My daughter will be studying abroad in Scotland for one year. She has a iPhone 5C which is unlocked and has a nano-sim card. What is the best plan for her to get when she gets there. I assume she will have to purchase a UK sim card. We do not care about her calling back to the US but would like her to be able to text whenever she wants back to the US. Again, any help on the best plan would be helpful.
Posted by
Seattle, Wa, USA
449 posts
I cannot address the issue of the best card for use in Scotland but I would like to add the following which might be of interest. I will be in the UK for about one month starting in two weeks. This is sort of a work vacation so I need to have regular communication with my office. My plan is to use a MagicJack device. This allows me to call back to the USA and Canada to a regular telephone at no cost other than the approximately $50/year service fee. The only limitation is that one is allowed only 90 minutes of call time per day. In my tests of the device and service the voice signal is very good. One of my coworkers has parents in Lebanon and they use MagicJack to call her on a regular basis. Also, a user will be issued a local USA number (eg, in your city of residence). If someone calls that number either: (1) the party at the other end of the line is present and picks up the phone, or (2) voice message is recorded and can be picked up at the other end AND the message is sent to the person as a WAV file attachment to an email which can be played when reading incoming emails.
I think this system is great if there is going to be ongoing communication between you and your daughter.
Geor(ge)
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Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
154 posts
You have received some great advice so far. There are so many plans that it will be best for her to ask a store in the UK what works best for her. I lived in England for a year during my time at university and when I went to get my phone and sim-card they pointed me to a company that had great rates for calling and texting back to the US. I bet something like that still exists and could work with an iPhone.
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2775 posts
Also, I would suggest to check with your daughter's iPhone carrier. I will be in the UK for almost a month in a few days and my carrier has some great options. Have her turn off her cellular data, if she doesn't she'll have big phone bills, could be several hundred dollars. She'll be able to look at email etc., when she does have wifi.
Posted by
Hudson, Ohio, US
36 posts
When she arrives have her find a Carphone Warehouse store. They're all over the UK and have pay as you go and monthly SIM plans from a bunch of carriers. For a year stay, it might be cheaper to sign up for a 12 month contract over a paygo SIM.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
Also, where is she studying? The school may have some advice on plans that work well for students. Another suggestion would be to post on the TripAdvisor forum for Scotland.
Will she be there is September? She'll want to remember the difference between Scotland and England. :) The vote for Independence is next month.
Pam