Pay as you go sim card?
Apr 20th, 2011, 05:30 PM
#1
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Pay as you go sim card?
Going to England and want to keep in touch with my kids back in USA. I also want to communicate with my wife in London. I will need to buy 2 phones (1 for me and 1 for wife) in London and 2 sims. This is what i want:
Free incoming calls from the USA
Ability to call my wife on her new UK phone
Show me a link and details please. I know this exists, but this stuff is so complicated that I am blowing my mind figuring this out.
Thank you
Free incoming calls from the USA
Ability to call my wife on her new UK phone
Show me a link and details please. I know this exists, but this stuff is so complicated that I am blowing my mind figuring this out.
Thank you
Apr 20th, 2011, 05:55 PM
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It's not in the slightest bit complicated. First (are you in North America?) can purchase very cheap unlocked gsm phone on ebay for as little as $20 each. Then you can go to the web sites of the various UK providers, orange.co.uk, tmobile.co.uk, vodafone.co.uk, o2.co.uk. I like the first two and if you search on the web site, most will post to your hotel (give them the address) free sim cards. Or you can wait till you get to London and go into a mobile phone store; they almost seem to be on every corner in London and you tell them what you want, 2 cheap phones and 2 sim cards. For calling to the USA, I prefer either Orange UK or T mobile UK because they tie in with a firm called yourcallworld.com where you can get dirt cheap and I mean dirt cheap (like 3p/minute) calls to North America and landlines in other countries throughout the world.
No matter which you take, you will receive calls for free while in the UK no matter where they originate. You can call each other for relatively little, calls being priced to the nearest second not the next highest minute.
Topping up is dirt simple too. The sim cards will come with a card that looks like a credit card. Just go into any convenience store, pharmacy, grocery and announce bravely to the clerk "I wish a £5 top up." The clerk will run your top up card through their terminal, you will hand the clerk either your credit card or a fiver, and you will be on the way. Takes about 20 seconds.
It really doesn't get much easier or cheaper than that. And you know an added bonus of British sim cards. If you have to talk to customer service or a clerk there's a good chance they will understand you and you them as English and American (or Canadian) are very closely aligned languages.
Personally, I really don't know what can be easier than any of this. It ain't brain surgery.
No matter which you take, you will receive calls for free while in the UK no matter where they originate. You can call each other for relatively little, calls being priced to the nearest second not the next highest minute.
Topping up is dirt simple too. The sim cards will come with a card that looks like a credit card. Just go into any convenience store, pharmacy, grocery and announce bravely to the clerk "I wish a £5 top up." The clerk will run your top up card through their terminal, you will hand the clerk either your credit card or a fiver, and you will be on the way. Takes about 20 seconds.
It really doesn't get much easier or cheaper than that. And you know an added bonus of British sim cards. If you have to talk to customer service or a clerk there's a good chance they will understand you and you them as English and American (or Canadian) are very closely aligned languages.
Personally, I really don't know what can be easier than any of this. It ain't brain surgery.
Apr 20th, 2011, 06:04 PM
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Yes. When you compare the UK to USA, there is no comparison. US is so complicated and expensive. A total ripoff. We find it hard to believe here that it an be so uncomplicated and user friendly.
Apr 20th, 2011, 11:07 PM
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May 10th, 2011, 01:18 PM
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xyz123 - Okay, let me see if I get this: I go to Tesco, buy a T-Mobile Samsung E1150i for about 14 quid and a T-Mobile Sim Pak. I tell the retail specialist to top it off the sim with 20 quid. Then I call the USA via www.yourcallworld.com, and pay 3p a minute which deducts off the 20 I put on my T-Mobile Sim Pak. Is this correct? I am buying two phones so my wife and I can call each other for free correct?
May 10th, 2011, 01:39 PM
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You are absolutely correct if tersco sells t mobile sim cards...they have their own sim card as I remember. If they don't, just buy the phone from them, hop into a t mobile store and they will give you a free sim card (all you have to do is top up with as little as 5 quid) or alternatively you can do exactly the same with orange uk at one of their stores.
May 10th, 2011, 01:42 PM
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...you will pay, BTS, for calls between the two of you; I'm not sure of the current tariff for calls within the UK (it's on their web sites)....the caller pays. Some of the telcoms have low rates to call within the same mobile network; that you will have to check out of the carrier web sites but the calls between the two of you if both are in the UK are considered domestic calls (no can use yourcallworld for those)...but the caller pays, the recipient receives for free!
May 10th, 2011, 06:33 PM
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Here in the good ol USA - I spend 90 minutes just getting my billing changed in a Verizon store. I wanted a new phone and didn't want a droid. They had to go in the back room and bring out a box with a bunch of phones. All of them were new models but not drois or iphones etc. I paid $100 for a pretty basic phone and WE pay about $80 monthly for service that doesn't include intranet. As you can see I am pretty dumbfounded by what I am getting into. I can hardly wait.
Thank you.
Thank you.
