I previously worked in the US on an L1 visa, and was able to get an L2 visa for my wife (Chilean national) at the time. She never used it, lost her passport while the visa was valid, went to the US embassy to get a replacement... and they gave her a B2 visa, which I believe is good for 10 years.

I've since left the US, and now she would like to fly there in November to take advantage of the shopping around Thanksgiving as well as looking up some friends. I expect to meet up with her there (I'm from a visa-waiver country, so I expect no particular problems). The destination is one of the airports in the Bay Area (wherever I can find cheap tickets to ;-)

I'll try to make sure she has documentation indicating she plans to return home after the trip, not overstay, have enough money to support herself, etc. etc. She speaks reasonable English, though possibly not enough to handle a full-on trip-me-up immigration interrogation. She is not looking to stay in the US.

But I'd appreciate any pointers or information about whether the above plan is advisable, possible, or is there anything in particular to look out for?

She should be ok.. As long as she never violated any previous non-immigrant status, she won't have any problems .
Happy shopping lol

I had a Chilean friend who had previously lived in the USA as a student, and then subsequently returned on an immigrant visa, with the intent of settling permanently in the USA. She had left her job in Chile, moved out of her flat, etc.

On arrival, CBP grilled her repeatedly about her previous life in the USA, demanding she admit that she had "worked" previously. They refused to accept her denials and insisted that she must have done "some" work. Finally, she acknowledged that she had done some volunteer work for her church, and that was it, bam!, visa cancelled, you are out of the country and not coming back.

The CBP loves to detain people and harass and intimidate them until they say something "incriminating". Make sure your wife understands to say as little as possible, and to never, ever be intimidated by these guys. They will undoubtedly try to get her to "admit" all kinds of stuff -- from bringing in undeclared gifts to being OBL's social secretary. If they decide to target her, they will try to make her believe that all she needs to do is just answer one question the way they want her to, and she'll be on her way. If this happens, she needs to stand her ground and not be pressured into saying anything, because if she does, the only place she'll be on her way is back home again.

I find alexb133's advice more plausible than an 'I know somebody who had a different visa' post.

A B2 visa is a non-immigrant visa, and especially in view of the OP's precautions his wife should be fine.

I agree. A visa that was never used should not be an issue. It' shard to see how changing ones mind and spending less time in the US than planned would increase the risk of an overstay (which is what they're concerned about).

She will be fine. She is using the B2 visa in the manner it was intended.

FB

Thanks for the input, from both sides of the fence, always useful to have a more complete picture . As it has turned out, a trip from Chile to the US for Thanksgiving sales is too stressful to consider right now for Mrs. Idaho (but the shoes, the shoes... ) so this will be postponed to a future date.