Any 30 day SIMS allowing roaming?

mudskippa

I am in the process of leaving Vodafone - if they will let me - after a complete nightmare.

On the Voda complaints thread, someone mentioned the best value deal is to buy your own phone and get a 30-day SIM. Having looked at it, this sounds great.

My only concern is I regularly travel in Europe and Vodafone does work and tether abroad very well. I only ever use a small amount of data (less than 500mb usually).

Does anyone know any 30 day SIM companies that either have European coverage and let you use your data abroad as well as in the UK?
- Or those that allow to switch your plan to roaming for a few days?
- Or any 30 day SIMS that you could just switch with your UK one for a few days when you're abroad which give European coverage?

Many thanks.

Frozen_up_north

Don't all contracts include roaming? It's just that some include being able to use your phone for no extra cost when roaming.

A friend is looking to move to Vodafone because their EU roaming looks "better" than many. It includes being able to call the country you are visiting out of your included minutes for no extra cost. Be careful you don't jump out of the frying pan. I know Voda have their issues, but if regular EU roaming is important to you, check very carefully before ditching Voda.

Myself and my OH are on Three, with their Advanced SIM only plans, which have "feel at home", where you can operate in the EU pretty much the same as being at home, it doesn't include tethering when roaming (do any?) but does include lots of data (up to 12 GB) and lots of mins/texts. We visit Spain a lot and it works pretty well, although data speeds are very variable. However, unlike Voda, your included minutes don't include calls to the country you are visiting, they cost around 4p per min, which isn't the end of the world.

It appears to me that mobile companies are splitting their plans cost wise, between those that want/need EU roaming and those that choose not to. On Three they are called Essential (no feel at home) and Advanced (with feel at home). Voda have a similar split.

Another friend has a dual SIM Samsung phone that is used with an O2 SIM for their UK contacts and a local Spanish one for their Spanish friends. Both on PAYG, it works well for us as it costs nothing for us to call their O2 number and to receive calls in Spain it costs them nothing (some charge to receive calls) and only 1p to send a text... It's quite poor value to use O2 PAYG in the UK, but very cheap to use for incoming calls in the rest of the EU!

You will need to do your home work on this one, it's a very messy market place. Some of the plans that don't include roaming in the bundle are quite good value, for example Three have a 12 month "Essential" plan with unlimited mins/texts, 4GB of data, no tethering, but only costs £9 per month.

d123

mudskippa wrote: »

I am in the process of leaving Vodafone - if they will let me - after a complete nightmare.

On the Voda complaints thread, someone mentioned the best value deal is to buy your own phone and get a 30-day SIM. Having looked at it, this sounds great.

My only concern is I regularly travel in Europe and Vodafone does work and tether abroad very well. I only ever use a small amount of data (less than 500mb usually).

Does anyone know any 30 day SIM companies that either have European coverage and let you use your data abroad as well as in the UK?
- Or those that allow to switch your plan to roaming for a few days?
- Or any 30 day SIMS that you could just switch with your UK one for a few days when you're abroad which give European coverage?

Many thanks.

All contracts include roaming if you pass the credit check for it. If you have a poor credit file you might have to wait a set period after joining, pay a deposit or be refused the facility altogether, but that's individual to the user, not the contract.

System

You would need to check that the contract has inclusive data use abroad and that they allow tethering (when roaming)

mudskippa

Thank you guys.

Does no-one have a 30-day SIM that allows you to either roam (most seem to be small firms that don't even seem to have coverage outside the UK) or add on a cheapish bundle to roam?

ARE there any 30 day SIMS with coverage outside the UK?

Or are there any of the bigger companies offering 30-day SIMS which have roaming bundles. (or perhaps even PAYG which offer roaming bundles)?

I don't want to text or talk. I just want to tether my phone to my tablet to check maps etc occasionally. It rarely takes up more than 500mb per trip.

And I don't want a longer contract than 30 days. At the moment, I need to pick and choose my usage monthly.

Frozen_up_north

Three have "feel at home" 30 day SIM only, but outside the UK tethering is blocked...
Looking at Voda, it looks like the inclusive roaming SIMs are all 12 month, but do include some tethering.

Do you really need web access for maps? I use maps.me on an iPhone, you download whatever maps you need and use it entirely without needing a data connection. The app and its maps are all free, no adverts or nagging, with detail showing individual trees, villa and boundary outlines and individual trees in some countries (Spain for example). It has a basic sat nav function too.

d123

mudskippa wrote: »

Thank you guys.

Does no-one have a 30-day SIM that allows you to either roam (most seem to be small firms that don't even seem to have coverage outside the UK) or add on a cheapish bundle to roam?

ARE there any 30 day SIMS with coverage outside the UK?

Or are there any of the bigger companies offering 30-day SIMS which have roaming bundles. (or perhaps even PAYG which offer roaming bundles)?

I don't want to text or talk. I just want to tether my phone to my tablet to check maps etc occasionally. It rarely takes up more than 500mb per trip.

And I don't want a longer contract than 30 days. At the moment, I need to pick and choose my usage monthly.

What do you actually want?

As said, all contracts allow roaming.

What you actually seem to be asking for is a bundle/add-on to use while roaming, perhaps you could be a little clearer in what you are actually asking about...

mudskippa

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Three have "feel at home" 30 day SIM only, but outside the UK tethering is blocked...
Looking at Voda, it looks like the inclusive roaming SIMs are all 12 month, but do include some tethering.

Do you really need web access for maps? I use maps.me on an iPhone, you download whatever maps you need and use it entirely without needing a data connection. The app and its maps are all free, no adverts or nagging, with detail showing individual trees, villa and boundary outlines and individual trees in some countries (Spain for example). It has a basic sat nav function too.

I do download maps but I get lost easily :doh: so I need GPS available, tourist site info etc. I have an Android as well..

mudskippa

d123 wrote: »

What do you actually want?

As said, all contracts allow roaming.

What you actually seem to be asking for is a bundle/add-on to use while roaming, perhaps you could be a little clearer in what you are actually asking about...

Yes I basically want a 30-day contract SIM that offers a roaming (and tethering) bundle to use in the EU.