MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Going to be on a bike tour this summer in Europe and looking for a good SIM only deal that won't rip me off for roaming.
Seen some deals by Three, Orange, etc but nothing that stands out.
Won't be using phone for navigation unless I need to change my route, just researching accommodation, weather, shops, whatsapping home on route. So don't think I need a massive amount of data???
Any recommendations from real world use?
It's probably hard to look past the Lebara deals on MSE - from 99p a month for 3GB, unlimited texts & calls with European roaming.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/lebara/
I have SMARTY. Get 30 gb a month for £8. But be aware that you only get 12 gb roaming in Europe. Calls are free.
what phone do you have. ie does your phone have an esim option?
If so try airalo, they can do a regional esim for your trip.
I'm on ID mobile for my usual phone. They include European roaming as standard. You can get a rolling 1 month contract, so you only need to pay for the months you are away. Starts from £6 for unlimited phone, 4Gb data. https://www.idmobile.co.uk/sim-only-deals. some decent deals on longer contracts if you want to just swap your current plan.
yeah esim for data and leave calls and texts on your regular sim card is the easiest option these days (if your phone supports it)
Also on ID. £7 p/m 20 gig data, unlimited calls/texts.
Unused data gets rolled over - max of 20 gig for me
Be careful with ID (and others) as roaming is limited.
ID do it as a percentage, 77% of what you pay = GB. So £10/month = 7.7GB.
I’m on O2 who give you 25GB for roaming.
Also check provider covers all your countries. Switzerland might not be on there. Lucky i had a £5 spend limit on my phone as i got the limit in literally a couple of mins whilst using Google maps and Spotify in car. That's with virgin
Airalo worked for me in the US last year
giff gaff have worked for me in Europe on trips over the last couple of years. (Spain, Finland)
Reasonable price, straightforward, easy to cancel sim only deals. Possible to top up if you find yourself using a lot of data.
Sometimes you can buy a local sim on arrival, would that work?
Giffgaff now cap EU roaming data to 5 GBytes per month, not your full data allowance. This changed a few months ago. Made me watch my data use a bit when I was away for work.
Hiya,
ID mobile does in plan roaming in the EU. I use it all the time. Else get an eSIM for you phone.
BR
JeZ
I'd get one once in the eu. When working away and outside the EU in Macedonia it was easy with t mobile. Pop in to shop to help with initial setup and done! Do the same once you are in Europe and get EU roaming.
Last year we got 1 month prepaid sims from Three (recommended here) which worked a treat for a 3 1/2 week trip to the USA via Iceland.
12GB limit for roaming on a single sim (even if the sim is nominally more data) but that was enough for us even with no home wifi (did a bit of downloading big stuff at cafes etc, but probably wasn't really necessary).
Thanks for recommendations all.
I've been having a look through the various plans and they all seem to have limits on data or fair use policy of max 2 months roaming abroad.
As I'm away abit longer than that, it probably won't be suitable.
After a bit of research I have found a UK provider called Popit who appear to have no limits on data when roaming and have a 'soft' fair use policy of 6 months when roaming. All reviews I've seen so far look positive, so thinking of giving them a go.