Prepaid SIM for Europe

[wanaberetiree]

You pretty much have to buy country SIMs in Europe. Don’t trust online sellers in the US.

Activating it at pint of sale is the best time to do it, and the salesperson can probably do it for you and help with any confusion.

The biggest deal is finding the pint of sale that has the plan you want. You can usually work this out ahead of time by doing research online.

My concern is that I probably need to get it at airport as I need to use phone GPS. Will see if this is feasible.

I assume inserting a new SIM won't do anything to my iPhone ?

 

[audreyh1]

My concern is that I probably need to get it at airport as I need to use phone GPS. Will see if this is feasible.

I assume inserting a new SIM won't do anything to my iPhone ?

Personally I haven't had luck getting a SIM at an airport that was an acceptable plan for me. I think other people have.

 

[Chuckanut]

I'm wondering if $27 includes two lines or is for one.

One line. I don’t need more than one. Also does the 2 For $60 deal include the overseas calling plan?

 

[audreyh1]

One line. I don’t need more than one. Also does the 2 For $60 deal include the overseas calling plan?

Yes.

And it covers Mexico, Canada same as the US coverage.

It also includes all taxes and fees. So you don't pay more than $60.

I didn't realize this but the plan even has Stateside International text feature which lets you "send and receive unlimited text messages to ANY country in the world where texting is available (except St. Helena and Wallis & Futuna)"

https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-36092#firstheading

We kept our current plans which have LTE speeds on tethering in North America, and twice the data speed overseas for an additional $10 per line. We use tethering pretty heavily when traveling.

 

[jwkr]

I am a Brit so I just thought I would just add some suggestions here.

The EU has done away with 'roaming' costs across the EU see this BBC report. Interoperability across EU countries seems to be almost a solved problem .

This rate cap is working very effectively as I often use my mobile in The Netherlands, France and Spain (as well as the UK) without changing SIM.

I use a 'Three' 3:2:1 Sim when travelling (see rates here ). You can pick this SIM up in most supermarkets in the UK (probably 99p).

As an alternative DW has a rolling 30 day plan with idMobile (see here) at £3-99 month

There is really no need to buy new sims in each EU country now (it was a pain in Spain).

Also I use a dual sim mobile with a backup network (O2).

Other networks and operators are available!

 

[MichaelB]

I am a Brit so I just thought I would just add some suggestions here.

The EU has done away with 'roaming' costs across the EU see this BBC report. Interoperability across EU countries seems to be almost a solved problem .

This rate cap is working very effectively as I often use my mobile in The Netherlands, France and Spain (as well as the UK) without changing SIM.

I use a 'Three' 3:2:1 Sim when travelling (see rates here ). You can pick this SIM up in most supermarkets in the UK (probably 99p).

As an alternative DW has a rolling 30 day plan with idMobile (see here) at £3-99 month

There is really no need to buy new sims in each EU country now (it was a pain in Spain).

Also I use a dual sim mobile with a backup network (O2).

Other networks and operators are available!

Thanks for that info, JWKR. Not sure what the record is for time between registering as a forum member and the first post, but it's safe to say you're close to it. Belated welcome aboard.

 

[Chuckanut]

Yes.

And it covers Mexico, Canada same as the US coverage.

It also includes all taxes and fees. So you don't pay more than $60.

Indeed! That is a good deal for two phones
Thank you for the information.

Alas, I have only one phone, but maybe I should contact T-Mobile again and see if they will do a deal for me like that for say... $30 a month. Given that over 1/2 the adult population is single they are writing off a very large chunk of the market.

 

[explanade]

First of all it really depends on how much data you want to use.

I often go for as much data as I can get because I find that hotels can have really slow wifi, whether it's a small family-run hotel or part of a big chain. So if you're used to streaming video, updating apps. and downloading podcasts like you do at home, you may find Wifi isn't enough.

So to get several gigs of data to use within a month, you have to get local SIM cards.

I have T-Mobile as well, which is good for light browsing, email and some Google Maps. It's very useful abroad but some people may find T-Mobile coverage lacking when they're at home so you have to make sure T-Mobile is right for you for all cases.

I used Roam Like at Home last summer in Europe, the first time there was cost-free roaming. I used a SIM in Spain and I drove across to France with it and it went from 4G to 3G. Acceptable speeds but it was a fraction of the speed.

I also had a SIM in Austria and when I drove to Germany, the speeds again went to 3G. So apparently the carriers are making sure RLAH isn't the same experience once you cross borders.

Hope that changes, because the RLAH program is meant to emulate the national networks we have here in the US, where if you travel say 100 miles, you're crossing into another state but in Europe, you cross into another country.

For the OP, he can look into the prepaid offers in each country and buy the one that gives him the best deal. You can see what is available for each country here:

Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

I definitely recall that German prepaid offers were NOT as strong as prepaid deals in neighboring Austria. I think Czech Republic may have best deals but then again, you may want a SIM at the start of your trip.

I've never used Vodafone SIM but I know they have some kind of roaming deal in all their countries so that might be a good choice.

 

[braumeister]

Back when I was buying individual country SIMs, I would research in advance which carriers had the best networks for the areas I would be traveling in. Not hard to find that info online. By doing that, I was never disappointed.

Another thing I did was to wait until I got into a city before finding a place to buy a SIM. Airport shops tend to be kind of sketchy at times. Just buy one and activate it right there with the clerk standing by in case of difficulty.

 

[NoiseBoy]

Indeed! That is a good deal for two phones
Thank you for the information.

Alas, I have only one phone, but maybe I should contact T-Mobile again and see if they will do a deal for me like that for say... $30 a month. Given that over 1/2 the adult population is single they are writing off a very large chunk of the market.

I am single, and I recently switched to Project Fi because of their low base cost of $20 + $10 per Gb, and their international coverage. There are two main downsides to making the switch; one is that they don't support iPhones at all, and two is that the phones they do support are limited and expensive. For me, adding the cost of buying a Pixel 2 in 24 monthly payments to my Project Fi bill is still less than what I was paying on AT&T. Once I pay off the Pixel 2 (not worth the money IMHO), I expect my monthly bill to be less than $30.

For T-mobile users, do you get 4G speeds internationally? When I used it in London a few years ago, it worked well, but was only 3G.

 

[audreyh1]

We haven’t needed high speed data overseas. Usually the hotel WiFi is just fine and often reasonably high speed. We don’t stream stuff when traveling overseas as our days are usually way too full for us to watch anything.

I’ve even been able to FaceTime from my phone when away from WiFi which I think is pretty amazing. We were riding a tram between The Hague and Delft so outside of town, and my brother called me and we got video and everything.

When we’re out runnng around, emails, google maps, and some limited web searches and browsing is usually all we need.

There is a high speed data pass but I’ve never needed it.

 

[audreyh1]

I am single, and I recently switched to Project Fi because of their low base cost of $20 + $10 per Gb, and their international coverage. There are two main downsides to making the switch; one is that they don't support iPhones at all, and two is that the phones they do support are limited and expensive. For me, adding the cost of buying a Pixel 2 in 24 monthly payments to my Project Fi bill is still less than what I was paying on AT&T. Once I pay off the Pixel 2 (not worth the money IMHO), I expect my monthly bill to be less than $30.

For T-mobile users, do you get 4G speeds internationally? When I used it in London a few years ago, it worked well, but was only 3G.

I see LTE often and usually 4G. I think in a city there often isn’t a slow speed data network, so it defaults to a higher speed.

 

[sengsational]

I've always just bought a SIM at the airport for my "travel phone", which is a Moto-E dual SIM, European cell radio. Usually the SIM is $15 and includes 2GB, some voice, some texts. I only use the data because I bring my US phone and connect through the wifi hotspot on the travel phone.

I always have the SIM seller get the phone working before I leave.

Once I connect to the travel phone's hotspot, everything works as if I were in the US.

But, the last time I had a snag in that the SIM would not allow connections to the Internet through the wifi hotspot. So I had to fumble around using the travel phone's smaller screen. Next time I'm going to load both PDANet and FoxFi in case they have hotspot blocked.

 

[wanaberetiree]

I've always just bought a SIM at the airport for my "travel phone", which is a Moto-E dual SIM, European cell radio. Usually the SIM is $15 and includes 2GB, some voice, some texts. I only use the data because I bring my US phone and connect through the wifi hotspot on the travel phone.

I always have the SIM seller get the phone working before I leave.

Once I connect to the travel phone's hotspot, everything works as if I were in the US.

But, the last time I had a snag in that the SIM would not allow connections to the Internet through the wifi hotspot. So I had to fumble around using the travel phone's smaller screen. Next time I'm going to load both PDANet and FoxFi in case they have hotspot blocked.

That's very useful, thx !
Why do you use your "travel phone" ? Should I expect any troubles using my "normal" phone?

BTW I unlocked it and got a email from ATT to confirm that. How do I independently confirm that, you know ?

 

[wanaberetiree]

I use a 'Three' 3:2:1 Sim when travelling (see rates here ). You can pick this SIM up in most supermarkets in the UK (probably 99p).

Thanks!
Are 'Three' 3:2:1 SIMs available only in UK? No online options?

 

[KB]

Alas, I have only one phone, but maybe I should contact T-Mobile again and see if they will do a deal for me like that for say... $30 a month. Given that over 1/2 the adult population is single they are writing off a very large chunk of the market.

I'm in the same situation, as well. Please let us know if they do offer anything for 55+ singles...

 

[sengsational]

That's very useful, thx !
Why do you use your "travel phone" ? Should I expect any troubles using my "normal" phone?

BTW I unlocked it and got a email from ATT to confirm that. How do I independently confirm that, you know ?

My regular phone's cell radio matches US frequencies. The radio in the travel phone matches European frequencies; my regular phone simply could not possibly work over there.

It wasn't easy for me to figure out what "flavor" of Moto-E to buy, since they are sold with different cell radios. So figuring out if your current phone will work and how well it will work might be tedious. First, you find out what frequencies it's capable of using. Then you look up the country-carrier options and see if you have a match. Some country-carriers have several frequencies they serve, but speeds and coverage may vary considerably. I'm no expert, but fumbled my way through it, investing several hours of research back when I bought the travel phone. That phone has served me well for several years, but there might be a better/cheaper option now.

No experience with verifying unlock status, but maybe you could buy a cheap prepaid SIM here in the US and see if it works.

 

[explanade]

iPhones have most of the LTE bands used in the rest of the world.

 

[Chuckanut]

I walked into the local T-Mobile store and asked what the equivalent program of 2 for $60 would be for one person - $55. !!!!!!!!! I also got to wondering what future deals I might not be eligible for.

Well.... TM can keep its phone service and I will keep my money.

Ting costs me less than $30 a month. I’ll just buy a SIM card overseas. I can buy a lot of SIM cards for what TM wants to charge me.

 

[gerntz]

Now with T-Mobile there's no longer any need to even think about it.

That's where we are too.

 

[NoiseBoy]

Ting costs me less than $30 a month. I’ll just buy a SIM card overseas. I can buy a lot of SIM cards for what TM wants to charge me.

Google Project Fi just switched their model from prepaying for data, to post-paying for only what you use. Their base rate is $20 + taxes & fees and then add $10 per gigabyte. However, if you only use 250Mb of data, then you only pay $2.50, so depending on how much data you use, Project Fi can end up being cheaper than Ting.

Now here is the catch, Project Fi only supports a handful of phones, most of which are in the flagship class. You can save some money by buying an older model, such as the Pixel 1, but you're still looking at spending about $350 to buy a phone that will work on their network. In my case, the plan savings offset the cost of the new phone, but I can see that won't be true for you.

 

[GoodWishes]

We haven’t needed high speed data overseas. Usually the hotel WiFi is just fine and often reasonably high speed. We don’t stream stuff when traveling overseas as our days are usually way too full for us to watch anything.
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When we’re out runnng around, emails, google maps, and some limited web searches and browsing is usually all we need.
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audreyh1 sounds just like our type of traveler

While traveling, usually email, google map, web browsing and google translate are good enough for us.

Texting is what our familes and friends use to keep in touch, simple to do at home or traveling. We usually download some shows onto our ipads before we travel in case we want to watch anything. But it is rare that we watch too much.

 

[audreyh1]

We haven’t turned on a TV while traveling in years.

Don’t stream either. Seems like we don’t have time to watch anything while traveling - we’re usually too worn out by the end of the day. I’m lucky to get any reading done once we catch up with email, research, etc.

 

[explanade]

I've watched a couple of SuperBowls and lot of NBA games while overseas.

 

[OldShooter]

... Now here is the catch, Project Fi only supports a handful of phones, most of which are in the flagship class. You can save some money by buying an older model, such as the Pixel 1, but you're still looking at spending about $350 to buy a phone that will work on their network. In my case, the plan savings offset the cost of the new phone, but I can see that won't be true for you.

Well ... not exactly. DW and I have Nexus 5x phones. Hers cost me $200 on Craitslist a couple of years ago, mine was $250 new, discounted when I signed us up for Project Fi.

Today our local Craigslist has four or five Nexus 5x phones ranging from $100 to $150. So $350 is definitely unnecessary.

I always buy our phones locally on CraigsList. I buy them from young and foolish early adopters who are taking a multi-hundred $ hit and who wonder why they don't expect to be FI or to RE.