TakeTwo

I'll be traveling in Chile for 2 weeks and need a sim with plenty of bandwidth without costing an arm and a leg. Any advice?

ATLynn

It's been a few weeks, but following up on this because I am also interested. Anyone have some tips?

JMN57

Ditto - will be there for 5 days in November and have the same question

BobbySteel

I bought a Movistar one and it worked fine. Entel is also supposed to be good. Just be aware you need to activate using a "RUT" number (similar to social security # in the USA). So ask the guy at the place of purchase to activate it for you.

Or if you're clever and speak basic spanish, you can do it over the phone on their automated system. A smart Google search can come up with some RUT numbers that work fine, as there's no way of really validating it is YOUR RUT

mikel51

I have a Verizon IPAD3 with 4GLTE. We plan to visit Chile next month. Any advice about how to get and use a data SIM? Would probably use a gigabyte or two of data.

deirdre

Looking for a prepaid data-only nano SIM for Chile for next month. Third-party vendors with multi-country SIMs charge $30/MB. I got completely hosed by T-Mo in Costa Rica and Nicaragua and wanted a backup plan.

mikel51

Send a PM to me if you want to borrow the Entel SIM I used over Thanksgiving in my iPAD mini retina. I don't know if there is much (any credit left). Without having a Chilean ID, the only way I could figure out to credit purchase for data was to use an unlocked phone with text messaging....then put the SIM back into the iPAD. It worked well, but was only 3G.

YVR Cockroach

Any updates for Chile SIMs?

flyerhog

Claro. It's the only thing you need to know if you need a sim in South America

macdonaldj2

is there a Claro outpost in SCL? going to in town for a few days and need data coverage, would prefer to grab one before I head out of the airport

drvannostren

I was trying to find the info but couldn't. If one were to pick up a Claro SIM in Colombia, what would it take to use it in Chile, or any other Claro country? If you're on prepaid do they just not let you roam?

I could just buy it in chile, but I actually would use the number in Colombia so I wouldn't want people to have to call me long distance.

Ambassador

Any recommendations on prepago SIM cards in Santiago for someone who uses a lot of data (no voice) and likes to have the fastest speeds?

drvannostren

Ambassador if you're going before Dec 13 let me know the answer!

I'm in the same boat. People seem to lean Claro here, I have no experience with them in Colombia, I use Tigo there but I'm open to trying anyone. Virgin seems to have pretty decent plans/prices in Chile from what I saw on their site. In the end I may just skip it altogether, sounds like there's lots of Wifi hotspots and this whole RUT thing sounds like it's hit or miss.

blue0045

Just came back from Chile and we bought prepaid plans from an Entel kiosk at SCL. The Entel kiosk is at the 3rd floor, in front of the domestic check-in counters. The sales rep spoke good English, and helped us get set up. The Entel kiosk also sells sim cards, but they ran out at that time, so the sales rep pointed us to a store called Fotokina to buy sim cards (also on the 3rd floor).

We didn't need to provide a RUT to buy the sim or the prepaid plan.

Sim card: $6,000 CLP (about $8.50 USD based on $1 USD to $700 CLP) - 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. Overall, we had a good experience with Entel.

Ambassador

Thanks for the great information! Question> did they have a 4G option? I'm a big data user (no voice needed). Also, did you see a Movistar kiosk as well? thanks