Santiago eSIM

Landing at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (SCL)

Airport

SCL / SCEL

Distance

15 km from the centre of Santiago

Getting into Santiago

• Centropuerto airport bus, SCL to Metro Republica via Intermodal Pajaritos and Terminal Sur (SCL), about 48 minutes

Underground and on the metro

Metro de Santiago runs 7 lines. It opened in 1975. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.

Worth knowing about Santiago

• No rail line reaches the airport. Centropuerto buses leave every 15 minutes, every day, and hand you to the metro network at Intermodal Pajaritos or Metro Republica; the one-way fare is CLP 2,400 and the return CLP 4,100.
• Chile made prepaid mobile registration mandatory from 20 August 2026: every prepaid line must be tied to a named holder, with operators recording name, address and national ID (cedula de identidad) or passport number, so buying a local prepaid SIM now involves identity verification.
• Metro de Santiago runs seven line designations in service (1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5 and 6) across 143 stations; lines 7, 8, 9 and A appear on the operator's site only under "Nuevos Proyectos" and are not yet open.
• Santiago airport's Wi-Fi is free with no usage limit. The connection drops every 30 minutes, and you simply reconnect to carry on browsing.
• Every arriving passenger over 18 must file the SAG sworn declaration on plant and animal products. At Santiago it can be completed on a phone at sagingresoachile.cl or through a QR code posted in the airport, so have data or Wi-Fi ready.
• After the SAG and customs checks, a blue arrow on the floor leads to the airport's official transport counters. There you book a basic or tourist taxi, a transfer or a bus before stepping into the public hall, away from unlicensed drivers.
• The airport names two official bus operators, Centropuerto and TurBus. TurBus leaves the CIR transport centre on level 1 for Terminal Alameda every 10 to 15 minutes, daily from 05:30 to midnight.
• Metro de Santiago opens at 06:00 on weekdays, 06:30 on Saturdays and 07:30 on Sundays and holidays, and closes at 23:00. Enter near closing time and some connecting lines may already have stopped running.
• Weekday Metro fares follow the clock: the peak band covers 07:00 to 08:59 and 18:00 to 19:59, and the cheapest band applies from 06:00 to 06:59 and from 20:45 to closing.
• One fare covers up to two transfers in the same direction within two hours of your first tap, across Red buses and the Metro, as long as you do not ride the same bus route twice.
• A bip! card costs CLP 1,550 at Metro ticket offices, not counting the first top-up, which must be at least CLP 750. The card is the standard ticket for Red buses, the Metro and Tren Nos.
• Visa and Mastercard debit, credit and prepaid cards, plus Google Pay, Apple Pay and some watches, open Metro and Tren Nos gates with no registration. Red buses do not take them yet, and student and senior discounts do not apply.
• Bank card rides are not charged instantly: the next night you see one combined charge labelled Red Movilidad Santiago. Mastercard users may notice a temporary CLP 700 hold, and every leg of one trip must use the same card or wallet.
• On Red buses you pay with a bip! card or a QR code generated in apps such as Red or Mercado Pago. Only QR fares paid through the Red or BancoEstado apps count toward the CLP 39,000 monthly spending cap.

Sources for this page

• en.wikipedia.org
• centropuerto.cl
• en.wikipedia.org
• metro.cl
• subtel.gob.cl
• nuevopudahuel.cl
• nuevopudahuel.cl
• nuevopudahuel.cl
• nuevopudahuel.cl
• turbus.cl
• metro.cl
• red.cl
• metro.cl

Other cities in Chile we cover

Valparaiso

103 km from Santiago, nearest airport SCL

Atacama

1005 km from Santiago