Originally Posted by König

You know, I just checked, and it appears that they need a card with a UK address. Last November, I was able to pay with my US MasterCard (I can still see it under the EE payment history and on my credit card statement), but now it does not seem to be the case. Weird... Maybe, they only accept foreign cards when activating a new account? Or maybe something changed in the last 3 months?

Originally Posted by lwildernorva

If your travels are in Europe only, then you should be able to roam all over the continent with a SIM purchased in one country plus make calls back to the US with Google Voice. I've maintained a SIM I purchased from Tesco Mobile Ireland for several years now. I use that when I go to Ireland--generally once per year--but also use it around the rest of the continent. I've used it in Scotland, England, France, Vienna, and Italy with no issues other than roaming charges which can sometimes be steep.

But that's the beauty of Google Voice. Since I have data that I can attach to my plan, I generally use Google Voice for making calls to the US and European countries other than Ireland, even when I'm not connected to a wifi spot, thus avoiding roaming charges. In addition, people can respond to my texts without incurring significant international texting charges. If I top up my Tesco SIM by 15 euro, I get some extra data that I can use for about 30 days. I think I have to have activity on the account every 90 days or six months to keep my SIM active, but I make several trips per year to Europe so that's not been a problem. I generally top up when I get to Europe at the beginning of my trip as I did several days ago when I arrived in Italy. Since my phone and my plan allow tethering, I can use the SIM as a wifi hotspot as well. In fact, I'm using my SIM wifi right now while writing this message--much faster than my hotel's wifi.

It sounds as if you won't need to be concerned about keeping the number alive since you've only got this one trip planned, but it's nice to know that the option could be available.

Originally Posted by LtKernelPanic

Thank you everybody for the replies. A couple things based off the excellent feedback I've received.

I'll be starting (and finishing) my trip in London which is why I was looking at Three. IIRC in the other thread I was reading it said you had to give a UK address when registering the SIM but it seems putting in your hotel's address works fine. Hopefully they don't send a bunch of junk to the address you use. A quick glance at the forum powerlifter mentioned shows a couple services that I can use to top off a SIM. Looks like there are quite a few sellers on eBay selling SIM kits with £20 in credit preloaded for ~$25USD.

Google voice through hangouts with the dialer app sounds like the winner for my trip. It'll be a lot easier to give a local number to people who may need to contact me while I'm away than try to explain how to install a bunch of apps. It worked well when I did something similar for when I was in Mexico. I try setting it up and make sure everything is working right next week when I have a couple days off work.

I didn't realize I could use wifi calling to call back to the US with my Verizon SIM. Swapping SIMs every time I want to do so would be a pain but it's nice to have a backup option if needed.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. This was one thing that kind of had me worried since I couldn't do like I did on my Mexico trip.

Originally Posted by wco81

As for calls back to the US, I don't make many of those but I usually use FaceTime or other VOIP or chat programs. If you need to actually call phones, use Viber or Skype with a few credits (say $10 worth) to call back at a few cents a minute.

Originally Posted by wco81

But I've found some variance, such as SIMs purchased in Spain and Austria roaming only at 3G in neighboring countries while a TIM SIM purchased in Italy had very high 4G speeds when I had a flight connection in Germany while flying back to the US>

However, you should also be aware that UK is scheduled to Brexit at the end of March. So there's uncertainty about whether UK carriers will still have RLAH arrangements with Euro carriers.

Originally Posted by König

Why not Google Voice then? It's completely free and feels like a real phone number for all purposes. Last time I was in Europe, I used EE PAYG plan for data and local calls + GV for calls to/from the US. No problems what-so-ever.

Originally Posted by wco81

Google Voice calls all US numbers for free?

Originally Posted by username

Here is a BBC article on Brexit and Roaming: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45064268

Originally Posted by LtKernelPanic

Thanks for posting that link. Looks like for the next year or so things will remain the same. I'll report back how things went after my trip.

Originally Posted by der_saeufer

As for the UK SIMs, I can't speak for the other carriers but Three's "Feel at Home" (now called "Go Roam") predated the EU regs by several years and covers a few dozen non-EU countries as well, so I suspect that it'll continue mostly unchanged post-Brexit. My guess is that absent any agreement the UK will become like Switzerland where many EU carriers cover it because it's good business but some don't.