Cell Phone rental in LIM?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: SAN
Programs: DL SM, Marriot PLT, Tall guy in need of legroom
Posts: 1,478
Cell Phone rental in LIM?
For a 5 day trip involving a flight into LIM, CUZ and some Macchu Picchu trekking and 4 diff hotels/pickups etc., would renting a local cell phone make sense? Has anyone done this and how much I(ball park) should one expect to have? I like the ability to call our hotels if plans change, etc., and setup transfers etc., but curious if I can do without and just go with the flow.
#2
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Helsinki
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 1,014
Instead of renting a cell phone, most people buy local SIM card (5 USD from normal shops, 10-20 USD at the airport) and use their own phones/buy the cheapest Chinese phone costing 15-20 USD. Is your phone simlocked? Does it support GSM 1900 technology? Do you speak basic Spanish? Only planning to call or also texting/using data?
You can buy local SIM (ask for Chip) for instance from 2nd floor of Saga Falabella&Ripley in Lima close to Parque Kennedy, many shops in Cuzco etc. There is also a Claro shop at Lima airport on 2nd floor but the chip is 10 USD more expensive.
When buying a chip, will need your original passport to be able to buy. The benefits of local SIM include with the correct tariff: being able to call to Peruvian numbers for less than 0.20 USD per minute, send SMS for 0.03 USD, buy data packages costing 0.40 USD per 10 MBs, cheaper calls to US than when using roaming etc.
For those not buying local chips, using phone booths instead of roaming is much cheaper. If anyone else has telecom-related questions, don't hesitate to ask (I worked in the sector in Peru)!
You can buy local SIM (ask for Chip) for instance from 2nd floor of Saga Falabella&Ripley in Lima close to Parque Kennedy, many shops in Cuzco etc. There is also a Claro shop at Lima airport on 2nd floor but the chip is 10 USD more expensive.
When buying a chip, will need your original passport to be able to buy. The benefits of local SIM include with the correct tariff: being able to call to Peruvian numbers for less than 0.20 USD per minute, send SMS for 0.03 USD, buy data packages costing 0.40 USD per 10 MBs, cheaper calls to US than when using roaming etc.
For those not buying local chips, using phone booths instead of roaming is much cheaper. If anyone else has telecom-related questions, don't hesitate to ask (I worked in the sector in Peru)!
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: SAN
Programs: DL SM, Marriot PLT, Tall guy in need of legroom
Posts: 1,478
Wowza, I have no freaking cllue what 99% of you said means. I own a Droid Pro on verizon and it does have a SIM Card, but no idea how to know if its locked or not. If I buy a SIm Card, then how would I be billed? Through verizon?
I'm looking for something that's going to cost me $30 US all in max....it's 5 days and being disconnected from life might not be a bad thing
I'm looking for something that's going to cost me $30 US all in max....it's 5 days and being disconnected from life might not be a bad thing
#4
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA Exec club, VS Flying Club, SPG, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 46
Personally I have always bought a local phone - as miikkak says it is very inexpensive and relatively easy to do. Even if you don't speak Spanish you could get by going to one of the many Claro shops in Lima or Cusco. However if you're trekking then I guess you won't have signal that much anyway? If it is just to potentially change plans then consider using the telephone boots...there are lots of them in most towns and cities and they are very economic - kind of like an internet cafe. It sounds like you are not going to use the phone much so this could be the cheapest option by far...
#5
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Helsinki
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 1,014
Wowza, I have no freaking cllue what 99% of you said means. I own a Droid Pro on verizon and it does have a SIM Card, but no idea how to know if its locked or not. If I buy a SIm Card, then how would I be billed? Through verizon?
I'm looking for something that's going to cost me $30 US all in max....it's 5 days and being disconnected from life might not be a bad thing
I'm looking for something that's going to cost me $30 US all in max....it's 5 days and being disconnected from life might not be a bad thing
Last edited by miikkak; Oct 30, 2012 at 1:56 pm
#7
Ambassador: Peru
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LIM Peru
Programs: LanPass Premium, AA (former gold), MileagePlus Silver
Posts: 764
#8
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Helsinki
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 1,014
It's much more expensive to rent a phone than buy a SIM or chinese phone outside the airport. Besides calls cost more than with local prepaid...
For those buying local SIMs, don't forget to ask that they activate tarifa unica nacional, also known as TUN. Otherwise calling is 400+% more expensive. This can be done via IVR.
For those buying local SIMs, don't forget to ask that they activate tarifa unica nacional, also known as TUN. Otherwise calling is 400+% more expensive. This can be done via IVR.
#9
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Flew over the Equator 55 times last 3 years
Programs: LANPASS Comodoro (Emerald), others
Posts: 2,957
Oooo, let me count the reasons..
you can't do text messaging (tho Miss Spandex will tell you that you can);
the phones are old and beat up, hard to read the screens;
the phones are old and break down and you have to wait at your hotel for them to deliver another one;
NO post problem customer service;
false promises;
they feel it is acceptable to molest 1000's of people daily just to make a buck;
their prices are crazy high especially as compared to alternatives;
etc.
you can't do text messaging (tho Miss Spandex will tell you that you can);
the phones are old and beat up, hard to read the screens;
the phones are old and break down and you have to wait at your hotel for them to deliver another one;
NO post problem customer service;
false promises;
they feel it is acceptable to molest 1000's of people daily just to make a buck;
their prices are crazy high especially as compared to alternatives;
etc.
#10
Ambassador: Peru
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: LIM Peru
Programs: LanPass Premium, AA (former gold), MileagePlus Silver
Posts: 764
#11
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: dca
Programs: Accor Platnium, Delta Platnium, United Silver, Marriott LT Titanium, HHonors Silver, Hertz PC
Posts: 343
OP: I have traveled to Lima with the Verizon Droid Pro many times, it works fine. You just need to call Verizon and turn on your intl capabilities before traveling.
Outgoing text cost .50 and incoming one cost .05. Voice calls are $2.89 per minute. I normally turn off the data and rely on wifi but if you need it you can roam data in Peru as well. You will get that text message saying $25 has been spent pretty quick through IME.
If your not going to be using it much, why go through all the trouble of renting phones or buying sim cards?
Outgoing text cost .50 and incoming one cost .05. Voice calls are $2.89 per minute. I normally turn off the data and rely on wifi but if you need it you can roam data in Peru as well. You will get that text message saying $25 has been spent pretty quick through IME.
If your not going to be using it much, why go through all the trouble of renting phones or buying sim cards?
#12
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Merritt Island, FL
Programs: AA EXP 4MM, SPG Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 447
OP: I have traveled to Lima with the Verizon Droid Pro many times, it works fine. You just need to call Verizon and turn on your intl capabilities before traveling.
Outgoing text cost .50 and incoming one cost .05. Voice calls are $2.89 per minute. I normally turn off the data and rely on wifi but if you need it you can roam data in Peru as well. You will get that text message saying $25 has been spent pretty quick through IME.
If your not going to be using it much, why go through all the trouble of renting phones or buying sim cards?
Outgoing text cost .50 and incoming one cost .05. Voice calls are $2.89 per minute. I normally turn off the data and rely on wifi but if you need it you can roam data in Peru as well. You will get that text message saying $25 has been spent pretty quick through IME.
If your not going to be using it much, why go through all the trouble of renting phones or buying sim cards?