Will Brazil be expensive leading up to the World Cup (May 2014)?
 

My boyfriend and I are are planning to begin a six month RTW trip in Brazil beginning in May 2014. We were only planning to spend 2-3 weeks in Brazil so would have left by the beginning of June.

When we talked through our rough itinerary at the Flight Centre yesterday to start to get an idea of flight costs, she basically laughed at the idea of being in Brazil that close to the World Cup.

Will flights to Brazil and costs within Brazil really be hyped up to World Cup prices 2-6 weeks before the World Cup even begins?

Prices for Brazil (airfare to/from, hotels) have already been rising steeply over the past few years and the country is a much more expensive place to visit nowadays. Prices generally spike sharply for events such as Carnaval and Reveillon (NYE) and this type of sharp spike has been seen in international flights and is beginning to be seen also hotels/hostels/pousadas (as they begin to figure out how much the market might bear) for the time of the WC. I would suggest anyone not directly interested in being around during the games would be at a major disadvantage as a tourist around that time.

I agree with Isabella except to say that during the London Olympics hotel prices rose dramatically ( in some case 10x the normal rate) during the year running up to the Games but many dropped back to normal levels when the games arrived. Flights are different and I would imagine that fares will stay high and go higher closer to the date as most airlines employ dynamic pricing programs to ensure they beget the optimum balance between high faresand max capacity. I dare say there will be some bargains around after tht WC has finished and that may be the time to go?

You can't compare Brazil with London. Rio, for example, is already more expensive, and has less rooms available in its tourist infrastructure.
After the WC is finished, the run-up to the Olympics begins, and there is high season, Carnaval and Reveillon too, so I doubt prices will drop significantly until well after 2016 in Brazil and they may well stay high indefinitely once sellers get comfortable with what the "games" market may bear.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Also, in terms of thinking about expense, factor in what your own currency is doing. The Brazilian Real has risen dramatically against the US Dollar (if that's your currency).

I've been visiting Brazil for the last ten years but I still think it's very reasonably priced (particularly for food, museum entries, and public transport) but that may be because the Australian dollar has risen dramatically over that period.

I've been visiting Brazil since the exchange on the (newish at the time) Real was U$1=R$1.02 through the time when U$1= almost R$4 and back down to the present U$1=R$2.20 or so, and I DO NOT think Brazil is "reasonably priced" (but I guess it depends on your definition of "reasonable" and which first-world country you earn your vacation money in). It's all relative, I guess. Inflation is rising in Brazil again and residents feel it hurting every day at the grocery store. Food and public transportation are on par with "home", which may be fine for a first-world tourist, but not for a local earning many times less.
A modest, basic but comfortable 2*-3* hotel/pousada in Salvador used to cost the equivalent of U$25 and that rate held for years through the rise and fall of both the dollar and the Real; the same hotel is now over U$100. A good hotel in Rio costs the same or more than NYC or Paris nowadays, and the tourist restaurants there may set you back more than a nice dinner in those cities.