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UK/Ireland Sim Card company guidance requested 2019

Posted by on

Hi there. I found a previous Sim Card UK/Ireland topic from 2018. Looking for updated information.

Going to Scotland (10 days) and then Ireland (14 days) from the US in June. Looking for advice regarding which prepaid Telcom company to use for prepaid SIM. Best choice would be to just need to get one SIM that will work for both UK and Ireland without roaming. But if it is better to do one SIM for UK and one for Ireland we can manage. We'd just want your help regarding which is the better prepaid service in each country. For example, in the US T-mobile is the cheaper service vs. Verizon but the trade off is less service, especially in rural areas. For me, I will pay up to make sure I have coverage.

  • Need data usage for Facetime, FB messenger, social media appls, etc. Plus for google maps, normal web surfing regarding our current location, etc. item
  • Would also be sending and receiving texts. Likely some international inbound texts although can likely avoid international texts by using social media.
  • Would not be needing to call back to the states and if needed, hoping can accomplish thru FB video chat, Facetime, skype, etc.
  • Most calls would be within the country we are in regarding our travel and to the other members of our group (4 total) but there may be calls from Ireland to Scotland and vice versa. We should all be getting foreign SIMs.

Thank you for your assistance. Let me know if you need me to provide additional details.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks CJ. Not really looking for opinions on cell carrier coverage in the US, mainly looking for the carriers in Scotland and Ireland such as O2, Vodaphone, Orange, etc on the prepaid sim side and what the plan options are. I used the T-Mobile vs. Verizon in the states as an example for coverage.

Posted by
1349 posts

EE has the widest coverage nationally, but there's not much in it.Most corner stores and all supermarkets have a selection of SIMs.
Activation takes a couple of mins usually.
I am.a long time Giffgaff user, their Goodybag packages last a month ,no rolling contract.
All the companies do month packages for about £10 and are MUCH better value than PAYG

Posted by
1349 posts

Giffgaff to giffgaff calls are free.
Without checking calling back to US was 3c a min last time I looked.
For that though you need to add some credit on top of the goodybag package.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks Richard.

Regarding giffgaff, it sounds like they are a reseller of O2 services. Can you verify if I set up my SIM with them in Edinbourgh, that I will not have any extra fees (data/voice/text) when I go to Ireland a few weeks later? So basically, using the giffgaff plan in Ireland is the exact same thing as using in Scotland ??

"Like all UK networks, virtual or not, Giffgaff no longer charges you to use your calls, text and data allowance within the EU"

Posted by
432 posts

I've opted for GiffGaff for a 6-week trip taking in England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland. Cost nothing to have the SIM sent to me in Australia. I could have waited to activate it on arrival in the UK, but I wanted to let various people know my phone number ahead of leaving, so I opted to activate it now by paying a flat amount of £10. That may cover all my usage across the whole period as I plan to use hotel etc. wi-fi for data. Do note that if you select one of the "goody-bags" when activating, the 30-day clock starts running down straight away.

If all your group have GiffGaff SIMs, calls between them are free.

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