Virgin Mobile - International Roaming Data 'packs'

[serfty]

Looks like it's gett near the end for me of getting a travel sim and juggling 'phones etc. every trip.

While in Japan recently, I noticed that I could now buy a 30 day data pack with my Virgin Mobile account.

Virgin Mobile Australia | International Roaming

It was too late for me then as I had already purchased a 7 day, 200 mbyte per day LTE SIM for ¥1850.

From $25 for 300 Mbto $100 for 2Gb it look like it will suit me in the future.

Roaming Data Packs

A Roaming Data Pack gives you extra data in any Zone 1 country. Great for those times you won't have access to Wi-Fi. You can buy more than one at a time, so that when your active pack is used up or expires, your next one kicks in automatically (but please note, unused packs still expire 30 days after purchase). Roaming Data Packs don't include calls or texts.

Countries included:

Austria Denmark Fiji Germany Greece

Hong Kong Indonesia Ireland Japan Malaysia

New Zealand Norway Philippines Singapore Spain

Sri Lanka Sweden Thailand United Kingdom United States

 

[oh_lol]

Sounds awfully expensive in comparison to buying a SIM from that country.

 

[OzEire]

Virgin mobile prepaid has never roamed before (no option at any price) so if prepaid is included that would be great. But usually local SIM is cheaper and more reliable for domestic calls, but you don't have "your" number if staying in touch with home is important.

 

[serfty]

Sounds awfully expensive in comparison to buying a SIM from that country.

But is it?

Certainly depends on the country.

I was just to Japan and spent ~$22 for 200 MB per day for 7 days. I rarely use more than around 70 MB, so a $25 pack for 300 MB would be fine for me over 5 days. Also, not juggling phones/sims is a huge bonus.

Now look to the USA - have a look at the cost of prepaid sims there.

 

[serfty]

Virgin mobile prepaid has never roamed before (no option at any price) so if prepaid is included that would be great. But usually local SIM is cheaper and more reliable for domestic calls, but you don't have "your" number if staying in touch with home is important.

This is post paid.

Note that it is now 10¢ per minute to receive calls and 50¢ per minute to make them (with these same countries). The latter one can avoid using VOIP, the former by making received calls short or offering to call back (using VOIP).

No, it seems Vodaphone have broken the ice and other companies are now needing to remain competitive.