filmwill

Understand that--at least in Patagonia--we shouldn't expect much, if any, cell reception.

That said, we'll still be in Santiago, El Calafate, Iguzau and Buenos Aires for the better part of 3 weeks.

Are there SIM card options at Santiago airport (where we'll arrive) --- and will those options work in Argentina (vs. having to get a new Argentinian SIM card once we arrive there)?

sf7307

I found a thread on here that said the whole concept of getting local SIMs for an unlocked phone seems not to work very well in Chile and Argentina (and that even if you make it work in one country, you'll have to repeat the process for the other). I'll try to find the thread. (We're going to be in the same places in January-February and have the same question)

ticino

I was in northern Patagonia in July (Villa La Angostura and San Martin) and I was using whatsapp to send pictures and posting to instagram just as I normally do at home in Europe. I had a sim card from Movistar that worked wonderfully. You can check Movistar's 4g coverage here: Navegá a la mayor velocidad | Movistar Argentina

You could also check Personal and Claro, here you can compare between the three companies: https://opensignal.com/reports/2018/...etworks-update

Movistar is also in Chile (not sure about Personal and Claro) so you may be able to get a roaming package for Argentina if Chile is where you are going first but muy guess is that it will be cheaper to get an Argentinian sim card once you are in Argentina.

Huentetu

A Chilean sim won't work in Argentina and vice versa.

mlgb

I have read there are some new rules re foreigners purchasing SIM cards in Chile making it a little more complicated. I ran into something similar in Colombia (and Ecuador) so it's probably best to go to a store with staff and bring your passport and possibly a receipt showing that you purchased the phone.

Most lodgings and many coffee shops are going to have public internet. But it was nice having a SIM in Colombia where the name brand (Claro) worked much better than one of the resellers.

That said, I haven't had a SIM in Chile or in Argentina.

ticino

Yes, on paper at least Chile seems a bit more complicated. Here are the instructions (in Spanish): https://santiagoando.com/usar-el-celular-en-chile
and https://multibanda.cl/soy-extranjero-foreigner/
They recommend registering the phone in advance.

I think you need to register your phone in Argentina as well, we got our sim cards directly from movistar and I suppose they did it for us. They inserted the cards and sent the necessary sms and made sure everything was working properly.

I would buy the sim card from a telephone company and ask about roaming as there certainly are pre-paid roaming packages for many countries, not sure they can be purchased by non-residents though.

Huentetu

That registration information is out of date. The registration was a major headache for tourists and was removed. There were too many places to register with varying requirements and results. It was supposed to be brought back in, but a simpler version, a few months later. Nothing happened. Now there is talk of it being re-introduced in November. We will wait and see. If it happens I will post here on Fodor's. Whatever happens, just buy a sim for Chile and another for Argentina when you get there. They are cheap enough.