blue0045

We are visiting Chile in November, and wanted to know what are the best options for cell phone calls/data for tourists. From what I've read so far, a RUT is needed to buy prepaid SIM cards at SCL airport. Our first destination is Puerto Natales.

1. Is there a place in Puerto Natales that sells prepaid SIM cards that do not require a RUT? We have an unlocked iphone and Samsung that we can use.

2. Any positive/negative experience with TMobile simple choice intl plan?

Thanks!

Siempre Viajando

When in Chile I use a prepaid Entel SIM card. I purchased the card in Santiago a few months ago when I still lived in Chile. I recall that the store I purchased it from didn't ask for my RUT number---they were happy to accept my cash.

I don't know Puerto Natales well enough to be able to recommend where to buy a SIM card, but the place is big enough that you can almost certainly find one. If you're lucky enough to be staying at the Singular Hotel north of the city, phone them in advance, I bet they could tell you where to find one.

I recommend Entel. None of the mobile phone service providers in Chile are great (and the same goes for Canada where I live now...) but Entel service is generally reliable and in my experience (which is mostly not in Patagonia) their coverage outside the major urban centers is better than that of their competitors.

blue0045

Thanks for the reply! Will definitely try to find a place selling Entel sim cards at Puerto Natales.

drvannostren

Don't wanna revive a dead topic, but a) I have no idea what a RUT is (Chilean ID?) but why would they require it for a prepaid plan with a sim card? B) Did we land anywhere on this or just look for Entel?

I'd like to buy one at the airport so I can hook up easier with my Air BnB host, but in Colombia usually I just go to Exito (big grocery chain) and buy a sim card/plan there, there's often young people selling sim cards and prepaid plans on the street in Tigo/Claro/Movistar uniforms as well. I'm only gonna be in Chile about 5 days, but I like having some access to a data plan at all times if it's not too hard to get one, allows me to stay in touch and do some light research when I'm walking around.

Is there somewhere reliable that won't ask me for this RUT? Or is just Entel that doesn't ask? Is there a big grocery chain or something that sells these? Siempre Viajando if you're not familiar, Exito is like Superstore/Loblaws, is there somewhere like that I can grab a SIM? I just think they're usually easy to find and deal with...

Viajero Perpetuo

Seems like a RUT is no longer a requirement for SIM activation but you will want to have this done live in front of you by the vendor to make sure everything is a 100% go.

The problem will be if you want to buy discounted data bolsas with your phone credit after you charge up at one of the many ubiquitous physical locations. These must be purchased online unless you want to just pay for data usage at a much higher rate.

Entel, Movistar and Claro all require a RUT to setup an online account. Only Virgin Mobile Chile (which uses the Movistar network) does not require a RUT to setup an online account but you will have to go into Santiago to get their SIM as they have no desk at the airport.

drvannostren

Hmm thanks for the advice, it sounds like a catch 22, any idea what the "much higher rate" is? Lets say I want 250mb-500mb, what kinda cost would I be looking at if you were to ballpark it? I really only need it for whatsapp and googling stuff like sites to see or whatever. I could just carry a guidebook, I speak Spanish so there's no need to translate and I am able to live without cell phone/chat contact but I like having it.

2ndary topic then as a follow up, how widely available is wifi in Santiago? Especially in Centro/Plaza de Armas region? My AirBnB has wifi, but like does McDonalds? Starbucks? Those kind of places. Maybe that's good enough, I don't mind popping in and having a coffee/burger so that I can use the wifi and research whatever I want for 20-30 minutes but I just prefer doing it on the go.

Viajero Perpetuo

With Virgin, I know a 1GB data bolsa is $7500 pesos (aprox. $11.xx USD) so I guess a non discounted rate would be double to triple that.

Lots of wifi in the city, yes McD and Starbucks, inside Metro stations, other.

drvannostren

$33 for 5 days isn't THAT bad if it were Canadian dollars $6 a day roughly, but 33 and 30% is a bit rough. Maybe I'll just skip it. I'm sure I'll shop around a bit the day I get there but ultimately maybe I won't bother.

blue0045

We bought Entel sim cards (following the advice of Siempre Viajando) and wanted to share our experience.

We initially planned to purchased sim cards at Puerto Natales, but we had enough time between our connection in SCL to do it at the airport. There are Entel and Movistar kiosks on the third floor in front of the international and domestic check-in counters. The Entel kiosk was in front of the domestic check-in counters (can't recall exactly where the Movistar kiosk was). The sales rep at the Entel kiosk spoke very good English which helped a lot as we spoke very little spanish. The Entel kiosk sells sim cards and prepaid plans, although at that time, they ran out of sim cards, so the sales rep pointed us to another store called Fotokina that sold sim cards. Fotokina is on the third floor as well, past the international check-in counters and the bathrooms.

After purchasing sim cards from Fotokina, we went back to the Entel kiosk and bought the prepaid plans. The sales rep made sure everything is set up and ready to go. We didn't need to provide a RUT to buy the sim or the prepaid plans.

Sim card: $6,000 CLP (about $8.50 USD) - accepts cash only CLP
Prepaid plan: $10 USD for 40 mins local calls, 2 GB data - accepts cash only CLP or USD

We had 3g data in Santiago, Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, fast enough for google maps, search, email, etc.

canadianhockey91

Thanks! This is good to know, I'm going in Feb. I was wondering if anyone knows if the carriers offer 4G LTE? Otherwise it sounds like entel is a pretty good option. Thanks!

Ambassador

I'm headed to SCL in a couple of days..... I believe there is indeed 4G in the city based on my research. I use a ton of data and no voice or texts (I use iMessage and WhatsApp which are both data). Based on what I know now I am going to buy a Movistar SIM at the airport and get the most amount of data for a one week visit. Happy to answer any questions before/after I go. Here is one site I used for research.... http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Chile

Viajero Perpetuo

Great link. Info appears to be accurate. I learned:

You can buy bolsas direct from a Movistar phone with *303#

But my previous warning about online-only activation and bolsa purchases still applies to data-only chips: you need a RUT to setup your Movistar online account (and 99999999-9 will not work for that).

No mention on the availability of nano chips so might be wise to bring your own cutter.

canadianhockey91

Update for future visitors and googlers.

It was quite easy to get an entel nano sim for my Iphone 6. Cost only a few dollars. I loaded it with 1 gb data for 8000 CLP. The only annoying thing is that is the most you can load at one time. I had to reload it and you can't go to an entel store to re-load. You need to find a grocery store, or small phone dealer that sells reloads.

Other than that it worked all over quite well. Worked very well on Easter Island and had no issues in Punta Arenas/Puerto Natales....and no there's no service in Torres del Paine but why would you want to be on your phone in such a beautiful place (I checked when leaving on the bus).

lw7878

It has been more than a year since last post. May I ask if there is any more recent updates?

I know there are other popular plans (e.g. T-Mobile Simple Choice, AT&T...) but I am a TM pre-pay customer and I don't prefer to switch to those plans just for one or two international trips. Thanks!

STS-134

I'm wondering about this too. I'd imagine that nano SIMs are now easily available if not universal, with adapters required to fit them in phones requiring larger sizes.

However this Chile | Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia page says:
"You are now free to go to use a Chilean SIM card in a device from abroad for 30 days without registration. This applies to most tourists in the country. Only if you stay for longer you will need to enlist your device in an IMEI whitelist to avoid being blocked. This doesn't apply to roaming SIM cards in Chile."

Apparently, it is free to register one device per year. Does this mean that the IMEI cache is "flushed" after a year, i.e. if you visit Chile again in LONGER than a year, you get another 30 days automatically? Reason I ask is that I will be in Chile in July 2019, and may be returning again in December 2020 (two total eclipses about 18 months apart).