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Originally Posted by reemo
"I Hi West.
About the cell phone, was the $9.99 the rental fee for the whole 11 days? Do I understand then that the other $62 was for the actual calls?
Thanks. | Yes! $9.99 was for the whole trip. If you stay for 2 weeks and keep the phone only for emergencies but don't use it at all, I understand the total charge would be $9.99.
This a very well developed phone service. When you arrive at international baggage pickup after landing and you are waiting for your bags, there are 2 very convenient services. One is a working ATM that dispensed soles or dollars at a reasonable exchange rate and fee, the other is the cell phone rental stand. In my case I arrived at 11PM and the phone stand was staffed by two chicas. They were helpful. I understand that this stand is staffed 24 hours.
Again I used the phone liberally for calls within Lima and to Panama, US and CR. My spanish is limited and it was very helpful to have a phone for directions and the sort. If the cab didn't know direction to my destination I'd call the destination and hand the driver the phone. In fact when I was traveling alone, I did this also as a sort of security blanket even if the driver seemed to know the directions. I'd ask the driver his name (all drivers were hombres) and then call the destination and hello this is Sam and her is my taxi driver Juan please give him directions. Also if you have a date, the phones are very helpful in synching up for arrival times and locations.
When you arrive at the airport to return to the states, you go to the 2nd floor and as you get off the escalator there is a booth to turn in your rental phone. I exchanged phone numbers liberally throughout the trip, at times simply entering the number in my rental phone. When I paid the bill they handed me a printed phone log with each call made. This was handy because I now have a list of all numbers called. I am now selling these numbers to recoup the cost of the rental phone. 
Seriously, if there are others who know of the other option where you buy the phone and own it and then use prepaid cards. I would like to learn about this as I might try this on my next trip. Personally I will always buy or rent a phone when I visit Peru.
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RT here. I think that this is a very important discussion -- having a means of communication while you're away is crucial. For mongering purposes (and giving family back home some way to get in touch), a local phone works best for me.
I don't like using my US phone for a few reasons:
1. Cost - I got killed the one time I did that.
2. You can't give the number to locals and expect anyone to call you back.
Aside from Westwind's reasons above (directions, meeting up with dates), I find that having a local phone offers an impression of 'permanence' that scores very high with the girls -- much more so than any 'game' that ever came out of my mouth. They are just happy when you have a local number.
For a one-time visit, renting a phone at the airport is easy, foolproof, and pretty cost effective. For multiple trips, buying a prepaid phone works better for me.
Just last week, Claro (the largest provider in Lima) had a perfectly good phone (with a SIM card) for 99 Soles ($31). It comes with a few minutes pre-loaded, but nothing to speak of. I managed to get through 10 days in Lima on two 30 Sol phone cards (about $10 each) and had some time left over, for a total cost of $50. That's about the same as a rental will cost you, but next trip, all I will need is the phone cards -- I already have the phone.
There are Claro stores all throught Miraflores and San Isidro (and I presume, everywhere), and all the malls, supermarkets and department stores had kiosks as well.
The other large provider is Telephonica. They have the same deals more or less, so it could just boil down to who has the better phone deal the day that you're shopping.