Complicated Sim Card Query 😬

ROOBY6

Hi All,

I'm new here but really hoping someone can help. My son has gone to America for a year to study and his English sim card provider, O2, couldn't support his sim out there, therefore he is using an e-sim via mint mobile, his phone supports dual sims so he has his physical O2 sim still in his phone.

He would like to keep his English number for when he gets back, I pay for his sim with O2 (English sim is rolling but he is out of contract).

If I transfer to a cheaper sim deal and put the new sim in an old phone, will this work? I know he'll have to request a PAC number but not sure how he does this without switching back to his current O2 sim as think that will incur costs and might mess with his mint mobile contract.

I've tried to ask O2 but can only get through to call centres who don't understand the query.

Any help would be very much appreciated as I'm stuck.

la531983

Why doesnt he post his SIM card back to the UK, put it in a phone? And then request a code if you want at that point.

Mark_d

What do you mean by saying O2 can't support his SIM in America?  I find it hard to believe your son can't roam with an O2 SIM in America.

Your son can possibly call O2 and say that as he'd out of contract, he would like to go PAYG.  This might be possibly without swapping his physical SIM card.  An alternative would be to request a PAC and port the number to something like a Giff Gaff SIM card.  You'd need to send text every few months to keep the Giff Gaff SIM alive

la531983

Mark_d said:

What do you mean by saying O2 can't support his SIM in America?  I find it hard to believe your son can't roam with an O2 SIM in America.

Your son can possibly call O2 and say that as he'd out of contract, he would like to go PAYG.  This might be possibly without swapping his physical SIM card.  An alternative would be to request a PAC and port the number to something like a Giff Gaff SIM card.  You'd need to send text every few months to keep the Giff Gaff SIM alive

I suspect the problem is he is going to be in the States for far too long and wont be deemed a UK customer anymore, dont the main operators only let you roam X days out of every Y, for example?

ROOBY6

Mark_d said:

What do you mean by saying O2 can't support his SIM in America?  I find it hard to believe your son can't roam with an O2 SIM in America.

Your son can possibly call O2 and say that as he'd out of contract, he would like to go PAYG.  This might be possibly without swapping his physical SIM card.  An alternative would be to request a PAC and port the number to something like a Giff Gaff SIM card.  You'd need to send text every few months to keep the Giff Gaff SIM alive

You can only roam in Europe (25gb per month allowance), the USA is not included in any UK providers sim deals, something we have only recently discovered. He is out there for a year so we've had to get him an esim from an America company whilst he's out there.

It's really costly for him to use his UK sim in America so we are trying to avoid him having to send a text/call every few months. Do you think he'd need to have his current sim active to request his PAC or can he do it by calling customer services instead?

Thanks for your help 

ROOBY6

la531983 said:

Why doesnt he post his SIM card back to the UK, put it in a phone? And then request a code if you want at that point.

Hi , 

We thought about this but also thought there's a good chance it may get lost in the post but thank you for your help. 

ROOBY6

la531983 said:

Mark_d said:

What do you mean by saying O2 can't support his SIM in America?  I find it hard to believe your son can't roam with an O2 SIM in America.

Your son can possibly call O2 and say that as he'd out of contract, he would like to go PAYG.  This might be possibly without swapping his physical SIM card.  An alternative would be to request a PAC and port the number to something like a Giff Gaff SIM card.  You'd need to send text every few months to keep the Giff Gaff SIM alive

I suspect the problem is he is going to be in the States for far too long and wont be deemed a UK customer anymore, dont the main operators only let you roam X days out of every Y, for example?

You are spot on, in fact it's quite shocking that uk providers don't cater for this scenario as it must be super common with students and travellers.  

Thanks for your help 

Detail_Merchant

USA is included in the "O2 Travel Inclusive Zone" - https://www.o2.co.uk/international/travel-inclusive-zone
Included at no extra cost if you have Volt (i.e. have Virgin Media broadband).
Also available as a 'extra' with some non-Volt tariffs, see that page for more detail.

la531983

ROOBY6 said:

la531983 said:

Mark_d said:

What do you mean by saying O2 can't support his SIM in America?  I find it hard to believe your son can't roam with an O2 SIM in America.

Your son can possibly call O2 and say that as he'd out of contract, he would like to go PAYG.  This might be possibly without swapping his physical SIM card.  An alternative would be to request a PAC and port the number to something like a Giff Gaff SIM card.  You'd need to send text every few months to keep the Giff Gaff SIM alive

I suspect the problem is he is going to be in the States for far too long and wont be deemed a UK customer anymore, dont the main operators only let you roam X days out of every Y, for example?

You are spot on, in fact it's quite shocking that uk providers don't cater for this scenario as it must be super common with students and travellers.  

Thanks for your help 

Im not surprised they dont cater for it, they are catering for people going on holiday for a week or so, not for people essentially moving house for a year. 

PHK

ROOBY6 said:

Mark_d said:

What do you mean by saying O2 can't support his SIM in America?  I find it hard to believe your son can't roam with an O2 SIM in America.

Your son can possibly call O2 and say that as he'd out of contract, he would like to go PAYG.  This might be possibly without swapping his physical SIM card.  An alternative would be to request a PAC and port the number to something like a Giff Gaff SIM card.  You'd need to send text every few months to keep the Giff Gaff SIM alive

You can only roam in Europe (25gb per month allowance), the USA is not included in any UK providers sim deals, something we have only recently discovered. He is out there for a year so we've had to get him an esim from an America company whilst he's out there.

It's really costly for him to use his UK sim in America so we are trying to avoid him having to send a text/call every few months. Do you think he'd need to have his current sim active to request his PAC or can he do it by calling customer services instead?

Thanks for your help 

This is not correct. 

My EE Full Works plan includes roaming in Canada, US, Australia etc

The US is also included if you have Volt on O2 

Vitor

OP's son could request a PAC code using MyAccount on O2 website