I am Jennifer Skaggs.I'm a Physical therapist in the John M. Smyth's Homemakers at Montezuma Creek, UT
On a recent trip, I spent two weeks visiting Paris and traveling around Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. To stay connected with my American iPhone this time around, I decided to try out a new strategy and buy a SIM card in Europe. Rather than purchasing what was then a $70 “Passport” package from AT&T before leaving (the company has since switched its international plan to a $10/day International Day Pass, as we discussed in this series of posts), I instead bought a SIM card package in Paris from a French phone carrier for €39. Once I popped it into my phone, I just used my smartphone as I normally would, although I now was dialing with a French phone number. The experience was actually much simpler than I had imagined. In the end, it provided me with a much more cost-effective way of using my iPhone while traveling outside the States. The biggest difference? I used my phone freely for calls, emailing and even browsing the web, and never even got close to exhausting my plan. All that fretting over data use — gone. I’ll explain how I did it, and the various options I had below. But first, let’s quickly review the choices you face when traveling abroad with your phone. This article was updated in November 2021 with new information and prices. EuroCheapo is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Thank you! Traveling abroad? Your smartphone optionsAs we’ve discussed in this series of posts, travelers from North America have several options for using their smartphones when visiting Europe. Purchasing an international package from your carrierYou could sign up for an international phone/texting/data package from your carrier (for example, AT&T’s International Day Pass package). You will pay for these packages as an “add-on” to your normal bill. They will usually grant you some combination of data transfer (for emailing, using the web and apps) and text messages. They will also usually lower your per-minute charge for using your telephone, although it’ll still probably cost you about $1 per minute. Some plans will offer free calls to certain countries, including the U.S. (Read about AT&T’s and Verizon’s plans.) Winging it without a packageMany American tourists just wing it, and plan to simply limit their phone use or “try to keep it turned off”. While this is an option, be advised that without a package, charges for texts and phone calls are more expensive. Data transfer charges are usually astronomically high. If you plan to use data (rather than Wi-Fi) to check your email or use the web during your trip, this isn’t a good idea. (One notable exception is T-Mobile, which offers its “Magenta” customers free international data and calls for only $0.25 per minute.) Some travelers who “wing it” place their phone into “airplane mode” for most of the trip, restricting email and web browsing to times when they’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. Others just keep their cellular data and roaming off, and use their phones for texting and calling. Still, expensive dangers lurk (especially if you haven’t set up your phone correctly). Purchasing a SIM Card abroadYou can also purchase a SIM Card from a local phone carrier in Europe. As we’ll discuss below, you can either use it in your regular U.S. smartphone (if your phone permits it), use it in an old phone that is SIM-card compatible, or buy a cheap phone (either back home before you leave or once in Europe) for the new SIM Card. The benefits of buying a SIM card in EuropeWhy would you go through the hassle of all this? Because buying and using a SIM card in Europe will almost certainly be far cheaper than using your home carrier while traveling abroad. When using a SIM card from a European carrier, you’re buying a new phone number. This means you gain access to the same low-cost dialing options available to locals. There are many, many European phone carriers, and each offers different SIM cards, packages and options. Broadly speaking, to make this work for you, you’ll need to purchase two things: 1. a SIM card (which gives your phone the actual phone number), and 2. credits to make phone calls and use data. During a trip to France, I purchased a Comments are closed.
|