[NOT BOOKABLE] VEF currency on the ITA matrix :D ($600 tickets for $60)
Feb 6, 2018, 9:49 pm
#46
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 353
Feb 6, 2018, 10:06 pm
#47
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 353
Party is now officially over. All VEF prices in the ITA Matrix are now up. The Apr 11-25 LAX-YYZ trip I was talking about is now quoted at VEF6,958,092.19 instead of the VEF932,830.85 I was seeing earlier 
I definitely think the airlines are watching FT
I definitely think the airlines are watching FT
Last edited by emilio911; Feb 6, 2018 at 10:12 pm
Feb 6, 2018, 10:16 pm
#48
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYJ/YVR and back on Van Isle ....... for now
Programs: UA lifetime MM / *A Gold
Posts: 14,429
Feb 6, 2018, 10:33 pm
#49
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: LAX
Programs: AS
Posts: 29
It still works for some airlines and finding ones without Venezuela sales restrictions is fairly easy for some of the more odd airlines. I booked a bunch of different tickets and will see if any of them stick. The privacy.com trick is really slick!
Feb 6, 2018, 10:47 pm
#50
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Aspen, CO
Posts: 792
are you using a venezuelan ota? how are you pricing in VEF?
Feb 6, 2018, 10:55 pm
#51
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 353
"The total price listed above has been converted using today's exchange rate. Flight prices for this booking will be charged in USD. Charges appearing on your statement will vary based on the exchange rate used by your credit card company. Foreign transaction fees may apply."
FlightNetwork, right below the total price
FlightNetwork, right below the total price
Feb 7, 2018, 2:19 am
#52
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MEX
Posts: 1,014
As a Venezuelan Flyertalker I can appreciate the hustle. Keep trying.
As a blogger, I think you guys should look at where we are historically on the "cheap flights from Venezuela" timeline. It's over.
Currency controls allowed many of us to enjoy the perks of paying $300 for $3000 tickets. Or even $700 for $10,000 tickets. There was a time where you could:
1. Pay in VEF for a flight that originated outside of Venezuela.
2. Pay in VEF for F tickets and even RTW trips originating in Venezuela.
3. Pay in VEF for lounge memberships and even miles.
All while the "official exchange rate" was 4.3 Bs. and the "street rate" was 30, 40...even 60 Bs. per dollar. That meant you could show up in Venezuela with $500 and have 10-15 times the buying power.
At our travel peak there were 6-7 (maybe more) travel agencies inside CCS airport and It was not uncommon to see foreigners show up with a backpack full of cash to buy a ticket (having exchanged their $ or euros).
Those times are long gone now...along with airlines like Lufthansa, United, Avianca, LATAM, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Delta, Air Canada. All have left.
Many of them are still owed hundreds of millions of dollars because when we paid the equivalent of $300 for a ticket, "on paper" that ticket was $3000. And the airlines kept at it because early on they were getting paid the full $3000 the tickets cost (again, on paper)...that's why some of them stayed for as long as they did. They were making BANK...until the government stopped exchanging their bolivares back to dollars, that is.
In 2013-2014 a oneworld DONE4 (RTW ticket in J, up to 16 flights) was ~60,000 bolivares. ~10k in USD on paper (as it remains today from most South American countries). Definitely expensive for a loca, but if you were able to earn in foreign currency that ticket cost you ~$1000. This was during a time when American Airlines had flights from CCS to JFK, SJU, DFW and 4-5 daily flights to MIA.
TIME magazine even interviewed me about it. They wrote about the ways people were gaming the controls...company executives traveling to Venezuela for business had the opportunity of a lifetime. Expensing $600 or $800 hotel rooms (per night), when (with the help of Venezuelan friends) they were paying in local currency the equivalent of 60 or $80 bucks per night...it was extreme.
Back to reality, regarding the "find a local agent" thing....you can forget about that. The few travel agencies left rarely sell anything in bolivares these days. And IF you manage to convince or find a lost, naive soul willing to ticket you something, rest assured the fine from the airline will put them out of business.
Lastly, some perspective about Venezuela. The 60k bolivares that could have bought you a DONE 4 in 2014? That can now buy you a quarter of a dollar. Yes, $0.25. Inflation...hyperinflation is real.
Math can get tricky in Venezuela. Last month a 5* hotel in Caracas was $900 on paper. Today that hotel is "only" $220 (still on paper). What changed? The new official exchange rate. Which after months of being ignored, went from 4k to 30k overnight.
Wondering what $220 "on paper" is now in real life? Well, right now you can have a night at a 5* hotel in Caracas for less than $40. All while earning points as if you were paying $220.
So yeah...you can forget about the flights but chain hotels are still there!
As a blogger, I think you guys should look at where we are historically on the "cheap flights from Venezuela" timeline. It's over.
Currency controls allowed many of us to enjoy the perks of paying $300 for $3000 tickets. Or even $700 for $10,000 tickets. There was a time where you could:
1. Pay in VEF for a flight that originated outside of Venezuela.
2. Pay in VEF for F tickets and even RTW trips originating in Venezuela.
3. Pay in VEF for lounge memberships and even miles.
All while the "official exchange rate" was 4.3 Bs. and the "street rate" was 30, 40...even 60 Bs. per dollar. That meant you could show up in Venezuela with $500 and have 10-15 times the buying power.
At our travel peak there were 6-7 (maybe more) travel agencies inside CCS airport and It was not uncommon to see foreigners show up with a backpack full of cash to buy a ticket (having exchanged their $ or euros).
Those times are long gone now...along with airlines like Lufthansa, United, Avianca, LATAM, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Delta, Air Canada. All have left.
Many of them are still owed hundreds of millions of dollars because when we paid the equivalent of $300 for a ticket, "on paper" that ticket was $3000. And the airlines kept at it because early on they were getting paid the full $3000 the tickets cost (again, on paper)...that's why some of them stayed for as long as they did. They were making BANK...until the government stopped exchanging their bolivares back to dollars, that is.
In 2013-2014 a oneworld DONE4 (RTW ticket in J, up to 16 flights) was ~60,000 bolivares. ~10k in USD on paper (as it remains today from most South American countries). Definitely expensive for a loca, but if you were able to earn in foreign currency that ticket cost you ~$1000. This was during a time when American Airlines had flights from CCS to JFK, SJU, DFW and 4-5 daily flights to MIA.
TIME magazine even interviewed me about it. They wrote about the ways people were gaming the controls...company executives traveling to Venezuela for business had the opportunity of a lifetime. Expensing $600 or $800 hotel rooms (per night), when (with the help of Venezuelan friends) they were paying in local currency the equivalent of 60 or $80 bucks per night...it was extreme.
Back to reality, regarding the "find a local agent" thing....you can forget about that. The few travel agencies left rarely sell anything in bolivares these days. And IF you manage to convince or find a lost, naive soul willing to ticket you something, rest assured the fine from the airline will put them out of business.
Lastly, some perspective about Venezuela. The 60k bolivares that could have bought you a DONE 4 in 2014? That can now buy you a quarter of a dollar. Yes, $0.25. Inflation...hyperinflation is real.
Math can get tricky in Venezuela. Last month a 5* hotel in Caracas was $900 on paper. Today that hotel is "only" $220 (still on paper). What changed? The new official exchange rate. Which after months of being ignored, went from 4k to 30k overnight.
Wondering what $220 "on paper" is now in real life? Well, right now you can have a night at a 5* hotel in Caracas for less than $40. All while earning points as if you were paying $220.
So yeah...you can forget about the flights but chain hotels are still there!
Feb 7, 2018, 7:10 am
#54
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 353
Alright! Thank you for this beautiful piece of writing Viajero!
As a Venezuelan Flyertalker I can appreciate the hustle. Keep trying.
As a blogger, I think you guys should look at where we are historically on the "cheap flights from Venezuela" timeline. It's over.
Currency controls allowed many of us to enjoy the perks of paying $300 for $3000 tickets. Or even $700 for $10,000 tickets. There was a time where you could:
1. Pay in VEF for a flight that originated outside of Venezuela.
2. Pay in VEF for F tickets and even RTW trips originating in Venezuela.
3. Pay in VEF for lounge memberships and even miles.
All while the "official exchange rate" was 4.3 Bs. and the "street rate" was 30, 40...even 60 Bs. per dollar. That meant you could show up in Venezuela with $500 and have 10-15 times the buying power.
At our travel peak there were 6-7 (maybe more) travel agencies inside CCS airport and It was not uncommon to see foreigners show up with a backpack full of cash to buy a ticket (having exchanged their $ or euros).
Those times are long gone now...along with airlines like Lufthansa, United, Avianca, LATAM, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Delta, Air Canada. All have left.
Many of them are still owed hundreds of millions of dollars because when we paid the equivalent of $300 for a ticket, "on paper" that ticket was $3000. And the airlines kept at it because early on they were getting paid the full $3000 the tickets cost (again, on paper)...that's why some of them stayed for as long as they did. They were making BANK...until the government stopped exchanging their bolivares back to dollars, that is.
In 2013-2014 a oneworld DONE4 (RTW ticket in J, up to 16 flights) was ~60,000 bolivares. ~10k in USD on paper (as it remains today from most South American countries). Definitely expensive for a loca, but if you were able to earn in foreign currency that ticket cost you ~$1000. This was during a time when American Airlines had flights from CCS to JFK, SJU, DFW and 4-5 daily flights to MIA.
TIME magazine even interviewed me about it. They wrote about the ways people were gaming the controls...company executives traveling to Venezuela for business had the opportunity of a lifetime. Expensing $600 or $800 hotel rooms (per night), when (with the help of Venezuelan friends) they were paying in local currency the equivalent of 60 or $80 bucks per night...it was extreme.
Back to reality, regarding the "find a local agent" thing....you can forget about that. The few travel agencies left rarely sell anything in bolivares these days. And IF you manage to convince or find a lost, naive soul willing to ticket you something, rest assured the fine from the airline will put them out of business.
Lastly, some perspective about Venezuela. The 60k bolivares that could have bought you a DONE 4 in 2014? That can now buy you a quarter of a dollar. Yes, $0.25. Inflation...hyperinflation is real.
Math can get tricky in Venezuela. Last month a 5* hotel in Caracas was $900 on paper. Today that hotel is "only" $220 (still on paper). What changed? The new official exchange rate. Which after months of being ignored, went from 4k to 30k overnight.
Wondering what $220 "on paper" is now in real life? Well, right now you can have a night at a 5* hotel in Caracas for less than $40. All while earning points as if you were paying $220.
So yeah...you can forget about the flights but chain hotels are still there!
As a blogger, I think you guys should look at where we are historically on the "cheap flights from Venezuela" timeline. It's over.
Currency controls allowed many of us to enjoy the perks of paying $300 for $3000 tickets. Or even $700 for $10,000 tickets. There was a time where you could:
1. Pay in VEF for a flight that originated outside of Venezuela.
2. Pay in VEF for F tickets and even RTW trips originating in Venezuela.
3. Pay in VEF for lounge memberships and even miles.
All while the "official exchange rate" was 4.3 Bs. and the "street rate" was 30, 40...even 60 Bs. per dollar. That meant you could show up in Venezuela with $500 and have 10-15 times the buying power.
At our travel peak there were 6-7 (maybe more) travel agencies inside CCS airport and It was not uncommon to see foreigners show up with a backpack full of cash to buy a ticket (having exchanged their $ or euros).
Those times are long gone now...along with airlines like Lufthansa, United, Avianca, LATAM, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Delta, Air Canada. All have left.
Many of them are still owed hundreds of millions of dollars because when we paid the equivalent of $300 for a ticket, "on paper" that ticket was $3000. And the airlines kept at it because early on they were getting paid the full $3000 the tickets cost (again, on paper)...that's why some of them stayed for as long as they did. They were making BANK...until the government stopped exchanging their bolivares back to dollars, that is.
In 2013-2014 a oneworld DONE4 (RTW ticket in J, up to 16 flights) was ~60,000 bolivares. ~10k in USD on paper (as it remains today from most South American countries). Definitely expensive for a loca, but if you were able to earn in foreign currency that ticket cost you ~$1000. This was during a time when American Airlines had flights from CCS to JFK, SJU, DFW and 4-5 daily flights to MIA.
TIME magazine even interviewed me about it. They wrote about the ways people were gaming the controls...company executives traveling to Venezuela for business had the opportunity of a lifetime. Expensing $600 or $800 hotel rooms (per night), when (with the help of Venezuelan friends) they were paying in local currency the equivalent of 60 or $80 bucks per night...it was extreme.
Back to reality, regarding the "find a local agent" thing....you can forget about that. The few travel agencies left rarely sell anything in bolivares these days. And IF you manage to convince or find a lost, naive soul willing to ticket you something, rest assured the fine from the airline will put them out of business.
Lastly, some perspective about Venezuela. The 60k bolivares that could have bought you a DONE 4 in 2014? That can now buy you a quarter of a dollar. Yes, $0.25. Inflation...hyperinflation is real.
Math can get tricky in Venezuela. Last month a 5* hotel in Caracas was $900 on paper. Today that hotel is "only" $220 (still on paper). What changed? The new official exchange rate. Which after months of being ignored, went from 4k to 30k overnight.
Wondering what $220 "on paper" is now in real life? Well, right now you can have a night at a 5* hotel in Caracas for less than $40. All while earning points as if you were paying $220.
So yeah...you can forget about the flights but chain hotels are still there!
Feb 7, 2018, 9:52 am
#56
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SJC / DPS
Programs: AS G75K, UA Silver
Posts: 1,757
Confirmed this is definitely not going to work with FlightNetwork. They are attempting to charge in USD despite being priced in Bolivars.
No etickets issued for the two reservations I hold.
No etickets issued for the two reservations I hold.
