Getting a SIM card

First, does your phone require a physical SIM, or can it use an eSIM?

If an eSIM (and from different places a physical SIM maybe) then you can use any number of online sources before you go, I have used Airalo, and will again for a couple upcoming trips.

If a physical SIM, then go to a place dedicated to cellphones, so yes, Carphone Warehouse, or a brick and mortar cell store like Vodaphone or O2. The advantage there, is that you can tell them what you want to do, how long, how much you might use the phone, then they can recommend a plan or special they have. Most will also install the SIM and help verify that everything is working.

Paul:

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately my phone requires a physical SIM card. I consider it to be a throw away so I purchased it from backmarket.

https://www.giffgaff.com/

I’ve used simcards from giff gaff on two different trips.
They work very well indeed.
Also once activated in the UK you can use them in the EU.

S J

Thanks for your reply. Did you acquire the giffgaff SIM cards while in the UK or did you have any of them sent to you while you were in the USA (or whichever non-UK nation in which you reside). If the latter: how does that work? (what is the point of receiving a card which is not able to download data, or transmit verbal or text messages?)

"what is the point of receiving a card which is not able to download data, or transmit verbal or text messages?)"

I'm not sure I entirely understand your question, but yes, I had it sent to me overseas, and I activated it prior to arrival. Activation involves going online and entering the activation code on the pack.

For what it's worth, the card is of course able to access data and voice once activated, even overseas, with roaming - it's just a normal SIM that operates the same way as any other SIM.

Personally I prefer to have things set up before I arrive, but you can also buy their SIMs in supermarkets and some other shops.

This is relatively unproven for those abroad, but I bought a SIM deal from the provider "Lebara" via price comparison site, uSwitch.

I'll link to it here.
https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_deals/

I currently pay £7 per month for 30GB of data, unlimited calls and texts, including EU roaming. I was paying £3 for the first three months. This is a rolling contract (or no contract?) that you could cancel without penalty at any time.

You'd need to look at deals behind that link and see what suits you. You may need to prod their payment system and see whether a physical SIM can be delivered overseas. I pay mine with Paypal at the moment, which takes a foreign credit card out of the equation.

For giff-gaff, I ordered it online.
They send you a simcard by mail.
Took about a week to arrive.
You then pick a “goody bag” online , which are plans with different price points and amount of gb’s.
I activated it quickly in my phone at home, then took it back out.
Just before my plane landed in the UK, I put it back into my phone.
Be sure to keep your home/regular simcard in a safe place during your trip.
The giff-gaff one activated and was usable as soon as the wheels touched down.
I think I chose the plan with 20 or 30 gb’s…..it was very cheap.
I used maps, internet and made calls all over the UK and Belgium with no problems for my three week trip.

I have also used LeBara cards that you just buy in a phone shop there.
Also cheap and very reliable.

It's too bad that the OP bought a phone without eSIM capability. eSIMs are great, and I'm now quite reliant on them.

I actually own two different recently purchased Android phones (long, uninteresting story), but I anticipate as a new French resident I will probably retain both US and French eSIM plans on the same phone, using the second phone only for recording videos. Dual eSIMs work very well on modern phones.

jphbucks,

There is a good answer for most all phones with no esim capability.

Couple years ago, I bought an esim adapter card from 5ber for $20. They are no longer in business, but there are a few others: 9esim, Eiot Club, and eSIM.me.

How they work is you put it into a regular sim slot, install their app, and then you can dowload esims from all the usual sources. Normally you just take a photo of the QR code from the esim vendor. The esim card has the capacity of maybe 8-12 esims (varies by card). The app allows the user to select one esim and de-activate the others.

It worked great for me in my backup Galaxy S9 phone. Recently, I moved the card to my TCL tablet which has one sim slot. Now I can use Roamless or Bcengi in my tablet for cheap data worldwide.

I've had exceptionally good results using GiffGaff. I emailed them while I was still in the US, gave them the address of an English friend and an American Visa card number, for them to send me a one-month physical sim card (my phone doesn't take esims). They responded immediately, saying they would definitely do this before I arrived in the UK and YES, the physical card was waiting for me at my friend's house.

I'm not sure it's so terrible to use an "old fashioned" physical SIM card, it's just a little piece of tech that you put into your phone and ... Bob's your uncle.

My last visit to Heathrow about two years ago, after exiting baggage claim we were confronted with a Boots and a Sainsbury's and about five booths selling every variety of SIM card. You could easily browse the offerings and select the exact plan you were looking for, it looked pretty simple.

You could always wait until you're in the city and go into any phone store, they will know exactly how to set up a cellphone.

I always found that the shops and vending machines at Heathrow offered a limited selection and poor prices. If you want help with setting your phone up I would suggest going to a brick and mortar store of an electronics shop or cellular service provider. I generally suggest travelers go to one of the shops near Covent Garden tube as there are three shops within a short distance. Three UK, Vodafone and EE. I have used EE and Vodafone in the past and would use them again.

The last I checked Giffgaff will send a physical SIM card overseas. So if you have enough lead time that’s an option.

Enjoy your trip!

There's nothing "terrible" about physical SIM cards, certainly, but if that's all your phone will accept they're hard to keep track of if you have several. They're such tiny things.