SIM Cards for multiple countries

Jed - there are many "multi-country" or "World" SIM cards available. Prior to moving to Italy we have purchased and used these. On the Telestial web page they offer a great explanation of how SIM cards and International phones work, CLICK Telestial These folks also offer insight into using International Phones, CLICK Planet Omni

Also on the Telestial site, they offer this: "If you are looking for one cell phone number for multiple country trips, then you should consider the Passport SIM card, Passport Plus SIM card, Passport Lite SIM card or the Explorer SIM card. With each of these services you get one cell phone number with service in over 90 countries."

The cost of their "multi-country" SIM is $39 and then .49 cents a minute. There are MANY other companies out there that offer these type of products. For most, as long as you use your SIM card # once every 6 months you can keep your "World" number forever. Also understand that recently the EU passed legislation cutting the cost of calling another EU country IN HALF - so it is now much more less expensive to "roam" than it was before. That may be a factor when you consider if you need to buy a "world" card or one for the country you'll send the most time in.

Each "company" sells you a SIM for a specific provider. For example in Italy your SIM might be on the TIM, WIND, or Vodaphone network. Once you BUY the card (at various up front prices) you then will be subject to that network's charges - so check out not just who's selling it to you... but what network they're selling and what it will cost.

I've posted before that I have 6 phone numbers active, 3 here in Italy... so you can continue to use the phone, even in the US. We've bought cards & phones in the US, primarily through eBay. I DO NOT recommend using your US carrier as that will become incredibly expensive!

Good luck! Ciao,
Ron

Jed - there is cost vs. convenience to consider. If you plan on returning to Europe often as we did (3-4 times a year) then get the phone and the SIM card - either world or country of choice (we always chose England as we came at least once a year...)

If you are planning a one-time trip, then go with your provider! We really did not 'maximize" our usage until we got TWO cell phones - so we could talk to each other as we rarely called the States and only used the phones for reservations, restaurants, etc. But when we had two phones it was a LIFESAVER - especially when my wife and I were separated during the post-XMAS sale at Harrod's in London...as the commercial says --- PRICELESS!!!

Good luck in your decision!
Ciao,

Ron

Jed did you factor in the cost of a phone? Or will your T-mobile phone allow for installation of another sim card?

Maybe a stupid question, can we pull and replace a sim card easily in our phones?

On one flight to Europe, I sat next to a guy from Hong Kong. The second we landed he had his phone out, pulled the sim card out and put another one in. It looked relatively easy but I had never seen anyone do it before and I haven't tried it yet myself.

Ron has a great explanation. It really comes down to how much you plan to use the phone. If you're talking for a few minutes a day, it may be less expensive and more convenient to keep your US number. If you're going to be talking for and hour a week, then the World SIM or country SIM would likely be a better bet. There is also the cost of buying/renting an unlocked GSM phone unless your US carrier will unlock your current phone.

Thanks for the great info Ron and Eric! So, trying to balance this all out (For those in WA State this would make a great math WASL question!)....

With T-Mobile, we would pay .99 per minute for all incoming and outgoing calls, and to check voicemail (and, if this isn't weird, if the phone is on when someone leaves a voicemail we get charged for that call AND then to check the message).

Looking at the Passport SIM(great site by the way!) as Ron said it's $39 with $10 free airtime. Other costs are .49 per minute and .25 per call connection fee.

So, if I do my math correctly (please check my work!) the break even point for my T-Mobile phone would be just over 100 minutes of usage. That would figure $39 SIM purchase, 100 minutes of connect fees($25) and 80 minutes of talk time (Since $10 included in card that's approx. 20 minutes free time) at .49/minute ($39.20). That would add up to $104.20. For 100 minutes with my T-Mobile phone it would cost $99.

I don't think combined my wife and I would use that many minutes and since we'd both need a separate card it probably does make sense to just use our T-Mobile phones and use the worldwide service. We'd probably use it just to connect with each other if we're touring separately, call ahead if needed for hotels, check in occasionally at home for a few minutes, or emergencies. We'll also have our Costco international calling card to use if needed.

I did see they had the Passport Lite card for $5(No connection fees) which includes $5 of airtime and is rechargeable. However, they didn't indicate how much per minute it would cost. I'm guessing more than the .49/minute with the Passport.

Maybe for the convenience of few calls, free calls from others in US to my cell #, and the added expense of buying another SIM, the .99 per minute isn't that bad after all! I'll have to think a bit more on this though.

Thanks again Ron and Eric!

Jed

Jed, I have a few comments to add to the great information from Ron & Eric.

I haven't "crunched the numbers", but suspect that buying a SIM for each country is NOT going to be a cost effective solution. The Telestial SIM mentioned by Ron might be one possibility? You could also look at the SIM's offered by Cellular Abroad. Keep in mind that each time you change SIM's, the phone no. changes, so a bit confusing for people that want to call you.

You might want to verify the T-Mobile roaming rates, to determine whether incoming calls are priced the same as outgoing "in country" or outgoing back to the U.S. calls. My provider (Rogers) has different rates for each type of call.

In your situation, I'd suggest that T-Mobile roaming would be the logical choice, but if you're concerned about costs you'll need to minimize voice calls. Using text/SMS to keep in touch both with your Wife and with family back home is an easy and fairly cost effective solution. Check with T-Mobile regarding their roaming SMS rates.

One important point to mention though - BE SURE to tell EVERYONE that has your Cell no. that you'll be travelling so they don't call!!! There's nothing more annoying than a 3 a.m. call for some trivial matter, from someone that doesn't know you're travelling abroad!

Good luck and happy travels!

Great points Ken! Like you said, nothing like a 3 AM call to "see what you're up to"!

I did e-mail T-Mobile to verify rates and this was part of the reply:
"You are correct about the $0.99 a minute charge to make calls, receive calls, for voice mail left on your phone if it is turned on (but not if it is turned off), and to retrieve voice mail."

Good idea on texting too! On the T-Mobile website it states for the World Class Roaming feature (the international plan I've referred to), texts messages are .35 per message sent and .15 for messages received. If you have a text message plan then messages sent and received from the US and Canada are taken out of your bucket, though if you send from other than the US or Canada it's the .35 per message.

Brad-I talked to T-Mobile and we can unlock our phones before we go so we can put in another SIM card. I thought I had read on here (or somewhere else) not all phone companies allow that. I thought Verizon was one of them, but not sure.

Thanks for all the feedback again Ron. I think we're just going to go with T-Mobile as this has been a trip we've been planning for a few years, and though we will go back, probably not for at least another year or two (though I wish we could go more than that!).

So, cost-wise it probably makes the most sense for us to bring our phones and use them as needed. At a $1 per minute at least we won't be tempted to call people every time we see something amazing (Kidding...though I'm sure we'll see that too as people call their friends from the Eiffel Tower.)! We'll use the money saved on some great meals instead!