Buying a local SIM in Peru has gotten difficult for tourists since 2024 — official Claro, Movistar, and Entel stores require a Peruvian national ID and biometric fingerprint registration to issue a prepaid line, which most foreign visitors can't satisfy. Lima airport kiosks are tourist-priced (often 3–4× city rates), and street-vendor SIMs are registered under someone else's name, which creates renewal and refund problems later. An eSIM installed before you fly avoids all of this — connection works the moment your plane lands.