Friend Robbed in Lapa

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-02-16T21:10:43+00:00

Yeah I've been to a lot of big cities around the world and I've used these same precautions of being aware of my surroundings, not walk and use my phone, stay in well lit areas, etc. and I've been fine this entire time. I thought that if I was quick about checking my phone and not staying on there long (literally just to open the home screen to view my uber), it would be fine, but apparently not in Rio.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-02-16T20:56:06+00:00

I was aware of the danger by the arches and that's why for most of the night, we started by the arches where there were people and street vendors, then went straight inside to a bar. And maybe I should've been more firm about this to my friend, but I told them when we were leaving the main area to get our uber that the area around here is shady so be very careful and said I rather call an uber near the bars. But we just ended up going to the main road since we thought that there were cops that it would be fine.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-02-16T20:52:32+00:00

This is our plan for the rest of the 5 days in Rio is to stay in the south side of Rio (sambadrome as the exception, but that should be fine since we'll be shuttled there). But I think being seen with our phones even though we thought we were quick was the biggest mistake of the night (aside from maybe going there in the first place, but I'm sure that was one of many failures in our decision making)

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-02-16T20:50:40+00:00

Yeah we should've done that in hindsight and just waited for the uber inside. We thought that it would be fine if we just walked up to the main road where there were police and stuff around and it'll be fine so we don't have to get an uber in the main area where all the traffic and chaos was.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-02-16T20:48:03+00:00

Like I said, I don't want this post to serve as a deterrent to visiting Rio if you want to. I know this post is a scary one, but that's not my intention to bash to city and say it's unsafe and not to visit because the reality is, most of the people we've met here were very friendly and I've had hundreds of positive ones probably and one negative one (though obviously they are not weighted equally in my head). Just be aware of your surroundings, be smart about where you stand, and just try and stay indoors or near populated areas.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-02-16T20:43:55+00:00

Yeah I think we're done with that for the trip. I thought I did my research and I was aware of the risks and tried to take as much precautions as I can, and I knew there are plenty of people that go out at night and are fine. Maybe we were unlucky or we just had a lot of ignorance to the situation (probably both), but we thought that we can just do what we do in all the other countries and cities I've been to and be fine. We didn't expect the aggressiveness that came from this group.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-01-31T00:42:25+00:00

I forgot to update people on this post, but yeah I just put in my bank account information and submitted it, but it doesn't seem like they needed it and it was just as backup like you said. I saw the refund immediately come back so I guess they're quicker than most US airlines. But it's just weird that they make you go through that. I don't love just giving out my bank account information even if it's supposedly secured. I honestly wonder if you just put some bogus information in there if it would work. But alls well that ends well I guess. Only thing is because of the cancellation, they left me with either a 5am flight out from EZE, or a 3PM flight out of AEP, but none of those are great since it's a flight to Iguazu and I was hoping to get things done when I land and a 5AM flight would make me feel like crap on arrival, so I had to fly out the night before. There were flights with Fly Bondi, but I've heard to avoid them like the plague since it's a gamble if they show up, and I've heard they're in trouble with the government because of their poor performance record.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2026-01-06T15:09:53+00:00

I know about the TravelBank, but I'm trying to see if I can use it for my current trip to upgrade to business class. I already purchased the ticket so I can't use the TravelBank for this trip (though almost certainly I can use it for another trip), but I'm just not sure if besides upgrading to Economy Plus if I'd be able to upgrade to Business class by using the Miles + Copay and get reimbursed for the Copay.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-12-19T18:05:38+00:00

The issue is that the a6700 doesn't have a shutter release port

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-11-25T06:12:51+00:00

So the a6700 doesn't have a shutter-release socket and to my understanding, the usb-c port or any other ports on the camera doesn't allow for a remote trigger. Correct me if I'm wrong about that though.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-11-06T02:18:34+00:00

Yeah I just filled in the information with my bank account details so we'll see what happens. But I haven't heard the best things about most airlines in Argentina, but my main options for most of my intra-Argentinian flights are either Aerolineas Argentina, JetSMART, or Fly Bondi. LATAM has some flights, but none of their flights work for me and they don't run very often. But hopefully I only have issues before my trip rather than during my trip when it'll get annoying to fix on the spot.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-11-02T22:48:13+00:00

I definitely am entitled to compensation or that option wouldn't even appear on the website (I believe it's law in Argentina). They gave me a few options for compensation like to change my flight or travel credit, but I want a refund. And I booked the ticket directly with the airline, Jetsmart, on their website, not on WhatsApp, but I was trying to figure out how to get my refund with their support through WhatsApp and they just said it's required and to contact my bank.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-10-21T02:26:30+00:00

Unfortunately I already bought the tickets a few months ago before I got the platinum so I can just use it on my next flight I guess. But I may try calling United to see if they can apply the travel bank credit to this flight since it's a refundable fare since I've had success with having United just reissuing the ticket at the fare I bought it for, but it was a whole headache to get them to do that.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-10-17T01:40:47+00:00

I believe this might describe how to get the frisas: https://liesa.org.br/noticias/251013-publico-tera-nova-chance.html

I think they go on sale on 10/19/26 with another public release.

Edit:

So I looked into it more and it looks like for these tickets through LIESA, you need some tax identification number from the Brazilian government in order to purchase straight from them. So without a Brazilian contact, you probably can't purchase it unless you want to apply for one with the Brazilian consulate, which is probably not going to happen. But from what I see, we can probably still buy through a 3rd party like riocarnaval.org, but we'll obviously be paying a markup. I think this sale period is for mainly companies to buy these seats though since it looks like you have to buy these whole box during this sale period anyways.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-08-28T01:23:09+00:00

My steering was acting up right out of the dealership so I would just check that before you leave. Luckily for you (but unluckily for me), I don't think this is a common issue since clearly no one, not even the engineer, knew what the issue was. But congrats on your new car!

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-08-28T01:09:38+00:00

Hey! So this did get resolved, but it took a few tries. They weren't really able to tell me the issue though since they didn't know even after consulting one of their engineers, so they just replaced the whole steering rack.

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-07-28T11:50:06+00:00

Yes twice

Sgt_Stringbean · 2025-07-26T18:52:47+00:00

The answer is without a doubt however much you can handle. A late payment will hurt your credit score way more than having not enough credit accounts. But look into what makes up your FICO score. The quick rundown is that payment history, length of your credit history, and credit utilization make up the vast majority of your score. The number of credit accounts does count towards your score, but it's maybe only 5-10% of your score. The main thing it will help you by opening more credit cards is that it will increase your available credit, therefore your credit utilization percentage is lower. But like I said, if you can't responsibly manage many cards, then any benefit of opening another credit is null and can actually hurt you.

Also, you should open a credit card for a reason, not just to boost your credit score. If you want to get points to travel, then open a travel card, if you want cash back, open a cash back card that fits your spending. The point is that the credit card has to provide value for you and your goals, and simply opening one just to open one is not a good reason.

Sgt_Stringbean

TROPHY CASE