolivia. With Brazil, their instructions for Louisiana residents seem to require paying the reciprocity fee to Brazil AND paying an even higher cost to a third party. Yes, it's a deal breaker.