Helpful information
In order to provide you a better assistance while you attend the Congress, in Santiago Chile; we have set different important points that you must be aware or will be useful for you to prepare your travel to Chile:
GENERAL INFORMATION
Country: Chile
Capital: Santiago
Area: 15.403 km2
Language: Spanish
Population in Chile: 16.134.219 habitantes
Population in Santiago: 6.3 millones de habitantes.
TRAVEL TO AND FROM SANTIAGO, CHILE
Participants should make their own travel arrangements to and from Santiago. It is advisable to confirm your return trip on arriving to Santiago in order to ensure your flight on the date required.
AIRPORT AND CUSTOMS
Citizens from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador can travel to Chile with their national identity card, but citizens from other countries need a valid passport. A visa is required to enter Chile for a stay of 30-90 days, check the list and see if your country needs a visa to enter Chile (List of countries that require visa). For more information: www.minrel.gov.cl or www.aeropuertosantiago.cl.
LIST OF COUNTRIES THAT REQUIRE VISA
| Afghanistan | Eritrea | Maldives | Saudi Arabia |
| Albania | Ethiopia | Malí | Senegal |
| Algeria | Fiji | Marshall Islands | Seychelles |
| Armenia | Gabon | Mauritania | Sierra Leone |
| Azerbaijan | Georgia | Micronesia | Solomon Islands |
| Bahrain | Ghana | Moldova | Somalia |
| Bangladesh | Guinea | Mongolia | Sri Lanka |
| Benin | Guinea-Bissau | Morocco | Sudan |
| Bhutan | Guyana | Mozambique | Swaziland |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | India | Myanmar | Syria |
| Botswana | Irak | Namibia | Tajikistan |
| Brunei | Iran | Nauru | Tanzania |
| Burkina Faso | Jordan | Nepal | The Gambia |
| Burundi | Kazakhstan | Nicaragua | Togo |
| Cambodia | Kenya | Niger | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Cameroon | Kiribati | Nigeria | Tunisia |
| Cape Verde | Kuwait | Oman | Turkmenistan |
| Central African Republic | Kyrgyzstan | Pakistan | Tuvalu |
| Chad | Laos | Palau | Uganda |
| China | Latvia | Papua New Guinea | Ukraine |
| Comoros | Lebanon | Philippines | United Arab Emirates |
| Congo | Lesotho | Qatar | Uzbekistan |
| Cote D'Ivoire | Liberia | Romania | Vanuatu |
| Cuba | Lybia | Russia | Vietnam |
| Djibouti | Macedonia | Rwanda | Yemen |
| Dominica | Madagascar | Samoa | Zambia |
| Ecuatorial Guinea | Malawi | São Tome and Principe | Zimbabwe |
| Egypt | |||
Remember that not every country in the world have a Chilean Consulate, only the countries that have diplomatic relationships with Chile have this consulates, if you are from a country where there is no Chilean Consulate you must travel to a near country that have a Chilean consulate and there make the Visa procedures.
Due to a reciprocity system, the Chilean Government levies special tax which has to be paid in cash (American dollars) when entering the country before immigration officer. Participants holding passports from the following countries have to pay taxes before entering the country: Australia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico.
CUSTOMS
International travellers must clear customs upon entrance. Electronic articles such as video cameras, personal computers and others have to be declared on arrival to Chile as ¨temporal entrance objects¨.
Foreign tourists do not usually have any customs problems when travelling with their personal
belongings only, but are not allowed to carry:
Fruits, vegetables, seeds or unprocessed goods of animal origin.
Firearms, ammunition or explosives.
Illegal drugs.
SANITARY CONTROLS
Animal products and vegetables can only be allowed to enter the country with prior authorization from the Agricultural and Cattle Raiser Service of Chile (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero de Chile).
MONEY
Chilean currency is the peso. Notes are of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 pesos. Coins are of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 pesos.
USE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY
Cash in foreign currency is not generally accepted, except at some hotels which offer discounts on taxes for foreigners paying in cash with US dollars.
CREDIT CARDS
Credit cards are widely accepted including Visa, Master Card, Diners Club and American Express.
CHANGE
As not every shop or commercial locals accept foreign currency, we recommend you to exchange currency in banks or money exchanges houses. You will find these exchanges houses in the Santiago Airport, around your Hotel or near of the Congress Venue in Ahumada and Huérfanos streets. We also highly recommend you to not exchange currency with natural people on the streets or late in the afternoon, except if this is done in the exchange houses of commercial malls like Mall Parque Arauco or Mall Alto Las Condes. Nowadays, the exchange rate is USD 1.00 = $ 468.35 Chilean pesos (May, 6th. 2011. Source; Banco Central de Chile www.bcentral.cl ).
AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINES (ATM)
It is easy to find automatic teller machines (Redbanc), which dispense Chilean pesos. They can be found in commercial areas and many gas stations.
These 24-hour cash machines accept local bank cards as well as banking cards in financial networks such as Cirrus, Plus, and Maestro.
TAXES AND TIPS
Value-added Tax (VAT) is 19% and is normally included in the price. It is usual to leave 10% of the amount of the service in Cafeterias and Restaurants, and to tip valet services. Tips to taxi drivers are not mandatory.
CAR RENTAL
Te rent a car for a week can cost you $250.000 CLP or US$470 aprox. Most car rentals lease vehicles for hours, days and weeks. Rental prerequisites include: possession of a valid driver's license, over 21 years of age, and submission of credit card for security deposit. Several of the major car rental companies operate in Chile, at the Airport you can find stands from Avis, Budget or Herz.
TAXIS
Taxis are distinguishable by their black bodies and yellow roofs. All legitimate taxis have registration numbers and taxi meters. The cost of a trip is $200 (US$ 0.37 aprox.) for the first 100 meters and $80 (US$ 0.17 aprox.) during the day and $90 (US$ 0.19 approximately) at night, for each additional 200 meters. Smoking is prohibited in all public transportation vehicles.
PUBLIC BUSES (MICROS)
In Santiago, this buses are white and they have a green stripe on both sides. The ride costs $380 CLP or US$0.71, (paid with "bip" card) you have the option of switching buses in a period of an hour and a half without any cost extra. For more information: http://www.transantiagoinforma.cl or http://www.metrosantiago.cl
The Metro system runs: On week days - From 6:30 AM to 10:00 PM
The Metro system fee are:
| De 6:00 AM a 6:29 AM | $ 430 (US$ 0.7) |
| De 6: 30 AM a 6:59 AM | $ 450 (US$ 0.7) |
| De 7:00 AM a 8:59 AM | $ 510 (US$ 0.8) |
| De 9:00 AM a 6:00 PM | $ 450 (US$ 0.7) |
| De 6:00 PM a 7:59 PM | $ 510 (US$ 0.8) |
| De 8:00 PM a 8:44 PM | $ 450 (US$ 0.7) |
| De 8:45 PM a 11:00 PM | $ 430 (US$ 0.7) |
INTERNET
Most hotels offer Internet services on their business centers. Also one may check email accounts or surf the Internet from the many Cyber cafes in the city.
CELLULAR PHONES
Cell Phones can be rented at the Business Center of hotels.
INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE CALLS
Chile has one of the most modern telecommunications networks in the world. This system has been completely digitized for several years.
International phone calls from Chile are cheap and the service efficient. All of the downtown malls have calling centers where one may obtain information about telephone services, make phone calls, including collect calls, purchase prepaid calling cards, and select a carrier.
NATIONAL TELEPHONE CALLS
There is a complete distribution of public phones around the city, to use them we suggest you to buy a phone card or to have with you coins of $100. If you want to call a cell phone from one of these public phones, the minute will cost you $200, the same as if you want to call long distance within the country.
WEATHER
Santiago enjoys a moderate climate. However, between September is spring season, with temperatures around 26ºC or 78.8ºF low rainfall.
CLOTHES
We suggest you to bring spring clothe September is a month of medium temperatures, we recommend you to bring jacket for afternoons and formal clothes to the Congress.
COMMON OPENING HOURS
In general, commercial malls, restaurants, public offices and public transportation have the following working hours:
| BANKS | Mon to Fri: | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM |
| COMMERCIAL MALLS | Mon to Sun: | 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM |
| SUPERMARKETS | Mon to Sun: | 8:30 AM - 10:00 PM |
| SHOPS | Mon to Sat : | 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM |
DIETARY REQUIREMENTS
Vegetarian meals as well as other dietary requirements can be obtained upon request.
HEALTH
It is recommended that visitors get their own medical insurance program to cover those expenses during their stay.
TIME ZONE
Chilean Continental standard time corresponds to the time zone UTC-4:00 (Universal Time Coordinate; formerly, Greenwich Mean Time). Chile uses a 24-hour military clock (e.g. 3:00 PM is 15:00 hours). Chile uses the European format for noting dates (Day, Month, Year, e.g. 19 November 1997 is 19-11-1997).
UNITS
In Chile, the metric system and the Celsius scale are used.
ELECTRICITY
Electrical voltage in Chile is 220 volts, 50 cycles (220V 50 Hz). All electronic devices designed for 110V require a transformer. All portable appliances, including portable computers, usually have transformers of high voltage (110V-240V) which are adaptable to the Chilean electrical system. Some hotels have 110V lines.
WATER
In general, Santiago's drinking water is completely safe for ingestion. For people who are generally more susceptible to changes in their environments, we suggest drinking only bottled mineral water (you can choose between spring or mineral water) during your first days in Chile. Mineral water is commonly found in supermarkets, corner stores and restaurants.
FOOD SAFETY
Eating raw vegetables is not recommended, especially those that grow at ground level (e.g.: lettuce, carrots, berries, etc.), unless you buy them at established supermarkets, as they can vouch for the origin of their products.
PERSONAL SAFETY
Although Santiago is a safe city for foreigners, we recommend that you pay attention to your personal belongings and try not to walk alone at night, or too far away from where you are staying.
