Mobile contract whilst travelling Asia

niftythrifty33

Hello. My son is currently travelling around Asia and then Australia for several months. His mobile was sim only EE and no longer in contract, coming out of our bank. He's purchased a sim from both countries he's visited and will do the same in Australia. We've called EE and cancelled his sim as they don't put things 'on hold' but this means him losing his phone number which he was hoping to keep. We have a few weeks until the contract/sim ends.

I don't understand it all very well and no amount of searching online is helping. Is there a way he can keep his phone number for free until he comes back to the UK?

oldernonethewiser

You could buy a cheap SIM only deal, many are advertised on MSE then get the PAC code and transfer the number to that new SIM.  It may need to be used once in a while but it will cost very little to do this.

eDicky

You can ask EE to convert the contract to PAYG. But you then need to opt out of any monthly 'pack', by means of an SMS sent from the phone, if that's possible.

Otherwise, as above, port the number from EE to a SIM with another network, PAYG or cheapest tariff.

Emmia

If you want to keep the number you shouldn't cancel... You should transfer to a low cost SIM.

Murmansk

As others have said, transfer the number to a new SIM which you can keep active while he's away by making the odd "chargeable event" to keep it alive.

I suggest he looks into getting an ESIM for his phone - he'll need a phone that accepts them - he'll then be able to use data at a reasonable cost while away. There is info about ESIMs here on MSE and on Sim Sherpa.com. I've used Roamless and it seems good but I'm sure others are good too and FAR cheaper than using your current SIM.

The thing to be aware of is that with an ESIM it'll be largely data-only but of course calls can be made via WhatsApp

niftythrifty33

Thank you all for the good advice. His current contract with EE is sim only but the cheapest they could do was £15 per month which seems a bit of a waste of money considering he's not using it. Can I do all of the above for him but with my phone? (I have sim only with EE too). 

Murmansk

You'd be best not taking his SIM and putting it in your phone as it's very fiddly if done more than very occasionally. If he needs a new phone (to take an ESIM for example) you can keep his old phone and have the SIM in that to make a call (that's answered) every month or so to keep it from getting cut off.

If you don't want to pay £15 a month on his SIM you need to transfer the number to a new provider who doesn't charge much and make the monthly calls on that to keep it alive. You can come back and ask if all this sounds like rocket science to you!

eDicky

When portng a number from one network to another, to the best of my knowledge the 'source' SIM can be roaming at the time, as your son's EE SIM is now doing. The 'target' SIM needs to be connected to the new provider's home network, so physically in the UK. So you can put the new SIM intended for your son in your own phone or any compatible spare handset, for the port to proceed when the PAC obtained from EE is given to the new provider.

If, as it sounds, the EE contract is in your name, you can request the PAC from EE yourself, which saves the cost of an SMS sent by your son to obtain it while roaming. The EE 'retentions' dept will probably try to call him to offer a discounted rate, but in my experience they hang up when roaming is perceived.

Note that receiving the PAC from EE negates the cancellation notice you already gave, so if you don't use the PAC within its 30-day validity the contract will continue to run as usual.

niftythrifty33

I'm so sorry, this all seems quite confusing. My son has his phone (iPhone) with him and has his original sim but has taken it out and replaced with a sim he bought in Thailand and then another now in Vietnam. He will also do the same in Australia. Yes, his monthly EE sim only contract is in my husbands name, though it's now out of contract (the deal ended and it was then at a higher price). 

I've told my son about Roamless (advised above) and looked at the website and he'll look into it. But it doesn't say what to do with the existing phone number on their website.

I have and old iPhone handset. Is the easiest thing for me to buy a sim from a shop and just ask EE to transfer the number to it?

Apologies for questions. We didn't think it would be this difficulty but I can understand why my son wants to keep his UK number as I would too  if it were me as I've had the same one for a long time like he has.

Will the above affect his phone whilst he's away?

saajan_12

niftythrifty33 said:

I'm so sorry, this all seems quite confusing. My son has his phone (iPhone) with him and has his original sim but has taken it out and replaced with a sim he bought in Thailand and then another now in Vietnam. He will also do the same in Australia. Yes, his monthly EE sim only contract is in my husbands name, though it's now out of contract (the deal ended and it was then at a higher price). 

I've told my son about Roamless (advised above) and looked at the website and he'll look into it. But it doesn't say what to do with the existing phone number on their website.

I have and old iPhone handset. Is the easiest thing for me to buy a sim from a shop and just ask EE to transfer the number to it?

Apologies for questions. We didn't think it would be this difficulty but I can understand why my son wants to keep his UK number as I would too  if it were me as I've had the same one for a long time like he has.

Will the above affect his phone whilst he's away?

Someone should request a PAC code from EE. You may be able to get the code in an email or in his online EE account, but if not he may need to replace the sim in his iphone temporarily to receive the code. 

Then give that PAC code to another provider - many sim only contracts are ~£1-2 a month for a tiny amount of data and with no fixed term so he can switch again to something more suitable when back. Alternatively you could buy a payg sim and transfer to that, but the minimum top up is usually £10 so if its just a few months you likely end up at the same place. 

Either way, he can then throw away his current EE sim, and wont have phone contact in the UK until he gets the new sim in his device. 

niftythrifty33

Thank you so much. Will doing this affect his phone whilst travelling or will he currently have a new number with each sim he's purchasing? we only make contact via online messaging, snapchat, whatsapp etc