Best Contract/PAYG for Roaming
Mar 31, 2016, 2:38 pm
#17
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,110
Check out GigSKY. If you have an Apple device they are available on the Apple SIM, but you can get the same service on their own SIM too.
They have data rates for almost all countries (a couple of notable omissions) that are either average, or good. They have fixed periods of 3, 7, 15, and 30 days and price points of £10, £18, £25 and £35 respectively. What varies is how much data you get. For example at the 7 day price you get 400MB in Germany, 250MB in Hong Kong, 125MB in China, and 80MB in Serbia.
Truphone's packages may be useful too, though they seem somewhat better for corporates than individuals.
They have data rates for almost all countries (a couple of notable omissions) that are either average, or good. They have fixed periods of 3, 7, 15, and 30 days and price points of £10, £18, £25 and £35 respectively. What varies is how much data you get. For example at the 7 day price you get 400MB in Germany, 250MB in Hong Kong, 125MB in China, and 80MB in Serbia.
Truphone's packages may be useful too, though they seem somewhat better for corporates than individuals.
Mar 31, 2016, 2:56 pm
#18
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA, U2+, SK, AF/KL, IHG, Hilton, others gathering dust...
Posts: 2,552
Three is ok. But they really throttle the free data when your abroad. I was with them for years but found it increasingly unusable when I needed data to work.
Vodafone on the other hand don't. And you can take all your allowances abroad for £3 day or £5 a day to there nonEU destinations (quite a large list of countries. Google 'World Traveller'). I have a 20GB plan with Vodafone so never run out of data abroad.
I never call anyone on their phone anymore either. Tend to use whatsapp / IMO/ Facebook messenger / FaceTime for audio or video calls. So using mins or texts isn't important to me. I need data and need it to work, fast enough to make video and audio calls. Vodafone does that. Three didn't.
Apr 1, 2016, 4:44 am
#19
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,438
Apr 1, 2016, 4:45 am
#20
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
I agree. The 3 deal is a great one on paper, and I'm sure it works well for some, but a colleague who has it has nightmares with data speed outside the UK. I'm on Vodafone, and while their customer service is lamentable, I find their network the best for data speed. Very glad they've now added UAE and Mexico to World Traveller, those places were costing me a fortune.
Apr 1, 2016, 9:44 am
#21
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK - the nearest airport is named after a motorway !
Posts: 4,234
I agree. The 3 deal is a great one on paper, and I'm sure it works well for some, but a colleague who has it has nightmares with data speed outside the UK. I'm on Vodafone, and while their customer service is lamentable, I find their network the best for data speed. Very glad they've now added UAE and Mexico to World Traveller, those places were costing me a fortune.
Apr 1, 2016, 11:21 am
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,224
I use Three extensively as I mostly travel to the USA, Ireland, France and Hong Kong, all Feel at Home destinations. I don't really use much data as mostly I surf when I'm inside on wifi, so the data is more for occasional emails. However, it still is fast enough to make Whats App and other VOIP calls when I need to call a UK number.
Apr 4, 2016, 11:31 am
#23
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: USA
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 812
I have much better luck going on the ATT network in the US rather than the T-Mobile one - their data speeds are dire. I'm convinced that the guest/roaming network are indeed the ones that throttle bandwidth for three customers, but that's inevitably due to their SLAs with Three. Of note - they do only provide 3g data roaming, not 4g. Also their coverage outside London (or inside a building anywhere) is pretty poor.
Apr 4, 2016, 12:06 pm
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,224
I've found Three's coverage to be pretty good. In London it's excellent, far better than EE where I struggled to get a signal indoors in much of central London. I have annual trips to Cornwall (north coast) and central Dorset where I alone am able to get a signal, with friends on O2, Vodafone and EE are all dark. However, there's a very irritating hole in Three's coverage on the Piccadilly Line around about Osterley....
Apr 6, 2016, 10:52 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,110
Is that on some sort of business plan, or have you got Vodafone to apply World Traveller to a consumer plan?
Apr 8, 2016, 4:07 am
#28
formerly rxfleming
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: AUH, DXB (and GLA)
Programs: BA GGL, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat Elite
Posts: 2,455
World Traveller / Euro Traveller can be applied to a consumer or business plan.
Apr 8, 2016, 10:29 am
#29
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,476
Three (I would think in common with other providers) also offer a VOIP over wi-fi call option via an app.
In theory, according to the download blurb, this is only for UK wi-fi locations - but I have queried this with their CS agents in the past and been told it works anywhere in the world. I would tend to believe this because I doubt they're going to bother making a check on IP address and location, which in itself is not necessarily a reliable indicator. The caveat is that I've never used it in a non-Feel at Home location, so I can't give an absolute cast-iron guarantee that it'll work on a FOC basis (or at all).
In theory, according to the download blurb, this is only for UK wi-fi locations - but I have queried this with their CS agents in the past and been told it works anywhere in the world. I would tend to believe this because I doubt they're going to bother making a check on IP address and location, which in itself is not necessarily a reliable indicator. The caveat is that I've never used it in a non-Feel at Home location, so I can't give an absolute cast-iron guarantee that it'll work on a FOC basis (or at all).
Apr 8, 2016, 2:11 pm
#30
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,110
If you’re a Pay monthly customer or on certain business plans...