SIM advice, please
 

Greetings,

I know there are a ton of SIM-related posts in this forum and others, but I've got what I think is a fairly unique need, and would like your input.

Back in May I jumped on that infamous Italy/Central Europe/China fare mistake/fuel dump, and in the middle of November will be spending 2 nights each in Rome, Budapest, Prague, Amsterdam, and Beijing. My dad will be joining my wife and I on the European legs of the trip.

I've got a need to use data in at least 4 countries (I'm willing to forego China), primarily so that we can search for restaurants reviews and navigate medieval city centers without getting lost (for the record, I do enjoy getting lost in medieval city centers, but not, for example, at the end of the day when I'm trying to get back to my room). Because my wife and I will probably be exploring at a different pace than my dad, we'll probably also call each other fairly often.

What we'd probably need, then, is a SIM card that would allow us to browse the internet in at least 4 countries fairly affordably and that would allow the two parties to contact each other. I'm not worried about phone calls nor text messages to/from the US.

It seems like we might just end up getting a few different SIM cards in different countries. Does anybody have a better recommendation?

Just FYI, we've got a pair of unlocked "iPhone 4"s. And no, I don't have T-mobile.

Many thanks!

Do you have the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 4s? There's a big difference as it relates to your request.

iPhone 4. I knew that was going to be an issue.

I used a SIM from this outfit last year. Worked perfectly.

http://www.keepgo.com/

I'd suggest taking a look at the existing thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...paid-sims.html

Unless you really need to keep the same phone number in all countries, I think it's better to get individual SIMs for each new country. That will certainly be the cheapest way, per MB.

Which model iPhone 4 do you have? If you have Verizon's or Sprint's, it won't work in your designated countries except maybe in some parts of China.

I would usually agree with you but with only two days each in four different countries, I think getting a SIM for each country would be more trouble than its worth.

That's a good point - didn't realize it was so short in each place.

Thanks for all the comments.

I guess my broader question is whether it's worthwhile to pay for one of the "Pan International" SIM cards, which appear to carry a considerable premium for convenience, or whether I'd be better off just buying 1 or 2 SIM cards (depending on country) and paying the roaming (particularly data roaming) rates.

Assuming that I'm not making a ton of lengthy phone calls, it seems like it might be best to just pick up a SIM card upon landing and find something with relatively low roaming costs.

With the limited amount of time you have in each country, I would say to get the "Pan International" SIM.

Who is your current provider? Hopefully AT&T, not Verizon or Sprint.

AT&T, indeed. I'm aware of that functional limitation for sure, but thanks for checking.

With so many countries with short stays, I would just go with one of the new AT&T international passport plan for 30 days.

http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/int...id=JKgQvq1CSRu

I know you said you don't have T-Mobile, but if your phones are unlocked, you might prefer to avoid some SIM-hunting hassle and sign up for the T-Mobile Simple choice plan for just one month (no contract, cancel when trip is done, but hard credit check). $50 per phone and you have data in all 4 countries, plus free texting (and if absolutely necessary, paying 20 cents/min to make phone calls.

That's what I'm doing for my upcoming Europe trip. Last time in Europe, I bought a SIM card in each of 3 countries and spent about $70 total on the cheapest pay-as-you-go plan with data. I rarely want to make phone calls, and I only did so because I already paid for it.

Have you tried it? T-Mobile free international data tops out at EDGE speed (about 128kbps) if you are in their roaming area. It is good if you are just trying to read emails or read forums. But it takes forever if you are trying to load google maps or other graphical web pages. You will probably end up paying extra for their high speed data passes.

If you're landing in Italy first I would recommend the Vodafone Smart Passport. Along with a plan for italy. This will cover you for: Rome, Budapest, Prague, Amsterdam

Details here also

TIM also has a similar europe plan that is cheaper but I don't have any experience with it.