SIM for a trip overseas?
Author
Discussion

LHRFlightman

Original Poster:

2,256 posts

200 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
Due to O2 wanting an additional £6 per day for a 21 day trip to the USA, my daughter is looking for a sim she can use for a month then throw away.

Anyone recommend anything? It's going to be data that she needs.

tim0409

5,961 posts

189 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
I arrived in Florida last week and picked up an unlimited sim from T-mobile for $50 for a month (they also do 10gb for $40) and it’s been great. I’m sure I could have got a cheaper deal elsewhere but there is a TMobile store nearby and they were really helpful and I wanted it done asap.

I’ve always used Three (Feel at home) in the past but recently switched to giffgaff, which like 02 charges a lot!

anonymous-user

84 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
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Roaming charges are killing me now also with 02 I used to just leave it on and it wasn’t too bad now I’m getting big old bills.

There’s often loads of free WiFi in accommodation or in cafes bars restaurants etc I might try and use that more and only use data every other day or something.

Local sims work well also (you can often get (pay as you go ones at the airport) if you’re in the same place for a while or keep going there.

HotJambalaya

2,088 posts

210 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
does she have a dual sim phone, can it take esims? Questions that need answering!

If yes, she can sign up somewhere like airlo and get one sorted before she goes.
Also as above just get one locally.
Finally, you can get a pay as you go sim on Three, but I think they'll only let her use 12gb abroad

eps

7,123 posts

299 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
Last time I needed to do that I used a PAYG sim from 3.

Edited by eps on Wednesday 14th September 11:00

Tommo87

5,457 posts

143 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
Three PAYG sim, is what I take to NY.

16gb is something like £10 for the month.


You can call any UK number for free, but US numbers are charged as if you were still in the uk.

Mark V GTD

3,164 posts

154 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
I recently discovered the e-sim. Brilliant way to get full phone functionality abroad. Recently paid about 50p a day for 16 days in Asia - not sure how much they cost for the US though.

MesoForm

9,834 posts

305 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
When I took my iPhone (so has an eSim) with me to America I got a T-Mobile eSim for a month
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/network-...
Downside was that I had to activate it in America so needed to wait until I got onto WiFi before starting it.

jurbie

2,440 posts

231 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
I bought a SIM from here before my last US trip. https://uk.simcorner.com/

I seem to recall that you give them an activation date and then you pop the SIM in on that day and it all works. I set mine to activate the day before travelling and it was fine. I think it just assumed I was roaming in the UK because it kept connecting to Vodafone whilst I was still here.

No issues however and it worked fine in the States.

GlenMH

5,463 posts

273 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
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I have just used these people for a sim for a mifi unit for a month: https://www.sims4travel.com/

Probably not the cheapest but seamless service and it all worked well.

Trustmeimadoctor

14,368 posts

185 months

Tuesday 13th September 2022
quotequote all
Mark V GTD said:
I recently discovered the e-sim. Brilliant way to get full phone functionality abroad. Recently paid about 50p a day for 16 days in Asia - not sure how much they cost for the US though.
Bout $16 for 5gig airalo I've been using $26 for 10gig for 30 days

vladcjelli

3,370 posts

188 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
We just did a month across the USA.

Bought a three PAYG sim each for the family at £10 a head from Amazon. Tried at local three store, assistant didn’t know about the properties of the payg sim and they had none in stock.

16gb of data, but you can only use 12gb while roaming.

Unlimited calls, including back to UK.

Brilliant deal.

surveyor

18,695 posts

214 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
I bought T-mobile pay as you go esim. I was able to get it installed and ready to go on wifi, and once I got to USA it just worked.

Calling home was a bit difficult. I was able to use facetime for family, but did have to make some arrangements with the airline who had a UK number. That was a little trickier to sort, but I managed it.

the-norseman

15,873 posts

201 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
I've just moved from Three to BT, my Three contract was up at the end of the month, usually they let you just carry on but I had a letter to say this wasn't possible and the new contract they were offering was more money and had no roaming included.

Gone to BT for £1 a month more including roaming.

craig1912

4,657 posts

142 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
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Been using Sky who allow roaming for a couple of quid a day.

I presume if you buy a SIM card abroad, nobody can then call you on your usual number??

Trustmeimadoctor

14,368 posts

185 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
Just use Whatsapp calling

the-norseman

15,873 posts

201 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Just use Whatsapp calling
still gonna need data.

eps

7,123 posts

299 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Just use Whatsapp calling
Squawk!

Trustmeimadoctor

14,368 posts

185 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
the-norseman said:
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Just use Whatsapp calling
still gonna need data.
Yes esim as I said above has no voice so use WhatsApp etc for voice calls

indigochim

2,083 posts

160 months

Wednesday 14th September 2022
quotequote all
Isn't the 3 go roam a thing of the past they show £2/day Europe £5/day world on the go roam site unless you have an older sim.