Pre Paid SIM in Europe

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airbridge

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Hi all

I am planning to travel around Europe this year and ideally want to get a Pre Paid SIM in Europe that will work in most European countries (without calls being treted as international roaming). Having a data plan on it is essential.

Anyone out there about to recommend a Telco in Europe that sells Pre Paid SIMS that include data and cover most European countries?

If I take my Australia SIM the data will cost a bomb.

Cheers
James
 
Hi all

I am planning to travel around Europe this year and ideally want to get a Pre Paid SIM in Europe that will work in most European countries (without calls being treted as international roaming). Having a data plan on it is essential.

Anyone out there about to recommend a Telco in Europe that sells Pre Paid SIMS that include data and cover most European countries?

If I take my Australia SIM the data will cost a bomb.

Cheers
James

I just googled and found these sites. Some people have even suggested to just buy a cheap SIM per country you visit (depending on how long the stay is l guess). Let me know how you go as l will be in Europe for 6 weeks in a few months and am also researching this topic.

GSM World.com/

GT-SIM

Max Roam
 
Have a look at Vodafone. (vodafone.co.uk) They have a "passport" pay as you go plan that you can add internet to at GBP2 per day. (The data allowance is not great though.)

There may be better deals out there but that is what I use. :)
 
I agree with Tony.

Have a look at Vodafone and T-Mobile too. I know that Vodafone has good deals with some country pairs.
 
I agree with Tony.

Have a look at Vodafone and T-Mobile too. I know that Vodafone has good deals with some country pairs.
Do you know if those good deals include France? Last time I went there (2009) you couldn't buy a local SIM without residency and am intending travelling there again this year.
cheers
CrazyDave98
 
Have a look at Vodafone. (vodafone.co.uk) They have a "passport" pay as you go plan that you can add internet to at GBP2 per day. (The data allowance is not great though.)

There may be better deals out there but that is what I use. :)

I just used this throughout Europe. Works great. 25mb per day for a lot of countries, 5mb per day in others (including Sweden).

Was infinitely useful, including being able to 'online checkin' for a flight that had 0 people in the bag drop queue, and a million in the normal queue. Saved me 35 minutes of queueing at BRU :)

And see this thread: Communication & Internet (which specifically discusses many pre-paid SIM options all over the world). In addition, PrePaidGSM.net is a good forum.

I just tried to get the link from the Vodafone UK site for the countries, but they are doing maintenance so their site is down.

France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium were all included in the 25mb. If you register for Vodafone "freebees" you also get 500mb to use per 10GBP charge you make, in the UK. I can't recall the other countries, as these (and Sweden) were the only places I were going (and for those who know where I work, this is a cheaper way of using data, although calls were not wonderful; I don't make calls on my Vodafone SIM, I use my companies SIM card for that ;)).

*edit*

Vodafone UK site back up, List of countries with 5mb and 25mb limits for the 2GBP a day on pay-as-you-go:

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/Lightbox/VFTST061981

It's a popup window taken from http://www.vodafone.co.uk/personal/...ng-abroad/using-the-internet-abroad/index.htm in the following section:
Pay as you go

As a pay as you go customer you’ll automatically benefit from Vodafone Data Traveller and pay just £2 a day (midnight to midnight, UK time) for each day you use it.

Vodafone Data Traveller countries (these may change from time to time)

One thing to keep in mind is it's *per country per day*. If you change countries during this time and keep using data, you'll be slugged another £2 from your balance.

In addition, it's not possible to use an AU credit card to top-up your account online or via phone. I bought my pre-paid vouchers via eBay (reputable seller) and it was less than £10 for £10 of credit (was around £8.50) with topup codes just emailed to me. Don't forget to setup your Freebees online though first.

Vodafone will also ship you up to 2 free SIM cards, but you need to have them sent to a UK Address (I had mine sent to the office and forwarded to me, so that's probably a hurdle for most people).
 
Last edited:
In addition, it's not possible to use an AU credit card to top-up your account online or via phone.

Excellent point, I should have mentioned that. I have a Vodafone SIM for my iPhone and a 3 SIM for my MyZone. Neither companies allow me to use an australian card. I buy the top up vouchers from the retail stores using cash.
 
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Excellent point, I should have mentioned that. I have a Vodafone SIM for my iPhone and a 3 SIM for my MyZone. Neither companies allow me to use an australian card. I buy the top up vouchers from the retail stores using cash.

It's a true PITA (far worse than AA's system which can be easily overcome).

The reputable ones on eBay I find to be the best, and works great if you're outside the UK. Pay using your 28º card and it's excellent value.

I threw 30GBP worth of credit on for 26.50GBP and had the codes within 48 hours from the seller.

You can also buy them as you say from the retail stores, or a lot of outlets in the UK (I was only transiting thru LHR a few times, and once to St Pancras to catch Eurostar, so was easier to load up before I went).

Oh and if you want data on the Vodafone Pre-Paid SIM cards, you need to change your APN from wap.vodafone.co.uk to pp.vodafone.co.uk and it works fine:)
 
More excellent advice. Got caught out with that one.

Why the hell they have the wrong APN pre-set on their SIM cards is beyond me!

It took some digging to fix. I'm surprised they got something so basic so wrong when they had them manufactured. It must be a source of headaches for their CS team (the SIM cards seem to be 2011 release as well according to the package it came in, so it's probably a new issue).
 
anyone know of a decent sim for data around the baltics
Im going on a cruise stpetersburg.tallin .germany way soon

otherwsie its 100 for 2 .5 hrs of slow connection on the ship
 
anyone know of a decent sim for data around the baltics
Im going on a cruise stpetersburg.tallin .germany way soon

otherwsie its 100 for 2 .5 hrs of slow connection on the ship

One of my business partners is on a cruise, in that region, at the moment and is using a sim from roamingsim.com.au in his iPad. He's been able to connect everywhere although the rates in Russia are higher than anywhere else.

RoamingSim is a reseller for MaxRoam and you can check the data rates on their website. In most countries including Germany, Finland, Estonia, ets the rate is 6c per 100kb. You can pick up a sim at Officeworks or order online. You can set it to auto recharge or do it on the website as required.
 
Hi, I use Travelsim when I'm going abroad. It perfectly works in every European country and their rates are pretty customer-friendly.
 
Have used Maxroam in UK, france, germany, switzerland, italy with no problems.
 
Excellent point, I should have mentioned that. I have a Vodafone SIM for my iPhone and a 3 SIM for my MyZone. Neither companies allow me to use an australian card. I buy the top up vouchers from the retail stores using cash.

Tried many times now I know why it did not work

I have got myself a EU card now should work
 
Do you know if those good deals include France? Last time I went there (2009) you couldn't buy a local SIM without residency and am intending travelling there again this year.
cheers
CrazyDave98

Really? Not my experience. I was there in 2009 and again in 2011, and I bought locals SIMs both times (both from Virgin IIRC) without being a local resident. They wanted an address, but were more than happy with the address of my hotel and my Australian passport.
 
Hi, I use Travelsim when I'm going abroad. It perfectly works in every European country and their rates are pretty customer-friendly.

I travel to Europe a couple of times a year and I used to use Travelsim exclusively. However of recent times there are other offerings out there that are beating their rates. This is a fast moving space and worthy of research every time you go overseas.

This next trip I plan a combination of:

globalgig.com.au (data only plan with amazing cheap rates for the iPad)
Local SIM cards if I am in a country for about a month or so
Travelsim for the rest.

if you go with Travelsim, don't forget to check out their Europe specials which are hidden on their website. You have to sign up for them and they don't last for ever but the rates are excellent:

Europe Offer 1 - Call Rates - TravelSIM (27USD cents per minute for calls to Australia)
Europe Offer 2 - SMS Rates - TravelSIM (17USD cents per SMS)

Check the fine print to ensure the offers are right for you.
 
I used the GlobalGig $70/5Gig Europe and USA very successfully with great servive through France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, UK, Denmark and USA.



Sadly, Globalgig has just made the Europe and USA plans - minimum 3 month subscription - which vastly changes their utility for someone going for a holiday.
 
Hi all

I am planning to travel around Europe this year and ideally want to get a Pre Paid SIM in Europe that will work in most European countries (without calls being treted as international roaming). Having a data plan on it is essential.

Anyone out there about to recommend a Telco in Europe that sells Pre Paid SIMS that include data and cover most European countries?

If I take my Australia SIM the data will cost a bomb.

Cheers
James


I usually pick up a SIM from Vodaphone or Lebara when I arrive. When you cross borders the rate will change. No problem, just keep using what remains on the SIM and when it runs out buy a new SIM in the country you are in.
In Netherlands I usually get a text from the provider after a few calls telling me I can activate another eu5 or eu10 credit for free by typing in the code provided.

Before you head overseas don't forget to check that your phone is unlocked from the network.
 
Very impressed with the Three 30 day sim we bought in Edinburgh fo £20. Good usage in Scotland and England and works just like in UK in Spain with same calls and full internet usage. It seems finally the EU has forced phone companies to stop the ripoff. If only Australian telecos were forced to comply, the world would be a better place.
 
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