How to Ask for a SIM Card in Spanish While Traveling

¡Hola amigos! I'm Hannah from Speak Better Spanish. Today I'm going to be talking about how to get a SIM card for your phone in a Spanish-speaking country. So, what you're going to need to do first is to figure out what company is prevalent in the country where you're visiting. For example, in Mexico, Telcel is most likely the predominant provider. You'll be able to get SIM cards at almost anywhere: gas stations, convenience stores, random stores in small towns. A lot of times you'll see a little logo for the particular company, and this goes for most countries.

So, you'll go into the shop and you will ask for a chip. So, in Spanish, it's usually called a chip, the SIM card. So, we're going to say, hola, ¿venden tarjeta chip de, for example, the brand, for example, Telcel? Entonces, hola, ¿aquí venden la tarjeta chip de Telcel? Probably they're going to say, sí. Ah, muy bien, uno, por favor. Okay, one, please. Now, I ran into this issue when I was in El Salvador where they asked me for my identification. "¿Tienes identificación?" "Do you have identification?" They used some name for the local identification within that country.

And I said, "¿Es identificación?" And they said, "Sí." And I said, "Tengo una foto de mi pasaporte. ¿Está bien?" And they said, "No creo que con pasaporte se puede." "I don't think you can with just your passport." And I said, "Entonces, ¿cómo los extranjeros consiguen tarjeta SIM?" And I said, "So then how do foreigners get a SIM card if you can't do it with just a passport?" And they said, "Oh, ¿cuál compañía tienes actualmente?" "So, what company are you currently using?" And I said, "Telcel es una compañía de México." Okay, okay, un momento.

So, yeah, just give us a minute. Yeah, sure enough, they gave it to me. They didn't even ask for the picture of my passport. But keep in mind that in a lot of countries you will need to show identification. A lot of times they won't actually take a photo of your passport. So make sure that you have it with you if you're trying to get that local SIM card. And remember, it's called "un chip." Or you can also say, "Tarjeta SIM." "Tarjeta chip." Something along those lines. We'll be sure to get your message across.

Once you've got the SIM card, you'll want to install it in your phone. Make sure it's working and it's activated. "¿Está activado?" Is it activated? And you're going to need to add some money onto it. Because most of the time it doesn't come with any type of plan. So we're going to want a prepaid plan. That's normally what they're going to offer you anyway. So you can say, "¿Se puede recargar?" "Can I recharge it?" "Or can I put some data on it?" "¿Cuáles planes tienen?" And a lot of times it will be based on time.

Plans for a day, a couple of days, a week, a month, two weeks, things like that. So depending on how long you're going to be there for. "¿Cuáles planes tienen para dos semanas?" "Which plans do you have with a duration of two weeks?" For example. And they'll tell you it's usually going to be, you know, a very small amount of money. Make sure you have cash because a lot of times these places won't take card. And check and make sure how much data you have. And also make sure it works before you leave the store.

So I hope that was helpful for you guys. I know sometimes navigating these types of situations in Spanish-speaking countries can be difficult. Not only knowing the right vocabulary, but just kind of knowing how things work. I've found that a lot of times if I insist in a polite and respectful way, like when I said, "Entonces, ¿cómo los extranjeros consiguen los chips?" then they were responsive and willing to help me. If not, you can always try finding another store and work with them. In this particular instance it was very early in the morning and there weren't a lot of stores open.

So I got lucky they were willing to help me out. And of course I was made sure to thank them very much. Muchas gracias por toda la ayuda. Que tengan buen día. Thanks so much for all your help. Have a great day. Well guys, if you liked this video, be sure to subscribe below. It's free, costs you nothing, and keeps you in the loop for all my future videos. Have a great day. Adiós.