azquart

Hello Fodor travel lovers. I don't know what's the best SIM card for unlocked Iphone 5 for my itinerary: 4 days London, then Paris , 2 weeks total in France, then 1+ week in Spain.

My first stop is London, but I'm leaning toward getting a SIM card in Paris instead bec. I will be staying longest in France. I need mostly data for when I don't have access to wifi. We will also be driving around Dordogne for 5.5 days so getting a SIM that I can use as a personal hotspot for my Ipad is a must. My Ipad is wifi only so I don't need SIM for that.

I've read various brands mentioned, Orange, etc in Paris. Will it be as simple as going to an Orange store (or any other brand ) in Paris? But will I be able to roam to Spain for my last leg of travel? Or should I actually get the SIM in London? My time is limited in London and I need the SIM more in France so I don't want to spend an hour at a London SIM store. Unless, getting the SIM in London is the best way for my itinerary. Please suggest pre-paid SIM card brands in Paris.

My experience with SIM card for my Iphone 5 in the past years is from Orange and Vodafone, in Madrid and Rome. I went to the store, paid 20-30 euros and the salesperson activated the phone right there. Thank you.

PatrickLondon

AFAIK all the major phone networks in the UK will all have tie-ups elsewhere on the continent, and there's a standard set of rates anyway, so I've always assumed you don't need to keep changing for different countries (that's what it looks like to me when I take my phone across to another country, anyway).

At the very least, you could simply ask in London at any branch of Carphone Warehouse, who are a general dealer not tied to any one supplier. They can at least tell you whether I'm right, and discuss with you what sort of arrangements to make for your particular usage. I don't make a lot of calls, so use a pay-as-you-go service, turn off the data and only access the internet through wifi, but your needs may be different.

Andrew

Roaming fees in the EU are about to disappear, so (until Brexit happens, at least) it doesn't much matter where you buy your SIM to be able to use it for France, at least if data is your primary need. People who want to make/receive local calls in France might prefer a French SIM, but you might not care.

rs899 (Fodor's user) has some recent experience using UK SIMs elsewhere in Europe, with success. So you might buy one there for the rest of your trip. However, make sure you the SIM supports hotspot/tethering so your iPad can share the data too via WiFi.

The tricky thing is being able to top-up (add credit) to the SIM once you leave the UK. It seems you may not be able to do that with a US credit card with UK mobile companies, but you may be able to use Paypal to do it. But if you will be in Europe only say a month, you can probably buy enough credit in the UK for the rest of your trip. Typically you buy some sort of a monthly package that gives you a certain amount of data and minutes for a month.

There's a lot of discussion of recent SIM experiences here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...damsterdam.cfm

I just used a Dutch Vodafone SIM I bought on eBay in France, Italy, and Slovenia for a few weeks - bought the SIM on eBay and activated before I left the US. (I never even visited the Netherlands.) I was able to buy credit/top up on Vodafone's website with my US credit card, and hotspot worked great. Data roaming in Europe is already free with the Dutch Vodafone SIM, though in a few weeks it should be free with all of the mobile companies.

If you need to make free phone calls back to the US (if you are American), try Google Hangouts, which works great, even to call landlines. It uses data or WiFi.

rs899

Take a look at the thread referenced above. Three UK would probably suit you if you can get around the wifi hotspot feature on your phone being locked down. Two of the rooted Android phones I have allow the wifi hotspot to work, but one that has stock marshmallow is blocked. You may not need to topup other than the initial 20 pounds as 12 gb will take you a long way.

azquart

I've been reading in the travel forums about new great changes in roaming fees (or is it gonna be free?) around Europe? Is this already in effect. I will arrive in London 3rd week of June. And if I get the SIM card for Iphone 5 in London, I can roam to France amd Spain with it?

I remember in past travels the past 5 years, once I cross the border from Spain or Italy, the SIM card stopped working. Did not turn roaming on due to I don't want to use up my data.

rs899

It looks like a even more confusing period of time coming up in Europe. You will just have to check all the possible carriers for what they are doing and when.

I can tell you that Three UK bought now will roam free for data in Europe. I am using it right now in US and expect it to work in Netherlands, France and UK when I go next.week.

StCirq

Free roaming hasn't begun yet here in France, but I'm not sure what the big deal is. My Orange plan lets me use my cell phone anywhere in Europe for very little money.

Andrew

My Dutch Vodafone SIM worked (only used data) in every country I visited at no extra cost. I did have data roaming turned on (required) but I already knew that roaming was free. rs899 seems to be the recent expert on UK SIMs and roaming, if you plan to buy one there.

Whether the SIM you buy works when you cross the border depends on the SIM and the package you buy. Some of them don't seem to allow roaming at all, though that may change by the time you get to Europe when the new EU rules go into effect. I understand that mobile companies can't charge extra for roaming once the new rules are in effect, but do they have to offer roaming at all? Some SIM cards (e.g. tourist SIMs) don't seem to allow roaming at this moment; not sure they will be required to start offering it under the new rules.

azquart

What I want is a pre-paid SIM Card for visitors like me staying 2-3 weeks. If I can roam w/ minimal charges it will be great. Free is even greater. It's confusing because I'm going to 3 countries. France being the longest stay at 2 weeks and my plan to go driving around Dordogne makes France my priority when it comes to having a SIM card with a good data plan.

St Cirq, are you referring to your own local plan as a resident there in France? The pre-paid SIM card, I assume, will be different from plans that residents get on a monthly basis. These are my assumptions and I could be totally wrong.

Andrew

FYI, although I still recommend you get a SIM, you can use your phone as a GPS (at least for driving) without any data plan or SIM. If you use Google Maps (and probably others), you can download an "offline area" ahead of time (say on WiFi) in Google Maps and then drive with the phone in airplane mode. I did this for a day in Slovenia a few weeks ago (even though I had a SIM, I was trying to save data). It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough without an internet connection.

rs899

What Andrew says. Download Google Maps or get Here We Go and you wont use a lot of data for that. Three UK will work for data but check each individual country you roam in for phone costs and texts. For example I am roaming in the US now on their sim and if I were to call a US phone number now it would cost 1.40 gbp per minute. So look carefully if you are going to call. But data roaming is free.

StCirq

<<St Cirq, are you referring to your own local plan as a resident there in France? The pre-paid SIM card, I assume, will be different from plans that residents get on a monthly basis. These are my assumptions and I could be totally wrong.>>

Yes, BUT you could have the same thing as a one-time visitor. You can walk into our local supermarket or tabac and buy the same thing at the cash register for just a few euros (well, it's a bit more costly, but not much). Roaming charges still apply in Europe as I understand it for another couple of weeks, after which there will be none, but it's still not expensive. And it doesn't have to be Orange (we use that because it covers our wifi, landline, TV, etc., all of which don't concern you) - it could be Lebara, SFR, FREE, you name it.

Or follow Andrew's always excellent advice.

mjs

Bought a Orange SIM card at CDG last Saturday with 10GB Data and 1000 texts and 125 min voice. Good for fourteen days before need to top up. Texts and voice ok all over Europe and rest of the world. Would check with Carphone wharehouse if the U.K. Is your first stop

rs899

^^ This Orange deal looks to be 40 euros

http://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/car...ng#Description

azquart

Andrew and rs899. I have downloaded some offline maps on my Ipad and Iphone, actually some of them paid apps, a few cents, really cheap but very useful. Of course I would still want my SIM card. I need it for last minute look-ups and Via Michelin app driving routes and parking info which is very important to me. I like having info at my fingertips.

Thanks St Cirq for info that I can go to any tabac. I will definitely do some comparison shopping. Doesn't have to be Orange.

If I buy a France sim card, will I be able to re-use it next year or in future travels to France or Europe? I'm the USA so I don't know how topping off works after my trip.

Thanks Andrew for that link with a long discussion about Sim card. Great info.

mjs

The Orange card we have is 40 Euros. Top up is 20 Euros for 5mb/500 texts/60min voice. It's an Orange holiday SIM. No reuse just buy another one when/if you return to Europe in the future

StCirq

<<If I buy a France sim card, will I be able to re-use it next year or in future travels to France or Europe?>>

No, the telephone number will expire in 6 months unless you keep using it. But you could keep it alive by making the random call now and then from anywhere in the world.

The Orange Holiday thing may seem like a good deal, but you don't need to pay anything like that just for a French SIM card. For 40 euros you could be yakking on the phone in France for 6 months.

azquart

Hi guys. Thanks to everyone, I had an amazing trip. My SIM card experience:
In London I went to the Carphone Warehouse on the Strand. I was told that they DO NOT offer any sim w/ Europe roaming. Though I just saw 2 days before my departure the news on BBC that roaming is free now in Europe.

So went next door to Vodaphone. I got a SIM CARD for £20, 4 gb data, 500 minutes call and I think same number of text. After almost a month, I have 1.4 go left. I roamed Europe w/ it. So simple.

azquart

Sorry typo on post above: I have 1.4 GB left over after almost a month of usage. Mainly iPhone apps, maps.

rs899

Good for you. I cant imagine what they were thinking at carphone warehouse as threeuk and o2 certainly do. Three worked fine for me in France, Netherlands, US, and UK and is supposed to work in 60 countries.