SIM Cards for phones in the UK

I looked at options quite a bit, and if you search you will probably find the question I had about the same thing.

Basically, yes that would work for you, providing your phone is a GSM or the proper band for the UK and your phone is unlocked.

Your example is marketed for UK citizens, but that does not prevent you from getting it, you just need a UK Sim card and it will have a UK phone number. You can get much the same thing from several vendors when you land at Heathrow, or when you get into town, find a Carphone Warehouse and they will set you up.

In the end, for me, since my wife and I both have GSM phones with international roaming, we decided to just use our regular phones, pay the $1.25 a minute for the limited calls we did make. For Data, my phone automatically shuts data off internationally, but there was plenty of free wifi when I needed it.

Ahhh. I'm looking into getting a Samsung Galaxy S4. The phone in of itself said that it is international ready, so maybe I don't have to buy a separate SIM card at all and should just accept the international roaming rate. She'll probably only call it four or five times for one minute each.

I would get a local Sim,call boxes come in at 60p a call.. to landlines and the number of times you get an answer phone is painful.
My sim gets me 500mins for £10, plus 1Gb of internet.
You could try someone elses Sim in your phone. just to see if it is locked to your network,region wise you sound set.

Klescer,

As stated by Paul. Check out carphonewarehouse when you get there. you can look at their website here now. There are prices and rates for the various providers.

If you want a smart phone or something fancy, it wont be cheap just as here.

If all you want is something to carry for "emergencies" as you say, then you can get something for < 50 USD including the SIM. They offer Pay As You Go (PAYG) sims so you only pay when you need and what you need but again, its not going to be fancy.. Whats nice too is that IF you want to buy web time, you can do that without having to buy a contract or the upper tier plan as we have to do in the USA.

also, the way i see it, they have things better overthere in terms of rates and such. So the caller pays for the call not the receiver. again, read the info at carphonewarehouse.com.

Also, if you dont like the place there are other vendors too. Its just for me, they are almost everywhere.

another thing. check out what your provider overhere can do for you, if they can. It maybe less expensive or less hassle.

happy trails.

As far as I see its £2 for a 3min call from phonebox to Uk Registered SIM,by coin.
Earlier in year, if paying by card it apparently got bumped to ,sit down, £6.50. They backed down.
Argos do lots of phones.A basic network locked one can be as low as £5, but £10 credit needed ,an unlocked basic phone £15.
Orange shops, one of the big 4 have pay as you go phones from £3.99.Again you have to buy £10 credit..rate works out at 12p a min

Thanks for the responses.

Are you all saying that taking my American cell phone that accepts Sim cards over to the UK, it will not work? That it would be cheaper to get a UK phone?

Msg sent.
Your phone is fine.
Its just wether for convenience and cost a cheapo mobile might be a better option than payphones,

I see. Gotcha.

Was in London in January and needed limited phone access. I was able to get a free SIM card for my iPhone and could add time at £5 increments through the local Internet cafe. This was much cheaper than the offers being hawked at Heathrow. And, the clerk changed the SIM card for me.

Kathy, from what phone company did you buy the SIM?

Most small newsagents, supermarkets and phone shops have SIMs.
The almost universal first top up is £10....I have a vague idea one still does £5 but the per min call rate is much higher.
EE, Orange, Virgin,Vodaphone and O2 are the biggest companies.
Lebara and Lycamobile also common and tend to be cheapest.