Mar 22, 2016, 3:00 am
Last edit by: RichardInSF
Japan - Prepaid Data SIM Wikia
1) get a SIM before the trip, activate it when you land. you can find japan-specific prepaid SIMs on ebay/amazon/... .Some countries have providers that offer good roaming rates in other countries(eg Starhub in Singapore, Ais Sim2Fly available globally)
2) preorder it, delivered to your hotel
3) preorder it to airport post office, can pick up when you land
4) preorder it, pickup at some airport counter/store
5) at airport/city, find an store/kiosk/vending machine and buy from them
6) Use an app such as Iijmio, Airalo or Ubigi to buy an e-SIM if your phone supports it
If you are arriving at Haneda international terminal without a SIM: Exit customs, turn right, and continue to the BIC camera store on the left side. Ignore any other places and vending machines that will sell you a SIM. BIC has a good selection at regular camera store prices.
1) get a SIM before the trip, activate it when you land. you can find japan-specific prepaid SIMs on ebay/amazon/... .Some countries have providers that offer good roaming rates in other countries(eg Starhub in Singapore, Ais Sim2Fly available globally)
2) preorder it, delivered to your hotel
3) preorder it to airport post office, can pick up when you land
4) preorder it, pickup at some airport counter/store
5) at airport/city, find an store/kiosk/vending machine and buy from them
6) Use an app such as Iijmio, Airalo or Ubigi to buy an e-SIM if your phone supports it
If you are arriving at Haneda international terminal without a SIM: Exit customs, turn right, and continue to the BIC camera store on the left side. Ignore any other places and vending machines that will sell you a SIM. BIC has a good selection at regular camera store prices.
Prepaid SIM discussion (consolidated)
Jan 6, 2019, 5:12 pm
#451
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Is anyone having new problems topping up the AIS card? I was able to top it up last Oct and now that my due date is this week, I am trying to add another THB10, but the AIS app fails with Line Pay or Rabbit Line Pay. The AIS app then opens Line which throws out an error "you are not allowed to use LINE Pay due to a service policy"....going into the Line app and trying to set it up, the error is "not supported"
Any options to try?
Any options to try?
Jan 6, 2019, 5:56 pm
#452
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Smyrna, GA, USA
Programs: DL FO 1MM
Posts: 1,761
I just attempted to replicate your issue and got the exact same set of errors.
mobiletopup dot com was mentioned upthread as an option with 5% fee. But, that is not working for me as the transaction never completes (or not within 10 minutes) for any of my Visa or MC.
mobiletopup dot com was mentioned upthread as an option with 5% fee. But, that is not working for me as the transaction never completes (or not within 10 minutes) for any of my Visa or MC.
Last edited by angra; Jan 6, 2019 at 6:19 pm
Jan 6, 2019, 7:34 pm
#453
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I tried mobile top up and it's been churning for about 15 minutes. I also tried using my credit card directly with the AIS app, and after the Verified by Visa logo pops up with Chase, it fails.
Jan 6, 2019, 8:13 pm
#454
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Smyrna, GA, USA
Programs: DL FO 1MM
Posts: 1,761
That is what I got as well - however eventually my capital one mastercard worked. Not sure what made the difference. It did fail at least once. According to What is 3DS and why do I need to use it? - MobileTopup.com Help there is a "test my card" link which at least seemed to return promptly with a definitive fail or succeed. After trying my Visas there, they all failed, but my MC worked. Then it worked on the main site. I did disable all javascript and adblockers as well somewhere in there which might have helped. good luck.
Jan 6, 2019, 8:51 pm
#455
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,304
I was able to use mobile top up a few hours ago with a Visa. Tried around the end of last month and it seemed to cycle after Verified by Visa so the charge didn't go through. I also disabled adblockers.
I left their Customer Service Chat a comment in Dec. noting the payments system seemed to fail even though the card worked before and they might want to look into that. Perhaps a few more nudges from others will get them to fix it.
I left their Customer Service Chat a comment in Dec. noting the payments system seemed to fail even though the card worked before and they might want to look into that. Perhaps a few more nudges from others will get them to fix it.
Jan 6, 2019, 10:16 pm
#456
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OK I found a workaround - the email "fail" from mobiletopup suggested I try ding.com, and by going through Paypal, it worked - the downside, the minimum top-up seems to be THB101. In this case it's not the end of the world because I will be buying the Sim2Fly 4GB top-up for THB299 in early Feb, so I will need the value anyway, but after that trip I will need a different strategy to keep the chip alive because spending US$4 a month to do it long term makes no sense.
Mobiletopup did say that any Visa card issuer that does not work with, or blocks, 3DS like Chase will prevent the card from being accepted on their site.
Mobiletopup did say that any Visa card issuer that does not work with, or blocks, 3DS like Chase will prevent the card from being accepted on their site.
Jan 7, 2019, 9:51 am
#458
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Update: I received an email reply to my customer service inquiry with Line - as of 12/28 Line Pay has been permanently disabled for all USA registered users and will not be restored - this is a permanent change.
Jan 7, 2019, 3:34 pm
#459
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,304
The precursor to MobileTopUp was Thai Prepaid Card. It offers a 360 day validity package https://thaiprepaidcard.com/product/...hone-validity/ I believe it still uses 3DS for check-out.
I take this to mean Line Pay has been discontinued for USA Line registered users so myAIS -> Line US acct can't use it to check out? *mumble grumble mumble* My US Line Pay never allowed AIS checkout in early Dec because the address used by Line didn't match my CC billing address.
Line Pay JP is getting a lot of focus, though.
https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2018/2516
ETA: BTW, AIS is offering eSIM for Sim2Fly with in-store sign up http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/esim/en/index.html Still doesn't help solve the above top up problems (though if you're in Thailand getting the eSim, perhaps add a year of validity while you are there)
Line Pay JP is getting a lot of focus, though.
https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2018/2516
ETA: BTW, AIS is offering eSIM for Sim2Fly with in-store sign up http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/esim/en/index.html Still doesn't help solve the above top up problems (though if you're in Thailand getting the eSim, perhaps add a year of validity while you are there)
Last edited by freecia; Jan 7, 2019 at 3:49 pm Reason: AIS eSIM
Jan 24, 2019, 5:57 pm
#461
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,385
anyone confirm that it's still topup 299 Bhat for 8 days and 4GB?
various places display 8Day/5GB now for 399 Bhat for the initial SIM, just want to confirm topup still the same
(sellers on amazon/3rd party, ais sim2fly's main site shows 5GB in some places, 4GB in others)
SIM2FLY the best-value roaming SIM for everyone!
Jan 30, 2019, 12:31 am
#463
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 98
Hi! I'm going to be traveling in Japan the month of February. (I'll be in Hokkaido the first half and Tokyo the second half.) Do folks have any recommendations, and price guidance, on SIM cards for my iPhone 8 and potentially also my iPad Pro?
I'd ideally like to have unlimited data and speed, and support for iOS's personal hotspot functionality. Voice would be nice-to-have, but it isn't essential - I think I read somewhere that Japan has strict rules against purchasing voice SIM for short periods of time.
Also, are there any particularly convenient and English-friendly shops at the Haneda or Narita airports to get this set up?
I'd ideally like to have unlimited data and speed, and support for iOS's personal hotspot functionality. Voice would be nice-to-have, but it isn't essential - I think I read somewhere that Japan has strict rules against purchasing voice SIM for short periods of time.
Also, are there any particularly convenient and English-friendly shops at the Haneda or Narita airports to get this set up?
Jan 30, 2019, 7:10 pm
#464
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 557
I like the Japan Welcome SIM because of the free access to DoCoMo premium Wi-Fi (if you install the profile) which is abundant and fast. The pricing is also reasonable and personal hotspot is allowed. I think a coupon code was posted earlier in this thread to lower the price another ¥1000.
https://wow-j.com/en/sim_wifi/
https://wow-j.com/en/sim_wifi/
Jan 30, 2019, 9:51 pm
#465
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 98
I like the Japan Welcome SIM because of the free access to DoCoMo premium Wi-Fi (if you install the profile) which is abundant and fast. The pricing is also reasonable and personal hotspot is allowed. I think a coupon code was posted earlier in this thread to lower the price another ¥1000.
https://wow-j.com/en/sim_wifi/
https://wow-j.com/en/sim_wifi/
1) How much does it cost to top off if you use all your data? I couldn't figure this out from the website.
2) I think I saw on the website that the plan ends after 20 days. I'm going to be in Japan for about 30 days, so how would I handle this? Would I need to go back and get an entirely new SIM card?
3) Also, with regards to DoCoMo premium Wi-Fi, what do you mean by needing to install the profile? What is that?