How to buy dollars for a trip to the US

With Ruvo you convert reais to dollars at about 1% all in, with 0% IOF, close to the real rate instead of the dólar turismo. You can do it ahead of time and hold the dollars, so a swing in the real before your trip does not catch you out. No booth, no queue, no inflated tourist rate.

In the US, the card spends straight from your dollar balance with 0% IOF and 0% spread, because dollars are the local currency there. That is the heart of spending in dollars with a card: no conversion at the till, no IOF, just the dollars you already bought. The same logic runs through the dollar card for US travel guide.

On a US$ 3,000 trip, a Brazilian bank card can add roughly 3.5% IOF plus a 2% to 7% markup, about US$ 165 to US$ 315 in pure overhead. Buying the same dollars through Ruvo at around 1% and spending with 0% IOF brings that down to about US$ 30. The savings cover a nice dinner, every trip. If friends or family are visiting Brazil, paying by Pix as a foreigner covers how they can handle local expenses without a Brazilian bank account.

For most US trips, a card covers the majority of expenses — card-only venues are increasingly common. Cash is useful for tipping (standard in the US), small purchases at markets or food trucks, and situations where a card reader is unavailable. A reasonable allocation for a 7-day trip is $50–$100 in cash for tips and incidentals, with the rest handled by card. Withdraw cash at a US ATM on arrival rather than buying dollars in Brazil — the exchange rate is almost always better than at a câmbio booth.

US ATMs from major banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) are widely available. The ATM operator typically charges a $3–$5 withdrawal fee. Ruvo does not add a foreign-transaction fee on top. When the ATM offers to charge you in BRL instead of USD, decline — DCC (dynamic currency conversion) locks in a poor rate controlled by the machine operator. Withdraw in larger amounts to reduce the number of times you pay the ATM fee. For short trips, card-plus-a-small-float may mean you do not need an ATM withdrawal at all.