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OneSim International Simcards

Posted by (Lawrence, KS) on

I use TripCase to organize my travel on my smartphone, and they partner with OneSim. If you use the link on the TripCase app to go to the Onesim website, you get $10 off your purchase. I bought a simcard that fit into my iPhone 5s. Remember to call your carrier in the US to unlock your phone for use with a third party simcard. Because my carrier only allows this abroad, I wasn't sure my card would work once overseas. But I followed their instructions (you might go to the store if you're not comfortable restoring your phone from a backup on your own), and it worked fine. I kept my phone in airplane mode the entire trip, used wifi, and made exactly one call to confirm an arrival time with a hotel.

In retrospect, I think it might have been cheaper and easier to buy a prepaid phone in Europe, but this was convenient as well for the amount that it got used.

Posted by
30 posts

Hi Colette,
It was $40 plus shipping, which included $10 worth of talk/data. All told I think it worked out to about $50.

Posted by
9371 posts

I keep my regular phone (which doesn't even work as a phone in Europe) on airplane mode and wifi and use it all over Europe, anywhere there is wifi. I also use wifi-based texting apps. I don't see any advantage to paying $50, particularly since it sounds like you did nothing I can't do for free. Is there something I'm missing?

Posted by
30 posts

Nancy,
You're mostly right. I took it along as a just-in-case. In the event that I needed to make a phone call within Europe, this was available to me. I ended up having to change my travel plans and notify my hotelier of an after-hours arrival while on a train sans WiFi, so it served its purpose. Otherwise I didn't need it and didn't intend to use it, but I still have the card, and it will work the next time I go to Europe too (or anywhere abroad), just in case.

Posted by
9371 posts

You could have done the same thing with a postpaid SIM like Eurobuzz, which would have charged nothing until you used it. The cost of a Eurobuzz SIM is $9. Right now they have a deal going for two phones and SIM cards for $39, which is fantastic. Their per-minute rate is a bit higher than a local SIM, but if you don't need it you don't pay anything - and your number is permanent.

Posted by
145 posts

Nancy:

Could you please elaborate on what you are suggesting re: Eurobuzz? I have opened my own thread and you could respond there if you wish.

Thanks,
Porcupyn

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