Transportation and Paying for things in Sao Paulo, Brazil: a guide for gringos/zoukers
Transportation
Basically, if you're a gringo, you have two options. Uber and Metro.
Assuming you did your research, you'll probably stay around Pinheiros/Vila Madalena area as it is the safest. There are other places, but if you like coffee, restaurants, and cool neighborhoods you'll want to stay here. For the well traveled, it's like the Condesa of Mexico City or any other more wealthy more hip area of [enter country name here].
From here to any zouk event, an uber is around 30 BRL or around $6USD. The metro is also 5.2 BRL which is less than $1USD.
There are recently scooters here and city bikes, but it isn't as abundant as I would like to consider it useable. It is safe to walk around Pinheiros and Vila Madalena at night, but no matter where you go, be wary of your smartphone near bike lanes.
This means, if you must use your phone, use double handed death grip around bike lanes. If you're going to any tourist destination, try not to one hand or selfie stick it. Your decorative button T-shirt screams gringo and odds are, if you can afford a flight here, you have more money than 90% of the people walking the streets (maybe not in vila madalena) and can make yourself a target.
Uber has Black, comfort, and UberX. Getting from Zouk Refugio [Vila Madalena] for example to the League of Shadows [Liberdade] costs 20 BRL for uberX, 30 BRL for a comfort, or 40 BRL for a black. UberX the car works, comfort the car is decent, and a Black car ranges from a nicer SUV to on average a Toyota Corolla (average USA uberX).
The Metro itself can be crowded AF during rush hours (typical, brazilians also work the 9-5) and runs from 5am to midnight. I typically will only ride the green or blue line and avoid all other lines. All my metro rides are typically just to Centro Cultural Sao Paulo, which is simply because the metro is a 1 minute walk away and it's just so easy. Plenty of women (it feels safe for many), modern infrastructure, there's good lighting, handrails, escalators, even floors, and protectives walls around the tracks. In my opinion it is a far cleaner and modernized than NYC subway- an extremely low bar I know 😂
Paying for things
First, I would let your banks know that you are traveling here.
Second, everyone pays using PIX here, but that requires you to have an RG, a brazilian bank account or international alternative, but that takes a lot of work.
So, you can use an international credit card, Wise!, or pull cash using Santander or Schwab. Santander offers the best rates and is the only card I am aware of that has options to open in the USA. Brazilians prefer electronic payment over cash, because cash is a hassle.
At the time of this writing, Aug 5th, 2025, 1 USD = 5.5BRL
A big beer 600mL is 15 BRL at a restaurant, comes super cold, any place anywhere usually has outdoor seating and good vibes.
A coffee is about 20 BRL and there are decent options like Coffee Lab in Pinheiros.
A typical meal, nothing special but will get the job done, is around 40 BRL. I'm talking a filet of chicken parmigiana (thank you italian immigration), with rice, beans, french fries, and a salad, plus a coke would be less than $8 USD.
In general things are not as expensive to live here in Brazil. Take some portuguese classes for around 100 BRL an hour and improve your quality of life would be my biggest recommendation.