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falcon269 said:I used the Vodafone data SIM in an unlocked iPhone. You can pay as you go, adding time when you need it. It worked fine. Any streaming eats up your prepaid minutes, but I got about a week of email and news surfing for each 10E.
I bought a Spanish data SIM for my Blackberry last year. SpanishSim.com
It worked like a bomb! I did all email checking of accommodation and transport, checked the weather, sent emails home, posted to my blog etc.
It is valid for as long as there is a balance of €4.50 in it so I will continue to use it whenever I am in Spain.
Much, much cheaper than using the roaming service of your local provider.
Hi Sillydoll, where did you buy the SIM card? What was the provider? Brand? I am leaving April 30th from Houston to Madrid and will need to basically do all you did. Can I get it in Madrid or Pamplona? Thanks for the information.
We have used rebelfone.com in the past to get our sim cards. Although we have not used it, I noticed that they now also rent Mi-Fi devices with various data packages, and the Mi-Fi provides wireless service to your device. http://www.rebelfone.com/World-Data-Cards.aspx
I bought a Spanish data SIM for my Blackberry last year. SpanishSim.com
It worked like a bomb! I did all email checking of accommodation and transport, checked the weather, sent emails home, posted to my blog etc.
It is valid for as long as there is a balance of €4.50 in it so I will continue to use it whenever I am in Spain.
Much, much cheaper than using the roaming service of your local provider.
Falcon, my first stop with any time to search out a SIM card is in Pamplona..can you tell me where your acquired yours for the iPhone? I would love to go totally unconnected but if I want to have a boss that hasn't gone totally batty by the time I get back...I suppose I ought to check in with him every couple of daysAnother question too...if I change out the SIM card will the apps stay on my phone or will I need to download them again?
Thank you! -Lynette
In central Madrid, go to El Corte Ingles department store or The Phone House where all providers are located together. At the very least, you can compare them right there, and perhaps take advantage of offers.
That's a great question regarding the APPS and if they need to be re-downloaded if you exchange the SIM card.
There must be an easier way to do this. In movies, people just jump on the plane and use the same phone. The magic of movies!
If anyone can let me know their [ updated ] experience with a Sprint Galaxy S 4 phone and getting a SIM card / phone plan to contact home while on Camino, I would REALLY appreciate the information.
Thank you!
Noah from Indianapolis
www.facebook.com/TrekCaminoForDiabetesCure
www.AChristianPsychologist.com
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First you have to get Sprint to unlock your phone for international use which is like pulling teeth.
If you can get them to unlock it Crystal Media inside Barajas Airport in Madrid sells SIM cards from Vodaphone and Orange.
I bought a Movistar prepaid sim and it has been working quite well for the last 3 weeks! I suggest you use the free wifi at cafés, bars and albergues and conserve your prepaid service.
I just bought a SIM for my unlocked iPhone 5s. It cost me $15.
Some people have bought one on line here, but I'm going to the Orange store in Pamplona, and get one there. That's my plan anyway. I'm not sure there's much benefit to buying one here on line.
Thanks!
Think I will try to contact Crystal Media Shop in Madrid-Barajas Airport [ if I can find their email address ] and ask if they carry a SIM card for my phone, GS4, and if they do, just purchase it there in Terminal T-4 [ they are on YouTube ].
Keep the comments coming, please. In the meantime, back to the research.
Noah
If you don't get the opportunity to buy a SIM at the airport, wait till you get picked up by Corazon Puro and they can take you to a place to get a SIM card with what you want.
Thank you Bajaracer!
That's even a better idea that I had not considered. It's a GREAT idea. I don't know if I can still use my cell phone with it being "un-lock" but I would like to be able to call Corazon Puro so I can let them know when I arrive at the Pamplona bus station to let them know I am ready to be picked up.
If I get the International calling / texting plan from Sprint and TURN OFF the data push on my Galaxy S 4, it will not be very expensive to send out one group message [ they still charge for each recipient but I only have four in my "keep updated" group ] every other day or so. They will then pass on my updates to others. Each text, as it is right now, is 0.50 cents for each recipient texted and 0.05 cents for each received text.
Emails? I would rather stop at a Biblioteca Publicas or a cafe to do anything on the internet. And, if I make my calls while in a hotspot or a place with free WiFi, my text should be even less expensive.
This may be easier than trying to get a SIM card and still allow me to text as much as I need to do.
Still doing the research and appreciate everyone here making suggestions.
"A man of many counsel is a wise man" - Proverbs.
Noah
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Thank you Bajaracer!
That's even a better idea that I had not considered. It's a GREAT idea. I don't know if I can still use my cell phone with it being "un-lock" but I would like to be able to call Corazon Puro so I can let them know when I arrive at the Pamplona bus station to let them know I am ready to be picked up.
If I get the International calling / texting plan from Sprint and TURN OFF the data push on my Galaxy S 4, it will not be very expensive to send out one group message [ they still charge for each recipient but I only have four in my "keep updated" group ] every other day or so. They will then pass on my updates to others. Each text, as it is right now, is 0.50 cents for each recipient texted and 0.05 cents for each received text.
Emails? I would rather stop at a Biblioteca Publicas or a cafe to do anything on the internet. And, if I make my calls while in a hotspot or a place with free WiFi, my text should be even less expensive.
This may be easier than trying to get a SIM card and still allow me to text as much as I need to do.
Still doing the research and appreciate everyone here making suggestions.
"A man of many counsel is a wise man" - Proverbs.
Noah
.
I'm hoping you know the answer to my question from your experience. When you put the new SIM card in your phone, are your apps still there. I don't understand if they are stored on the the memory in the phone or on the SIM card. I know I can send some apps to the phone, and wonder whether I should do that before putting the new SIM card in my phone. Thanks for helping this non-techy pilgrim.Your phone will work when it is unlocked, it's just not locked exclusively to Sprint, you should still be able to make calls and texts under the international voice/texting plan. I still prefer to get a local SIM card with data when I travel, even though I'm on T-Mobile with free texting, $.20 min voice calls, (you pay for incoming calls as well) and free roaming data which is slow (high speed is available for $50 for 500MB, no thanks, I can buy a local data SIM for less than €20). I mainly use data anyways and I'm not bound by waiting to get to a wifi hotspot.
Don't sweat about getting the card right away, you'll be able to get one.
I'm hoping you know the answer to my question from your experience. When you put the new SIM card in your phone, are your apps still there. I don't understand if they are stored on the the memory in the phone or on the SIM card. I know I can send some apps to the phone, and wonder whether I should do that before putting the new SIM card in my phone. Thanks for helping this non-techy pilgrim.Pennie
'Glad I found this page! Anyone has info on getting a SIM card in Portugal? I am planning on doing the Portugues starting from Lisbon next May. Is there any place to buy a prepaid SIM card at the Lisbon airport? Thanks to any info anyone could share.
'Glad I found this page! Anyone has info on getting a SIM card in Portugal? I am planning on doing the Portugues starting from Lisbon next May. Is there any place to buy a prepaid SIM card at the Lisbon airport? Thanks to any info anyone could share.
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