Forum menu
I am going away in March and would like to be able to make and receive phone calls, texts & emails from my phone.
I am on EE and the roaming costs seem ridiculously high at £15 per day excluding data.
I see my best option (unless the STW knowledgeables know better) is to but a sim card when I land in the country? Assuming this is correct can I just call the UK numbers stored on my phone and/or cloud or do I have to change the number - remove the first zero and replace with 44?
Thanks
You should be able to get a 7 day roaming package or similar
EE EU pass is £15 for 7 days
My brother went to turkey and his best option was an e sim.
Where are you going that's £15/day and no data? Pretty sure my wife's current contract is free and mine is a couple of £.
Can't get EU pass as I am going to Nepal - should have said in my original post, sorry
Buy a local sim. It's a really easy option
Worst case, buy a local sim and phone and bin both as you leave the country
Assuming this is correct can I just call the UK numbers stored on my phone and/or cloud or do I have to change the number – remove the first zero and replace with 44?
So you're wanting to dial the UK from Nepal? Make sure any local SIM allows this
The full UK dialing code is 0044 isn't it? But some phones can do some funky things like +44 instead. May take a bit of experimentation but, yes, you drop the leading zero from the phone number and replace with 0044 or +44 then the remaining numbers. And you'll probably need to manually key in the numbers rather than just use whatever you have stored in your contacts.
And things like UK free phone or local rate calls (eg 0845 or 0345) won't work - you'll have to use the international number (assuming such a thing exists)
WhatsApp voice calls and WiFi.
Because it will cost loads per minute for a phone call to UK on a local SIM card.
Do you also not need to watch out for people in the UK calling your UK number and then you getting hit for the international part? I normally use WhatsApp and data or WiFi when traveling to avoid all that mess
What Big John said.
Wifi, Whatsapp, messaging, pictures , voice calls, video calls........£00000
Can’t get EU pass as I am going to Nepal
The answer is leave the phone at home. Immerse yourself I'm the place and culture Take a proper camera and go off grid for a bit.
I went to Nepal 28 years ago for 6 weeks. An absolutely awesome place, such lovely genuine people that you shouldn't be distracted from. It's nearly midnight right now, I'm a bit pissed but just the memories of that trip are probably going to keep me awake for an hour now.
I bought a 15 day sim card in Thailand with unlimited data which was less than £20. My phone is old so had a physical card in it. My friend had an e-sim. Both done within minutes at Bangkok airport.
Jumping to conclusions about where you are going in Nepal will there be much phone coverage , apart from in the big towns / cities which will also have wifi
Switch your phone off and just switch it on occasionally and use wifi and WhatsApp
If you really must , get a local eSIM
eSIMs are great but 1) your phone needs to be fairly recent to support them 2) they can be bit fiddly to enable 3) you might need to buy them and set them up before you arrive, enabling them when you’re there 4) some are data only
What would be the hive mind’s collective solution be for 3 weeks in the US? (EE subscriber)
I used Airalo in the states. Worked flawlessly once set up, but there was a bit of a procedure involved from memory.
@blackhat ....esim
My 1st time using an esim was in Asia I was wary of the process and how it would jump across many countries and networks. But it just works... its witchcraft I tell thee
I'm off to US in April also EE and I'll be getting nomad esim for myself and Mrs b
The answer is leave the phone at home. Immerse yourself I’m the place and culture Take a proper camera and go off grid for a bit.
That's bad advice, 28 years ago you could get a guide like the Loney Planet for accommodation, transport, things to do etc but not today, at least if they do exist nobody is paying to update them because it's all online and you will benefit from being able to access that information on a mobile device. You'll be amazed what you can book online (small hostels, scooter taxis) to the point some things can only be booked online now. It's what the locals do now might as well immerse yourself in it.
USA and Asia - eSIM for the win, if your phone will accept it. As said earlier, research options and buy it before you go.
eSIM witchcraft would appear to be the way forward; as a techno-numpty I am already in a cold sweat.
Some countries are very hard going without a mobile. Because of a system failure we were unable to put any money on our card in Argentina recently. Not then knowing about the esim approach, we were struggling and in some cases failing to get into our accommodation, hire a car or get on a bus. Second time around we had an esim and everything worked fine. WhatsApp is next to essential too.
Get an Airalo esim.
For USA in 2023 I used WhatsApp for voice calls from wifi hotspots and downloaded Google maps so navigation still worked with no phone signal.
Downloaded podcasts for entertainment while camping
The only option as my phone wasn't compatible with USA networks.
There is wifi everywhere if you are in a town. Being on holiday I didn't need to be able to make or receive calls 24/7.
Still worth getting into town and getting wifi to use Booking com etc for that night rather than get stiffed with the walk up price.
Just landed in India last week.
I went for an airalo esim as my phone has just the one slot. Absolute bag of poo. Really dodgy and intermittent reception and was data only.
So popped in to a high street shop. Cost me £10 for 28 days, 1.5gb a day and unlimited calls and texts.
Everything just works, including WhatsApp without changing a thing apart from the sim.
Far easier, far more reliable. PS you need your passport to get the sim.
WANDER15 should get you 15% off an airalo e sim. I’ve had great service in the USA using one - pretty sure it chooses whichever carrier is strongest in your area, handy for places with mixed reception.
I prefer to sort out a sim card ahead of time, rather than having to run around shops looking for one.
I've had mixed results with airalo. It's been mostly okay, but there's been a few occasions where it's just not worked when the other sims in my phone have been fine. Good if you're moving through several countries, though.
I bought a month pass from ee in the summer as it worked out cheaper than 2 weeks on their daily pass. I got to keep my unlimited data allowance.
EE’s roaming fees? Yikes, that’s insane. I swapped to Maaltalk when I was traveling, and it was way easier, no SIM swap drama. Just scanned a QR code, and I was good to go with calls and data. Highly recommend if you’re trying to avoid the roaming nightmare 😂.
before you rip your UK Sim out just have a quick think about any MFA which is set to your phone number - i wound up with my card blocked at a most awkward time, as the "oooh it looks like you are in a.n.other country, please confirm this is you" texts from my CC company went to my number, as did all the nause of unlocking it..... incl. c.20mins on hold which cost around £60
What i have done is get a second phone with a local sim. Roaming charges for nz are £7 a day. Incoming calls and texts are free. Got a big data package on thd local sim and use the phone as a wifi hotspot
I wanted a second phone as backup.
this is what i do
What i have done is get a second phone with a local sim. Roaming charges for nz are £7 a day. Incoming calls and texts are free. Got a big data package on thd local sim and use the phone as a wifi hotspot
I wanted a second phone as backup.
this is what i do
what are the odds, eh?
MFA texts were my worry, if I lost my phone. I took a spare SIM for my provider and made sure I knew how to get my number transferred to it.
Esim and connect to local wifi whilst you can. Nepal has great mobile coverage as the locals absolutely rely on it. I was there bikepacking the Annapurna and only had about 3 days without coverage. Anything you arent bringing home if you buy a phone leave on your bed forvthe hotel staff to keep, they are well poor compared to you.
Unless I'm mistaken, What's App only works for calling people or organizations already on What's App.
For instance, you're not going to be able to call your hotel (eg did I leave my passport in the room when I checked out?) or calling your UK bank/credit card company if they lock your cards. Receiving MFA text messages, though, should be free as far as I know (but requires your SIM to be in the slot, so it helps if your phone has multiple SIM slots)
So a data only package and What's App isn't a solution for this type of use case....
I must admit, I have no idea how Wi-Fi calling works though as I've always had unlimited calling at home, so never needed it. Please enlighten me!
+1 Airalo, I've used it a few times for traveling to the US for work. Much cheaper than the daily roaming charges. The app will walk you through the setup, it's pretty easy. Only annoyance I had was having to manually change the data/network settings a few times when I got home as I kept losing my UK data connection as the settings kept reverting to the US ones for some reason.
I've used BNE eSims in the USA, Singapore, Malaysia & Borneo, has always been reliable. I believe their app includes a dialler so you can make regular phone calls without WhatsApp.