Hello:
I am pretty low tech but was successful in switching my sims card in Colombia in 2017 for 3 weeks when I had Verizon. Now we have Consumer Cellular as a carrier and I believe that the phone is unlocked. We will be in Portugal for 7 weeks, Ireland for 3 and Iceland last week. Since Ireland is not in the EU is there any way to get one sim card that would work for all 3 countries? Due to my lack of knowledge I am not sure what would be the best option to text, call and have data. I noted that Vodaphone has 30 day plans that could be continued but not sure about how to do that with a non EU country. We could get a cheap phone just for Portugal but I am not sure that would help. We won't need much in Iceland because we are traveling with family.
Thanks for any assistance in figuring this out from those with more knowledge in this area. Input is greatly appreciated.
Annemarie
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
The Republic of Ireland absolutely IS in the EU. Always have been. Use the Euro.
They are not in the Schengen Zone, but that will have no impact on them being included in the no-cost roaming within the EU.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8047 posts
While Ireland is not Schengen, it is EU, so a Portugal purchased SIM should have free roaming in Ireland. Iceland, while Schengen, is not EU, but does have close agreements with the EU, so you would need to verify if any SIM plans include Iceland, but I believe Vodaphone does.
As for Vodaphone plans, if you purchase a SIM in Portugal, you should be able to add Data and minutes to the account to extend it the time needed. You would need to do that by setting up an account on the Vodaphone Portugal portal ( https://www.vodafone.pt/ ) and can do it from anywhere. Back when I bought SIMs though, navigating Vodaphone country websites can be tricky, translation of the site to English is not always obvious.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6968 posts
Iceland, while Schengen, is not EU, but does have close agreements
with the EU, so you would need to verify if any SIM plans include
Iceland, but I believe Vodaphone does.
Iceland is not an EU member, but it is part of the EEA, and many EU rules, including the roaming regulation, apply to Iceland.
Posted by
Folsom
2732 posts
I was excited to read the title until I realized it said sim not slim!
Posted by
Pittsburgh, USA
295 posts
We just traveled and used airalo e-sims for Italy and France. I haven't tried the global one, but it is well rated by other users and both the Italy and France ones were reliable and ridiculously easy to use (no taking your phone apart and you can top one off with more data with a couple taps if you need to, so you don't need to overbuy ahead).
And of course, they were far more affordable than any other service I found.
Posted by
CA, USA
1243 posts
You might want to look at Google Fi. $20/mos for the Flexible plan, $10/GB for data, free texts, 20cents/min for calls placed abroad. No contract, cancel the plan at any time. One advantage is you set it up before you go so you know it will work. Your phone may allow use of an e-sim which would just be electronically downloaded onto it, although this tends to be on more expensive phones.
See https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6157794?hl=en#zippy=%2Crates-for-international-calls for rate info
Posted by
Pittsburgh, USA
295 posts
@periscope
I shouldn't assume others are as graceless as I am with technology. My phone is in a case with multiple parts and the thought of taking it out then popping out a tiny part and preserving the other tiny part in an airport (or plane or hotel for that matter) is not at all my cup of tea.
Posted by
11569 posts
Popping a sim card in out of it’s dedicated slot is hardly technology or taking a phone apart!