Good morning Fodorites, We just returned from a trip to attend the funeral of my mother-in-law in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, which is a five-hour drive to the SW of Caracas Airport. The Venezuelan Departure tax is skyrocketing. They now charge you 23 Bolivares per person-10.72 in US dollars (regardless of age) just to fly between Venezuelan states. I believe that included in the international ticket for American Airlines there is a Venezuelan departure tax, as my wife did not have to spend any out-of-pocket money to depart from VE last October and May. Since March 1st of this year, they have added an additional out-of-pocket international departure tax on top of the other two taxes. The additional departure tax is 115,000 Bolivares or $53.62 per person US. We had to come up with 345,000 Bolivares or close to $161 extra US out-of-pocket just to leave this country (we were a party of two adults and a ten-year-old). If you are traveling to Venezuela, be prepared to have to pay this large tax. As of yesterday you could pay with either US dollars or VE Bolivares. I found these taxes to be very steep. I felt like we were be gouged just to get out of the country after an upsetting trip.