I saw a guy selling them in front of the main entrance to the Retiro Train station. I do not know if the sell every day. I saw one guy on Correnties one time.
But you can buy one at any Phone service provider for about 20p or so.
Bring your passport.
I use Movistar, no problems.
[QUOTE=Gato Hunter]Can anyone elaborate on this? Corrientes and Retiro are big areas to search.
I just need a sim, and I am not picky on the provider.[/QUOTE]
Personel sells the chips at 7 pesos and you can buy time time cheaper than anywhere else. You can also reactivate your chip if it is registered under your passport number. Eg you retuen to BA 4 months later. Personal will reactivate.
The chip when you show them your passport.
I purchaed a chip from a phone store and it was registerred under someone else's name. When it was turned off for lack of use, I could not turn it back on. I lost the money on the account and the chip was toast.
GO to the tel carrier's main stores. If you are in bario norte or recoleta: callao.
Between santa fe why Marcelo T. My experience is that movistar has slightly better coverage, but personal and movitar are quite simular
Thanks for the info.
I read your post Bob, and thats actually what I tried to do but my spanish sucks and stuff and the girl kept asking me for a DNI. I think.
I will get it worked out in the morning.
There 2 guys who speak enough english to do a transaction in english at the personal office that I am recomending. They work upstairs in the management offices and will come down to help you if requested.
I carry reduced size photocopies of my passport in my wallet. 75% of the time the copies will work just fine in BA. Personal accepts photocopies, no problem.
Wait on the line by the door. When it is your turn--say some like "Ingles, por favor".
--english, please. Chip is the argentine term for a sim card. Chip nuevo. Pago con cajetas--pay with cards. You can do it! Bring cash in pesos. Personal will not accept a foreign credit card. Buy up to 99 pesos in time and receive free bonuses of extra credit. The end of may, my 99 pesos purchase yieded 156 pesos worth of time. This was enough to do more than two weeks worth of heavy cel phone use. You also get bonuses on buying smaller amounts of time directly from them at their store.
The customer service people will check that your phone is unblocked and works with the chip. Have the customer service rep write down how much time you want to buy. You pay for everything at the cashiers just below street level. La caja.
This is easier than buying a chip on the street
[QUOTE=Miami Bob] Pago con cajetas--pay with cards.
This is easier than buying a chip on the street[/QUOTE]The correct word is tarjeta - Cajeta is another slang word for pussy;)
[QUOTE=Aqualung]The correct word is tarjeta - Cajeta is another slang word for pussy;)[/QUOTE]Makes sense, since in English "box" is also slang for pussy;)
[QUOTE=Seaman]Makes sense, since in English "box" is also slang for pussy;)[/QUOTE]But box would be cajIta this is cajEta. I'll have to investigate into this word!
Hmm. That shows off my Spanish knowledge I guess;)
Tarjeta, now I know!
I got a card and its working. I took a few spanish speaking friends with me today and got it worked out.
It was 20 pesos, with 10 pesos of credit. Thru Personal.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
Happy Mongering
This may not be news to some, its new to me.
Some kioskos have a feature that you can give them your phone number and they will recharge your phone. Saves you from buying a card and scratching / calling etc. Its very quick.
The 25 HRS place at cordoba y cerritos is one that has this.
I am using Personal.
You also get a better deal. Using this electronic system you pay 20 pesos and you get 24 pesos credit.
When you use skype to call a landline phone, use the 54 Argentina prefix, then 11 and the 8 digit code. 54 11 4444 4444.
Jes
[QUOTE=Jes1959]When you use skype to call a landline phone, use the 54 Argentina prefix, then 11 and the 8 digit code. 54 11 4444 4444.
Jes[/QUOTE]When calling a cellphone, make sure you use 911 in place of 11.
MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Wireless carrier NII Holdings Inc. (NIHD) and Research In Motion (RIMM) said Monday they will sell the Blackberry Curve 8350i smartphone in four Latin American countries starting in the first quarter of next year.
In a joint press release, the two companies said the smartphone, which includes push-to-talk service and Wi-Fi capability, will be made available through NII Holdings' operations in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.
NII Holdings, which operates in five Latin American countries, reported just over 5.8 million subscribers at the end of September.
NII Holdings competes with larger mobile operators in the region, including America Movil SAB (AMX) which has rolled out Apple Inc's (APPL) iPhone in recent months, Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF) and Telecom Italia (IT)