SIM card for multiple countries
 

Please forgive me for newbie questions on this.

Going to Europe in three weeks for three weeks. I've been forced kicking and screaming into the smartphone century :rolleyes: as I've just bought an unlocked GSM phone; I am not planning on taking my ATT flip phone with me. So naturally, I have questions:

• I'm going to various countries (Netherlands, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Denmark); at which country do I get the SIM card? The first one I arrive at or the one I'm staying at the longest?
• Do I need to get one card that covers all the countries or one for each country?
• Would I still need one for wifi as all of the hotels I've booked offer free wifi, as do some trains. If the train I'm on doesn't have wifi, I have a book to read :D
• Are there any carriers that I should stay away from? In other words, which ones are better than others?
• Can I just buy a SIM good for the 3 weeks or am I locked into some longer term?
• If I call back to the US, does that person get charged for an international call or just on my end?

Thanks for helping me try to understand all this gibberish :p

Your smart phone should have wifi built into it.
What brand/model is your new super duper smartphone?

I have a 3 sim from the UK. It works in all the countries except Ukraine. It will work there, but will cost more money. I would think any sim card from the Netherland's would do the same. I bought my sim card from Ebay. You can have it before you leave. Or if this is your stop you can pick one up at the airport. If you buy at the airport you can top it up at the store.

LG K8

Yes, but which country? The one I arrive in? The one I will be spending most of the time in? I'm not about to go online to buy something like this, no matter how much money I could potentially save.

If you can live with free wifi only, you do not need to purchase a SIM card. Most places offer free wifi, just ask for password if one required.

Isn't the SIM card needed to make/receive phone calls? That's what I was told.

SIM card is required if you make/receive phone calls through telecom's network.

Alternatively, you can make and receive phone calls through wifi without a SIM card. Skype to Skype is free, not a telephone number. Skype to a toll free number in U.S. is also free via wifi. Skype to a landline or cell number is relatively inexpensive, like 3 or 4 cents a minute.

You may wish to check with your carrier if text is free when traveling abroad.

Some of us can survive using wifi and text only when traveling outside of U.S.

Not using my US phone overseas, so I'll be on a new telecom. No skyping/texting planned (since I don't use those features now, I'm not about to start doing so there). I just want the phone to be able to make and receive calls, connect to free wifi when available and take photos.

Which leads back to one of my original questions - do I choose one company when I first land to cover the six countries or pick one for the country I'll be in the most and not be able to make/receive calls in the other five?

Or just say the he77 with it and not take the dang thing with me since it sounds too complicated.

1 - AFAIK pay as you go SIMs do not have roaming capabilities, so you would need 1 for each country
2 - see above.
3 - wifi capability completely independent of cellular-data-connectivity
4 - if it's short term use SIMs...beggars cant be choosers
5 - these things dont have duration terms.... as far as your usage is concerned. they're charged with # of minutes and # of data.
6 - i think most packages are provisioned for national calls only

if you need only to make calls, look into a voice-over-ip system, whether through skype or viber or anything else.... then you'll have a consistent # to be reached at, and you can use any data service be it wifi or any carrier's SIM

in EU countries (the one you've listed except Ukraine), there should be no roaming (but deniah is maybe correct for his point 1).

You should try to look for this kind of offer :
https://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/ca...ge-holiday-eng

This is INCORRECT!!
I have an Irish SIM (PAYG) that I use when in Europe with no roaming issues ... my "Irish data allowance and minutes" travel with me.
There are some countries where this is not the case. You need to check with the provider (Vodafone, in my case).

Pick up a SIM in the first EU-member country you visit. In Ukraine, either pay whatever they charge, go without a SIM for a few days (i.e. cache the map and only make phone calls over wifi), or buy something there if you really need. Your trip is less than a month, so just buy a month of whatever you need and call it good.

PAYG SIMs are affected by the EU telecoms rules just like postpaid SIMs; there are a few (mostly Baltic) providers with exceptions and a couple fly-by-night providers who still think the rules don't apply to them but for the most part every EU SIM works like at home in every EU country other than the 9GB/mo data limit for plans that offer more than that in their home country.

For calling back to the US, you pay the international rate, and it's bound to be obscene. Think €2.50/minute. You've got a smartphone, so why not set up a Google Voice number and make free VoIP calls to the US and Canada with the Hangouts app? (this is one of the many reasons smartphones are better than the old flip phones...)

That is not correct.

Back in April I traveled to Amsterdam and purchased a Three UK sim card at the AMS airport. It worked fine in LHR, LIS, and CPH.

I stand corrected! Haven't bought a Europe SIM in forever since the EU roaming agreement came into play :)

Look into getting one SIm and then buy other numbers/services from onoff.

https://www.onoff.app/home/