Buenos Aires Guide - part 2: The hunt for a SIM in Buenos Aires

After getting from the airport, locating our hostel, showering, and refreshing, we set out to find a SIM card with internet. In my research, I learned that you need to activate the SIM card in Argentina.

The online process is said to be a bit annoying since the site is not intuitive and difficult to navigate on a phone. It also takes time, as a real person reviews the application. Alternatively, visit a Claro (phone service provider in Argentina) location in person with your passport, and the activation takes just a few minutes.

Funny story: We landed in the middle of the night and were too early, so we waited in a nearby café. It was our first shock—avocado toast was 12000 ARP, and coffee was 4000 ARP. We thought it was just a pricey café. We could not been more wrong, turns out, things just got very expensive very quickly.

At 9:05, we entered the Claro shop and left a few seconds later. The security guide (likely annoyed) told us we needed the physical SIM card, which they didn’t sell. We found a kiosk with a Claro sticker and bought two SIM cards. (Buenos Aires has kiosks everywhere, but they vanish when you need one!)

We returned to Claro, activated our SIM cards smoothly, and purchased a 1-month bundle with about 8 GB. Compared to Central European costs, it was crazy cheap.

Funny story: We planned to stay for 2 months and thought, "We'll just buy another bundle when needed." Fast forward 30 days, we were in the middle of nowhere, traveling from Chile. Not the best time to run out of internet. I tried buying more GB online from Claro, but none of our cards worked... apparently, you need an Argentine credit card to top up. Thankfully, I discovered Ding, which lets you add credits to almost any SIM Card. You’ll need the provider’s app or an account online to buy the internet packs with new money you top up using Ding, so do this beforehand!

Troubleshooting the Claro SIM Card

For my boyfriend, his SIM card worked immediately after restarting his phone (Google Pixel). Mine didn’t - no internet (Doggee). I had to create a new APN (Settings -> Cellular networks -> Access Point Names, or similar depending on your OS). Oddly, an APN was already there, but adding another identical one and selecting it worked. I found a similar solution later on Reddit here.