When we travel to France, I usually buy an Orange holiday sim card for my iPhone. We will be in Vienna over the Christmas holidays, arriving at the airport 12/26/17. I happen to have an extra Orange holiday sim card. Will that work in Vienna or should I buy an Austrian sim card? If so, any recommendations for a one to two week temporary sim card for Austria.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
A SIM card from any EU country (including France) should work in any other EU country (including Austria) without any roaming charges, i.e. at the same rates as in its home country. Assuming:
(a) It still has some credit on it. I assume you know how to top-up this card vai the Internet?
(b) It has not been cancelled because it has not been used for a long time (Typically 3 or 6 months).
The card will retain its French phone number.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Addition to Chris's post:
(c) the Orange plan you have is activated for roaming within Europe. Some plans come this way automatically, others do not and have to be specifically set to roam.
If you want to learn about Austrian SIM card options, look at Prepaid GSM, on their Austria and Switzerland Forum http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=c4077dd5bd11ade0db3fd43f746ee6f8&f=36 or their Austria list of national providers: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/austria.php
Posted by
1904 posts
Please read that post in this forum:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/taking-iphone-and-ipad-to-vienna-advice
There is an elaborate discussion about SIM cards and WiFi.