Best SIM card for use in Europe

[Liz myers]

We will be away in Europe for 3.5 months and looks to get a European SIM card for phone calls and data. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what SIM card has the best deals?
Thanks liz from sydney

 

[texano]

I use Vodaphone for my two week trips in Spain. Unlimited inbound and data, one hour outbound. About 15€.

 

[jl]

I am currently in Italy and have bought a sim for 25 euro (sim + data) for 20 gig of data for 2 months. This was with Wind. A friend paid the same with TIM and got 10 gig for one month. The Wind sim is a special deal for foreign visitors in Italy and is meant to have very good coverage.

When I was in Europe for a year I got a different card for each cuntry I was in, though the rules have changed for Germany and you need a special ID to access the O2 card - which has the better coverage. Vodaphone was about 30 euro (a few months ago) for a couple of gig data. I suspect that unless you have a travel sim (that you can get at Aust PO etc) you will need a seperate sim for each country.

 

[AlwynWellington]

you will need a seperate sim for each country.

I understand the EU put rules in place, with effect from (?) March 2017 that SIMs (phone and data) are to work in every EU country the carrier has services in. In early October I purchased an Orange card in Estella for two or three months. But in UK in November it stopped working after few days. I was told Orange there was a different entity was was rebranding (as I recall) ...

So ask questions and choose carefully but ...

 

[camino-david]

Hi AlwynWellington

Just goes to show that UK is not in Europe! Just what Brexit is all about.

But seriously, there are no roaming charges in continental EU so a sim card bought in France is good in Spain. There are many to chose from and I found Vodaphone and Orange are very common. I tip is to make sure you can recharge online if you run out of data.

 

[lissie45]

Hi can anyone confirm that you can recharge Spanish or French SIMS using a non-EU, non-UK credit card? I'm hoping I can just buy a sim in my first airport in the EU - which will probably be Berlin or Oslo or CDG - depends on which airline we end up on - and then top up from then on I use about 8GB /month so will need to top up. I don't need voice or text - just data.

Coming from New Zealand

 

[KinkyOne]

There are so many mobile providers in EU that is impossible to point out one. And offers are changing all the time. I would suggest that when you sign up or buy SIM from any provider that you check if it allows topping up on-line and also to check it immediately while still in the store.

I would also suggest to buy SIM card in France (or any other EU country you fly into) if you are going to walk in Spain because if you buy for example Spanish Orange SIM it will prefer using their transmitters which can be scarce in certain areas. OTOH French SIM will always search for the strongest signal wherever you would be independently from transmitter owner/provider.

 

[lissie45]

Thats a good idea about a roaming SIM seeking the strongest signal - I hadn't thought about that. I've also realised that I'm probably overthinking it - I assume SIM itself is free generally? Maybe I should just buy the cheapest 7 day one I can find on arrival - and if I can't reload online - just buy a Spanish one when that runs out. We're be in Europe for about 2.5 months so will have reload at some stage.

 

[blumtnguy]

Travelling in Portugal and Spain for 3 weeks in October ... looking for SIM info as Rogers Roam Like Home would cost me over $200 for 22 days! Has anyone purchased a SIM from CAN or US and received it here before travel? Lots of forms ask for phone number at destination.

 

[lruault]

Travelling in Portugal and Spain for 3 weeks in October ... looking for SIM info as Rogers Roam Like Home would cost me over $200 for 22 days! Has anyone purchased a SIM from CAN or US and received it here before travel? Lots of forms ask for phone number at destination.

What ended up working for you? I will be in Portugal then Spain at the end of April. Thanks!