Best data sim
Sep 12th, 2014, 07:23 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Best data sim
I'm traveling to Italy, Germany, Czech Rep. Netherlands and Belgium in March/April 2015, what is the best data sim for my money. I won't be in the countries for very long; a week at most. Is a pay as you go a good option? I need access to my emails, etc. Roaming is not an option.
Sep 12th, 2014, 09:56 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Where are you from? If from the US, the best deal would be free unlimited data from T Mobile. Yes, you'd have to change your cell service provider, but it's less hassle than what you are proposing. We changed to T Mobile before our Paris trip - worked like a dream, fast, free data. We've just retired so will be traveling more. We are looking forward to using our free data in Peru in November.
Sep 12th, 2014, 10:39 AM
#3
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 7,763
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I dunno, walking into a phone shop in each country and paying 10-15 Euro for a SIM and walking out a few minutes later is less of a pain that switching providers.
If your phone is unlocked, then get a cheap local SIM. Flyertalk has an extensive thread on PAYG SIMs: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...m-threads.html
If your phone is not a GSM phone, get a cheap unlocked GSM smartphone off of Amazon.
You could also grab WiFi signals but be warned that free WiFi is hard to find in Germany.
If your phone is unlocked, then get a cheap local SIM. Flyertalk has an extensive thread on PAYG SIMs: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...m-threads.html
If your phone is not a GSM phone, get a cheap unlocked GSM smartphone off of Amazon.
You could also grab WiFi signals but be warned that free WiFi is hard to find in Germany.
Sep 12th, 2014, 11:59 AM
#4
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,369
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Kathie: <i>Where are you from? If from the US, the best deal would be free unlimited data from T Mobile. Yes, you'd have to change your cell service provider, but it's less hassle than what you are proposing. We changed to T Mobile before our Paris trip - worked like a dream, fast, free data.</i>
Caveat: T-Mobile promises free 2G data (not "fast") when roaming internationally. My experience roaming with T-Mobile in Germany was very different from Kathie's: I used my Android extensively and was very happy with it, but it was painfully slow much of the time compared with the 3G I'm used to in the states. To be clear, it was usable just not fast.
Sometimes, apparently, when roaming internationally, if there is no 2G network available you are treated to faster 3G for free. (Otherwise, they encourage you to buy 3G data passes as an alternative to slow 2G.) I assume this is what Kathie lucked info.
Caveat: T-Mobile promises free 2G data (not "fast") when roaming internationally. My experience roaming with T-Mobile in Germany was very different from Kathie's: I used my Android extensively and was very happy with it, but it was painfully slow much of the time compared with the 3G I'm used to in the states. To be clear, it was usable just not fast.
Sometimes, apparently, when roaming internationally, if there is no 2G network available you are treated to faster 3G for free. (Otherwise, they encourage you to buy 3G data passes as an alternative to slow 2G.) I assume this is what Kathie lucked info.
Sep 13th, 2014, 07:40 AM
#7
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Inter-EU roaming fees have been reduced drastically in the last several years, especially voice roaming. Data roaming fees are also being reduced, although not as fast. The EU wants to have them eliminated altogether in the near future. However, in most countries, you have to sign up for a plan or an extra option to get the best EU roaming rates. Often the option is free; you just need to know about it. In most circumstances, it no longer makes sense to buy a new SIM card for each country you visit, as long as you stay in the EU. I think Switzerland has also drastically reduced its inter-Europe roaming rates, although it's not in the EU, but I'm not certain about that.
From your list, it looks as though Italy will be your first country. That's where I live, so maybe I can help you a bit. However, I need to know whether this SIM card will be used in a smart phone or in a tablet.
From your list, it looks as though Italy will be your first country. That's where I live, so maybe I can help you a bit. However, I need to know whether this SIM card will be used in a smart phone or in a tablet.
Sep 14th, 2014, 04:17 AM
#12
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't know what's happened to Aflaat, the original poster. If he will have a tablet, and if he's going to Italy first, I'll address his question later.
If you have an unlocked GSM iPhone, there are several plans that could interest you in Italy. I think all iPhones from 5 on up will work in Europe, but if your iPhone is an earlier version, it will depend on your provider (Verizon isn't GSM) and whether the phone is unlocked or can be unlocked; your provider can answer this question.
There are two main providers in Italy, TIM and Vodafone. I would suggest you choose one of these. Their plans are similar.
For both providers, you can get a SIM card for €10, which includes a €5 credit. I've heard that many TIM retailers are pushing €20 SIM cards with a €15 credit. I don't know if Vodafone is doing likewise, but since there's such intense competition between the two, I would imagine that they are. If you will be buying a data plan, you can use the credit for that, so it really doesn't matter much.
Even if you won't be making phone calls at all, you have to choose a basic calling formula for calls within Italy. These come as pay-as-you-go plans or prepaid bundles with a certain number of minutes, a minimum of 200 minutes, which you almost certainly don't need. Then there are two types of pay-as-you-go formulas, one which has a low per-minute cost but with a connection charge. This saves money if you usually make long calls (within Italy, remember). Most tourists, who are calling a companion to say "Let's meet back at the hotel", or to reserve a restaurant, probably wouldn't make many long calls, so they should choose the other plan, which has a higher per-minute charge, but actually charges you only for the seconds your call lasts.
TIM has a basic calling plan called TIM Zero Scatti, which charges 20 cents a minute (or 1 cent for three seconds). They have a basic data plan which costs €10 per month, called TIM Internet Start, and which gives you 2 gb to use during the month. Vodafone has a similar per-second calling plan which costs 23 cents a minute; you can't add a basic internet plan to that, though. Instead, Vodafone has a bundle with 1 gb of data and 200 minutes of talk time for €14.90 per month. This is half the data of the TIM plan, and the number of minutes is probably far more than you'd need, so I would think the TIM SIM card would be a better option.
Both TIM and Vodafone have optional add-ons that will let you make international calls from Italy at reasonable prices.
TIM has a plan called TIM International New that lets you call almost anywhere in the world at low prices. (The exact price depends on the country you're calling, and ranges from 1 cent a minute to 20 cents a minute, plus a connection charge of 16 cents. There is an activation fee of €5, but new customers don't have to pay that. There is no monthly fee for this option. I would ask for it when you buy the SIM card, just in case you need to call home.
http://www.international.tim.it/en/o...-international
Vodafone has a similar plan, but just for one country of your choice, and only for countries in Africa and Asia, called My Country. It costs €1 a month, but it also gives you very cheap calls within Italy.
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/resour...ici_ENG_v4.pdf
If you'll be traveling in other countries, both TIM and Vodafone have roaming plans to reduce your costs.
TIM has two plans, TIM in Viaggio Full and TIM in Viaggio Pass. TIM in Viaggio Pass is free to activate, so you should always activate it whether you think you'll need it or not. When you're outside of Italy, in Europe or in the USA, it allows you to make calls at almost the same price as when you're in Italy (16 cents a minute, with a 16-cent connection charge). It doesn't have an extensive data plan, but it might suffice if you'll be using it for very brief periods, and not every day. It costs 3 euros a day for 25 mb; it's only charged on days when you actually use data services. This means it's better to keep your data services and international roaming turned off unless you're actually planning to use the internet and are willing to pay €3. There is a version of this plan for use outside of Europe and the US, but it's much more expensive, beginning at €1 per minute (plus a €1 connection charge for calls, and €5 a day for only 5 mb of data.
TIM in Viaggio Full is the better roaming plan if you want to do extensive data roaming in Europe or the USA. It costs you €10 per week, but gives you 500 mb to use during the week, as well as 250 minutes of international calls and 250 SMS (to any other country in Europe or the USA). This plan expires at the end of one week, counting from the time you first call or use data outside of Italy. To renew it you have to send an SMS to 40916 with the message TIMINVIAGGIOPASS ON . Don't do it until your first week is about to expire, because it overrides the existing plan.
Vodafone, once again, offers only bundles of calls and data. Their Smart Passport costs €3 per day, and gives you 50 minutes of talk time, 50 text messages, and unlimited internet, paid only on days you either make a call or use data services. This plan is valid, for a limited time only, also in the USA and Canada.
Finally, TIM has a new plan for tourists called TIM Welcome. It gives you 200 minutes of talk time to be used for calls within Italy or for calls from Italy to other European countries and the USA, plus 2 gb of data. The plan costs €20 for a month; it has to be activated on a new SIM card (which will cost €10 euros, but which has 5 euros of initial credit to apply to the €20 the plan costs), so your total cost would be €25. This plan is only for use within Italy and would mostly be interesting for people who live in Europe or the USA, and who want a simple plan that meets all their needs (without activating other options) and who will be making a fair number of phone calls, including calling home. Otherwise the basic TIM calling plan, plus TIM International New, plus TIM Internet Start would cost only €20, plus whatever you spend on phone calls. It might end up costing more than €25, and you wouldn't have to worry about your credit running out if you buy TIM Welcome.
Vodafone has no plan similar to TIM Welcome.
I have to warn that these plans are constantly being changed, so no one can guarantee that they'll be the same even next week. Usually the new plans are similar, but not always.
If you have an unlocked GSM iPhone, there are several plans that could interest you in Italy. I think all iPhones from 5 on up will work in Europe, but if your iPhone is an earlier version, it will depend on your provider (Verizon isn't GSM) and whether the phone is unlocked or can be unlocked; your provider can answer this question.
There are two main providers in Italy, TIM and Vodafone. I would suggest you choose one of these. Their plans are similar.
For both providers, you can get a SIM card for €10, which includes a €5 credit. I've heard that many TIM retailers are pushing €20 SIM cards with a €15 credit. I don't know if Vodafone is doing likewise, but since there's such intense competition between the two, I would imagine that they are. If you will be buying a data plan, you can use the credit for that, so it really doesn't matter much.
Even if you won't be making phone calls at all, you have to choose a basic calling formula for calls within Italy. These come as pay-as-you-go plans or prepaid bundles with a certain number of minutes, a minimum of 200 minutes, which you almost certainly don't need. Then there are two types of pay-as-you-go formulas, one which has a low per-minute cost but with a connection charge. This saves money if you usually make long calls (within Italy, remember). Most tourists, who are calling a companion to say "Let's meet back at the hotel", or to reserve a restaurant, probably wouldn't make many long calls, so they should choose the other plan, which has a higher per-minute charge, but actually charges you only for the seconds your call lasts.
TIM has a basic calling plan called TIM Zero Scatti, which charges 20 cents a minute (or 1 cent for three seconds). They have a basic data plan which costs €10 per month, called TIM Internet Start, and which gives you 2 gb to use during the month. Vodafone has a similar per-second calling plan which costs 23 cents a minute; you can't add a basic internet plan to that, though. Instead, Vodafone has a bundle with 1 gb of data and 200 minutes of talk time for €14.90 per month. This is half the data of the TIM plan, and the number of minutes is probably far more than you'd need, so I would think the TIM SIM card would be a better option.
Both TIM and Vodafone have optional add-ons that will let you make international calls from Italy at reasonable prices.
TIM has a plan called TIM International New that lets you call almost anywhere in the world at low prices. (The exact price depends on the country you're calling, and ranges from 1 cent a minute to 20 cents a minute, plus a connection charge of 16 cents. There is an activation fee of €5, but new customers don't have to pay that. There is no monthly fee for this option. I would ask for it when you buy the SIM card, just in case you need to call home.
http://www.international.tim.it/en/o...-international
Vodafone has a similar plan, but just for one country of your choice, and only for countries in Africa and Asia, called My Country. It costs €1 a month, but it also gives you very cheap calls within Italy.
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/resour...ici_ENG_v4.pdf
If you'll be traveling in other countries, both TIM and Vodafone have roaming plans to reduce your costs.
TIM has two plans, TIM in Viaggio Full and TIM in Viaggio Pass. TIM in Viaggio Pass is free to activate, so you should always activate it whether you think you'll need it or not. When you're outside of Italy, in Europe or in the USA, it allows you to make calls at almost the same price as when you're in Italy (16 cents a minute, with a 16-cent connection charge). It doesn't have an extensive data plan, but it might suffice if you'll be using it for very brief periods, and not every day. It costs 3 euros a day for 25 mb; it's only charged on days when you actually use data services. This means it's better to keep your data services and international roaming turned off unless you're actually planning to use the internet and are willing to pay €3. There is a version of this plan for use outside of Europe and the US, but it's much more expensive, beginning at €1 per minute (plus a €1 connection charge for calls, and €5 a day for only 5 mb of data.
TIM in Viaggio Full is the better roaming plan if you want to do extensive data roaming in Europe or the USA. It costs you €10 per week, but gives you 500 mb to use during the week, as well as 250 minutes of international calls and 250 SMS (to any other country in Europe or the USA). This plan expires at the end of one week, counting from the time you first call or use data outside of Italy. To renew it you have to send an SMS to 40916 with the message TIMINVIAGGIOPASS ON . Don't do it until your first week is about to expire, because it overrides the existing plan.
Vodafone, once again, offers only bundles of calls and data. Their Smart Passport costs €3 per day, and gives you 50 minutes of talk time, 50 text messages, and unlimited internet, paid only on days you either make a call or use data services. This plan is valid, for a limited time only, also in the USA and Canada.
Finally, TIM has a new plan for tourists called TIM Welcome. It gives you 200 minutes of talk time to be used for calls within Italy or for calls from Italy to other European countries and the USA, plus 2 gb of data. The plan costs €20 for a month; it has to be activated on a new SIM card (which will cost €10 euros, but which has 5 euros of initial credit to apply to the €20 the plan costs), so your total cost would be €25. This plan is only for use within Italy and would mostly be interesting for people who live in Europe or the USA, and who want a simple plan that meets all their needs (without activating other options) and who will be making a fair number of phone calls, including calling home. Otherwise the basic TIM calling plan, plus TIM International New, plus TIM Internet Start would cost only €20, plus whatever you spend on phone calls. It might end up costing more than €25, and you wouldn't have to worry about your credit running out if you buy TIM Welcome.
Vodafone has no plan similar to TIM Welcome.
I have to warn that these plans are constantly being changed, so no one can guarantee that they'll be the same even next week. Usually the new plans are similar, but not always.
Sep 14th, 2014, 04:20 AM
#13
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sep 14th, 2014, 04:18 PM
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great info there bvlenci!
Yes Italy is my first stop - milan. Last year I did buy a TIM card but didn't do research prior to my trip and the language barrier was an issue when trying to purchase it in Turin.
My phone is a samsung s3, will that work?
Aflaat is a 'she' btw.
Yes Italy is my first stop - milan. Last year I did buy a TIM card but didn't do research prior to my trip and the language barrier was an issue when trying to purchase it in Turin.
My phone is a samsung s3, will that work?
Aflaat is a 'she' btw.
Sep 14th, 2014, 09:55 PM
#16
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
bvlenci,
Would you mind posting how one "pays" for renewals once outside Italy? For example, TIM viaggio full, 10eu.
My experience had been that I had to be in Italy to visit a TIM shop using cash or needed something only residents have, e.g. landline, to make an online payment.
Would you mind posting how one "pays" for renewals once outside Italy? For example, TIM viaggio full, 10eu.
My experience had been that I had to be in Italy to visit a TIM shop using cash or needed something only residents have, e.g. landline, to make an online payment.
Sep 15th, 2014, 01:15 AM
#17
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,955
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Aflaat, sorry about the gender bender. I think you need to ask your provider whether your phone will work. It has to have GSM capability and be unlocked.
If you last used your old card less than a year ago, you should be able to add the options you need to the old card. If that's the case, tell me what options you want and I'll tell you how to activate them via SMS. You may have to add credit for some of them, see below.
Greg, until recently it was not possible to recharge a SIM card outside of Italy unless you had an Italian credit card. Now they accept Paypal as well, so it should be possible. On the link for TIM International New that I gave above, you'll see a link that says "Top up online". Not all of the information has been translated into English, but with the help of translate.google.com you should be able to figure it out.
I haven't tried it myself, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. It would be a good way to keep a SIM card active for a next trip. You can top up with as little as €6. Another way to keep a card active is to use it to make a call or to send an SMS. If you have TIM in Viaggio Full active, the call would cost only €0.16, plus a €0.16 connection charge. Once a year has passed since the last use, there's nothing you can do from outside Italy. For some amount of time after that, you should be able to reactivate it at a TIM store.
By the way, TIM in Viaggio Full never expires, and it doesn't cost anything to activate. It's a pay-as-you-go roaming plan. TIM in Viaggio Pass, on the other hand, is a call and data bundle good for one week, and this costs €10.
Vodafone also accepts PayPal, and has an online top-up.
If you last used your old card less than a year ago, you should be able to add the options you need to the old card. If that's the case, tell me what options you want and I'll tell you how to activate them via SMS. You may have to add credit for some of them, see below.
Greg, until recently it was not possible to recharge a SIM card outside of Italy unless you had an Italian credit card. Now they accept Paypal as well, so it should be possible. On the link for TIM International New that I gave above, you'll see a link that says "Top up online". Not all of the information has been translated into English, but with the help of translate.google.com you should be able to figure it out.
I haven't tried it myself, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. It would be a good way to keep a SIM card active for a next trip. You can top up with as little as €6. Another way to keep a card active is to use it to make a call or to send an SMS. If you have TIM in Viaggio Full active, the call would cost only €0.16, plus a €0.16 connection charge. Once a year has passed since the last use, there's nothing you can do from outside Italy. For some amount of time after that, you should be able to reactivate it at a TIM store.
By the way, TIM in Viaggio Full never expires, and it doesn't cost anything to activate. It's a pay-as-you-go roaming plan. TIM in Viaggio Pass, on the other hand, is a call and data bundle good for one week, and this costs €10.
Vodafone also accepts PayPal, and has an online top-up.
Sep 15th, 2014, 03:40 AM
#19
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for that info! I think TIM Welcome would do great for me, since most of my accommodation has wifi (and so do Trenitalia trains if i remember correctly) - so 2GB should be sufficient for my 14 days trip.
hope the offer is still there when I arrive inDec!
hope the offer is still there when I arrive inDec!
