Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

buglawton

Actually I was waiting for Renaze_Peche to come back to the thread and explain what deal was this: "But I have seen recently that I can get a UK contract/PAYG and use the free minutes to use in France as if I was in the UK.".

Pending that, I would not have bothered adding another post until someone started to query my initial reply to Renaze point by point.

Graz-D

Hi, I've got a few questions:

O2 charge 12p to send a SMS while in Europe. Is this within the new legal limits set recently? It seems extremely excessive considering they USED to be free (4 sms out of your allowance).
Data while in europe is a whopping 3 MB with no packages or anything of the like. Are there any other providers in which it is cheaper? Pls help!

Thanks!
Graham

da1jonty

Hi everyone, I'm trying to decide on whether to purchase one of these "Cheapest for Mobile Roaming" SIM cards, as I'm currently using ASDA Mobile for cheap texts.

I'll be backpacking throughout Europe from November til April, and then heading off straight to Canada and USA for a while. I suspect I'll get a local Canada SIM when I get there(?), but for my initial Europe mainland travels, I may not have internet access a lot, and expect that I'll use a moderate amount of texting to friends, and probably calls to hostels and the occasional call to my family in the UK. (I'm a texter more than a caller, I always prefer the cost-benefits of using texts than making calls.)

On the Seat 61 website, they keep mentioning the Global SIM card as a cheap pre-paid option.

Can anyone tell me how does this Go-Sim card compare with MSE's recommendation: Storytelecom's TravelTalk card?

Or if anyone else has other recommendations given my backpacking situation above, I'd like to hear about them too!


Thanks in advance!

moltbe

I'm having difficulty finding about the cheapest way to use my phone during an upcoming trip to Vancouver, BC. Are local sims available? Is this the cheapest option? I'm with T-mobile on a pay monthly contract and will need to make local calls (i.e. 604 area code) as well as calls back home to the UK. Thanks for any advice!

mrcamp

It will be very expensive to use your UK sim there. You should be able to get a local prepaid sim from Rogers or so upon arrival. See some options below.

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/canada.html

moltbe wrote: »

I'm having difficulty finding about the cheapest way to use my phone during an upcoming trip to Vancouver, BC. Are local sims available? Is this the cheapest option? I'm with T-mobile on a pay monthly contract and will need to make local calls (i.e. 604 area code) as well as calls back home to the UK. Thanks for any advice!

alilovesshoes

Hi,

Apologies if this is duplicating (i've read through posts etc and I'm still confused)

I'm looking to find the cheapest and easiest way of calling back to the UK when I go to New York at the end of the month (I'm only there for four days and unlikely to have any further international travel within the next 12 months)

I'll be likely to be calling home at least twice a day for say 10 mins each time (I'm on network 3 if that makes any difference)

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks in advance

mrcamp

It has been discussed here several times. Get to the US and get a prepaid sim (tmobile, AT&T, etc), or get it from ebay before you leave. Your phone has to be unlocked and have the US bands if you plan on using it. It will NOT be cheap calling back to the UK from most prepaid sim cards. However, coupling that with a calling card will bring the cost down tremendously.

alilovesshoes wrote: »

Hi,

Apologies if this is duplicating (i've read through posts etc and I'm still confused)

I'm looking to find the cheapest and easiest way of calling back to the UK when I go to New York at the end of the month (I'm only there for four days and unlikely to have any further international travel within the next 12 months)

I'll be likely to be calling home at least twice a day for say 10 mins each time (I'm on network 3 if that makes any difference)

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks in advance

patricia1066

I just saw that 3 have a cheap roaming rate for Ireland.

http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/International/ROI_10p

10p flat rate calls to UK on the UK sim payg or pay monthly, same for text.
I was looking for a PAYG sim anyway so that will sort me out.

Also free sim on https://www.three.co.uk/Pay_As_You_Go/Free_SIM/Order_a_free_SIM
(Thanks to the free sim thread for that link.)

pigeonpie

redux wrote: »

The cheapest French payg brands have calls within France for 15 cents a minute. Including to other mobiles. It's fairly difficult to undercut that with Vodafone Passport when the connection fee is counted.

If you pick this up Redux, which french mobile operator is the 15c pm with please?
I have a leClerc mobile SIM because the credit lasts a year (unlike the 1 or 2 weeks of the others) but they charge 50c a minute for calls within France, which if you use a lot decreases to "only" 35c a minute after 1/2 hour of exorbitant calls.

buglawton

It sounds as if a UK Virgin Mobile sim (or maybe a Tesco one) on pay as you go, used within France in roaming mode, is cheaper than leClerc!