My iphone is unlocked and I would like to purchase a sim card. I read some place that Orange Hoilday is a great SIM to purchase if you speak French. Any recommendation? I will be traveling to Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.
Thanks,
Posted by
Westford, MA
201 posts
I bought an Orange Holiday sim card in a shop in Paris last summer. I do not speak French. I somehow managed to burn thru my data in not many days and purchased more online while in Munich.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Last May, I bought 3GB of data for a month for my Dutch Vodafone SIM. In 17 days, I used only 2GB - and by the end I wasn't even bothering to join WiFi networks because I knew I was going to have a lot of unused data left at the end. I used the SIM for hotspot quite a lot with my laptop, on trains etc., very handy, and I still used only the 2GB total. I didn't stream videos pretty much at all, however.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
If you aren't going to buy the SIM in advance before your trip, you will buy a Finnish SIM on arrival in Finland. Some things to know:
1) Make sure you get a plan that will work in all the other countries you are visiting (not hard, but not guaranteed either, unless you ask).
2) When roaming outside of Finland, your rates will not change in Estonia, Sweden, or Denmark. That's because within the EU, there is no longer any surcharge for roaming.
3) However, Norway is not part of the EU. The Finnish carrier is free to set whatever rate they want. So, check what the rate will be, to avoid a nasty surprise - it may be just a bit more, or may be a fortune. If it is a fortune, you may want to buy a new Norwegian SIM in Norway.
4) You will have to figure out a way to refill the SIM card once outside of Finland (refilling a SIM in the country where you bought it is easy). You can try to do it online, but this doesn't always work. You can just put a lot of credit on the SIM before you leave Finland. Or, you can just plan to get a new SIM wherever you are when the Finnish one runs out.
The Prepaid GSM website has a lot of information. Here is their Europe Forum. Be aware that discussions here can get VERY technical - don't be afraid to ask for clarification. http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=9e870e42cc35eb96a27b4790b3766776&f=22
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
I'm like Andrew H. At first I managed my data carefully, using WiFi whenever it was available. By about three days to go on the card, I had only used 2 Gb so stopped worrying about it.
I've only traveled in France with it. I speak some French - but horribly. I understand you can cross borders with the Orange Holiday card. As I recall, I was in Italy for a short while from Chamonix. The phone said something about roaming charges while in Italy but I didn't really pay attention.
In the past I've used another card (SFR?) that would also have roaming charges if you go into another country. I don't know how the roaming charges compare?