Questions for anyone who has tried the Hushed app for international phone calls

As I understand it, it's a VOIP app, so it uses Internet access to make outgoing calls, so in theory you won't pay extra to make calls. But they are a bit vague on how their rates work, so in theory they may charge to receive calls. Re the number you were provided, Hushed only offers US and Canadian numbers as this is their key market. There are other providers that offer numbers in other countries, including the UK.

What I'm wondering is why you bought a travel esim if you wanted a UK number? The easiest option is to just buy a SIM or eSIM from a UK carrier, giving you a local number and none of the confusion.

I use Giffgaff and they're excellent. They will either mail a physical SIM, or you can bit an eSIM.

Re VOIP, I do have it via via my work, provided with Twilio. But I rarely use it as I normally have a local SIM. When I use it it works fine - they provide a UK number, and charge a monthly fee, but don't charge for calls.

Just be aware some countries (not the UK) are blocking VOIP calls that 'spoof' local numbers, so calls to those countries won't go through.

Orange Travel has more than just the 7-day data plan for 5 euros that all the eSIM providers provide -- for 20 euros you get 14 days of something like 12GB of data plus unlimited calls and texts within Europe from a new French phone number [with a +33 country code prefix] and just like the data-only plan you can top it up as needed in 5-euro increments,
but unlike the data-only plan you can register your French phone number with the French authorities and keep it.

I did this in November and expect to keep the new phone number forever, but only activate it when I am in Europe, as the secondary eSIM on my iPhone. Apple has some convoluted way of letting you use two eSIMs at the same time, but I haven't gone into it yet. I just follow the simple directions for switching from one eSIM to the other -- basically when your phone is already in airplane mode on the airplane, you change from your primary eSIM to the Orange eSIM, and when your plane lands and you turn off airplane mode, you're now using your French line. Reverse it on the way back.

In ten days in November I used about 4 hours of voice time and 6GB of data according to the phone measures, which seems a mystery to me b/c I only used it for making restaurant reservations and one or two other calls, but I did use google maps and Bolt a lot as I was wandering around getting lost. For 19,99 euros that was a lot less $ than any of the international phone plans and not much more than a data-only eSIM with one top-up, and I have a French phone number to boot. Tres chic, non?

I don't know if the UK counts as Europe in the Orange rules, though :-P

Thank you avirosemail!

This is just the kind of thing I was hoping someone would know. I will pursue the UK=Europe? issue.

Len

Thanks, Simon.

Good question about the UK carrier. I don't know. I started by trying to buy a Vodafone eSIM but they seemed to want me to be an current customer, and I couldn't even log in to buy without their username or account. So far, I'm not out a lot and will chalk it up to useful experience. I'll look around for other carriers. Thanks.

Len

I bought a GiffGaff sim card on Ebay for a few dollars. Had to make an account with them, and got a U.K. phone number. It's pay as you go, so I bought $20 worth of credits, and used the sim in Ireland as a backup for 2 weeks. Worked fine, cost very little. Problem is now, that since I have never activated it in England, all my useage is now International Roaming, with a very large per call/per text/per megabyte charge, now that I am back in the U.S.

But sounds like that would work well for you.

In the Orange travel / holiday app when you sign up for a plan it distinguishes the UK from Europe, so I guess that answers that question -- remember to scroll down because they push one or two choices even when there are more plan options available.

Just like any standard SIM, the giffgaff SIM is intended primarily for domestic use (ie in the UK). It is not a travel SIM designed for use in multiple countries. They do offer free data roaming for Europe, but you have to have used the SIM in the UK within the 59 days prior. So it's perfect if you're intending just to use it in the UK, or if you will travel to the UK first and then to continental Europe. I've used it in France and Austria without any issues. I'm in the UK every couple of months, so it's perfect for me. The reasoning behind all of this is Brexit - the UK no.longer had access to the EU roaming agreement.

Just a note that you don't need to buy it on eBay - just order it on the giffgaff website site and they'll deliver, or you can get an eSIM.

Good, clarification, Simon. Thank you.
My preference is to buy before I leave Canada, when I'm calm and relaxed, not just after I've arrived at Heathrow when I'm . . . . not calm and relaxed. And also anxious that I might use my home SIM by mistake. But giffgaff looks like a good one.