I just got back from a trip to London. Landed at LHR Terminal 3. After customs, there is a shopping area. If you head to the ramp that leads down to the Heathrow Express platform, there is a kiosk/vending machine on the right side of the railing at the top of the platforms that sells SIM's for about 4 or 5 different carriers (I did not purchase from this Kiosk). There are also ATM's across the walkway from this kiosk.
I took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, where there are many carriers with stores. I purchased an Orange 15p SIM, which is 15p to any phone on any network in the UK. There is also a SIM that is 6p to the US, 15p to any landline or Orange phone in the UK, 30p to all other mobile networks. None of the SIM's cost anything. You just pay for the top-up. You can re-up at stores, ATM's, or over the phone. You can call internationally to top-up, so you can keep your prepaid number indefinately. Plus, the roaming works outside of the UK. Unless you have a specific phone number you want to use, there is no reason to purchase a world SIM card. Instead, just get a free SIM from any of the UK carriers.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jean235
I am traveling to Serbia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria all in 2 weeks and probably will not need over 1 hour of air time my complete trip. I have a European model Nokia Model 3410. Can i use a sims card that will work in all those countries? How much and where do I purchase it (Airport, News stand etc.)? Thanks. Please reply at irwin41@yahoo.com
This answer comes nearly 15 months after the question, but is current as of last week. M-Tel in Bulgaria sells two sim cards for 9.99 BGN (New Bulgarian Leva), with 5 Leva talk time included. I was told the the numbers are good for life. A charge of 30 leva would get you a talk time of 150 minutes.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaatri
This answer comes nearly 15 months after the question, but is current as of last week. M-Tel in Bulgaria sells two sim cards for 9.99 BGN (New Bulgarian Leva), with 5 Leva talk time included. I was told the the numbers are good for life. A charge of 30 leva would get you a talk time of 150 minutes.
Is this for a new sim card? I have an M-tel that is over a year old is the number still good, all I need to do is top it up?
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Originally Posted by powerlifter
Is this for a new sim card? I have an M-tel that is over a year old is the number still good, all I need to do is top it up?
I think this is for SIM cards bought during the promotion period. I found it hard to believe when the girl at the M-Tel shop told me there is no expiry date. I have not found anything to confirm it. More information loot at the website.
SIM Card Recommendation for Netherlands and Italy?
Can anyone recommend a vendor/plan for a SIM card that works in Netherlands and Italy? I want a European number for incoming calls - either a Netherlands or Italy number would be fine. I will be in Euroope Nov 12-28. Amsterdam, Venice and Perugia.
I want to make and receive calls within Europe and to/from USA. I am looking for the lowest-cost option.
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I am off to Spain in December and am looking for best Sim Card deal.
Telestial seems okay but charges .39c connection fee in additon to the call charge of .60c. That's $1/min.
SIM4travel at .60c/min seems a good deal.
This thread is a couple of years old so any new thoughts?
Jim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimc_usa
I am off to Spain in December and am looking for best Sim Card deal.
Telestial seems okay but charges .39c connection fee in additon to the call charge of .60c. That's $1/min.
SIM4travel at .60c/min seems a good deal.
This thread is a couple of years old so any new thoughts?
Jim
If you are just going to one country just get a local Spanish SIM when you get there, not one of the multicountry ones. You dont need it and it will be more expensive than a Spanish SIM.
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My recent experience in London: In addition to the free SIM's that shane-o references (you get the SIM for free when you pay for 5 pounds of top-up), which is what I ended up buying, most cell phone shops once you're slightly away from the totally tourist-dominated areas were offering the Motorola F3 phone for 10 pounds if you buy 10 pounds top-up. So 20 pounds out the door. Had I run across that deal before buying top-up time for a free SIM, I probably would have sprung for it, so that I wouldn't have to fumble about switching SIM's.
When I was in Germany in May, I bought a Vodafone SIM card for 20 Euros at a Vodafone store. Make sure you bring your passport, have a local address to use (including zip code), and possibly a local landline number. It served me well while I was there. I sold it for more on ebay once I returned home. In your case, the refills will keep it going solid for quite a while.
Is it cool reselling these things? I was in Germany in October and bought 3 prepaid sims from T-Mobile for 3 different phones. (10 euros each). My sales manager was with me and I didn't have my passport with me so he used his passport (he is actually a german national and used a german passport).
Anywho, it turned out I only used one of the sims because the 2 other phone weren't completely unlocked. One was a cheap Motorola C121 I bought at MediaMarkt in Nuremberg that was attached to Debitel/Vodaphone. When I tried to put in the TMobile sim it asked for the a subsidy password which I stupidly entered incorrectly too many times and locked it. So, I assumed it was locked. (Though the original debitel/vodaphone sim works fine, just has no more time on it).
My sales manager has a Nextel phone he uses in the states and bought a "international phone" from Nextel where he can swap his US sim into and Intl Roam, at Nextel prices. I figured this extra phone was unlocked well that wasn't true also.
We were so busy with our trade show that we could never get back before the tmobile store we bought the cards closed, so I still own them. I WAS going to sell them on eBay, but I was afraid that this SIM would be linked to my sales manager's passport and not be a "cool" thing having someone else running around with a phone number attached to his name and passport.
So, two questions:
1) Is it cool to sell these sims, or is it a "identity" issue that could cause problems later. It's only 20 euros so I can eat it.
2a) Is there a service that can unlock these phones? The Motorola C121 I think is subsidy locked, but if I throw it out, it's no big whoop, it was 10 euros. I tried to have Nextel "unlock" the extra "intl" phone that my sales manager has and the geniuses at the Nextel store first said, "it was not their phone" and then after persistence and we said it was there phone they said, "What does unlock mean?". We gave up after that. Is there a service that can unlock these phones and/or what is the trick to get Nextel to unlock a phone?
