gonebabygone

I travel internationally infrequently (1x/year in the summer) and have always relied on WiFi but now feel like a small amount of data (eg. 500MB) would make my trips a bit smoother.

However after hours of research I’ve had a hard time finding travel SIMs that won’t expire before my next trip (for example any data packages purchased with KnowRoaming, SurfRoam, etc would all expire by the time of my next trip and would make no sense considering my low needs).

Any advice for me? I wouldn’t mind buying a bigger data package as long as it lasts for at least a few years...

Mwenenzi

Probably better to buy a new SIM for each country when you arrive. Cost may be ~$20~$30 (wild guess) for a month/30 days. Will vary a lot by destination. Where do you travel to?

List of Prepaid SIM threads (country-specific and multi-country)

eSIM thread
Three Travelsim

gonebabygone

Thanks for the help!

Mostly just Europe (Belgium and Spain this year) but with two countries on the docket, the idea of getting a unique SIM for each spot was a hassle I was hoping to avoid...

i just stumbled on www.wraptel.com, not sure how legit they are but they seem to have what I’m looking for...

Mwenenzi

What is cost? For phone & data? ---> "Data is charged in 10kb increments"
Nothing is free

gonebabygone

Come again? Yes of course it’s not free. But it appears the pay as you go credits don’t expire, which is what I was looking for.

tentseller

The only issue might be these small outfits expiring before your credits.

draver

There are inexpensive 30 day Pay As You Go plans from carriers in Europe like Three and Vodaphone that might suit your needs. Three has plans that give 3,000 voice minutes, 3,000 texts, and 1-4 Gb of data for $13-$14.

What phone do you use, and what does your current carrier charge for Euro roaming? Sometimes it's worth the extra fee to deal with them and keep your phone number active. There are also esim services that you can possibly add to your device for a dual sim function. I wouldn't focus on what you might leave on the table if you pay less in the long run.

der_saeufer

For Europe, either buy a Three UK SIM from amazon.com/.ca ahead of time or just buy a month of prepaid wherever you land and call it a day. €15 will usually take care of it. When you come back a year later, do the same thing again.

The special "roaming SIMs" are universally a terrible deal.

Bogwoppit

I use a 3 mobile SIM. Yes the package expires afte rone month, but they are dirt cheap compared to my Canadian phone plan. I usually pay about 10GBP for 8 gb data and unlimited text calls in 70 countries worldwide. If I could get away with using it at home I would.

DYKWIA

The bigger (more expensive) data packages have a 24 month expiration, so it may make more sense to get one of those. Eg :-

gonebabygone

Yup, you are absolutely correct

That’s my fear as well, but for $10 CDN I’ll take the risk

gonebabygone

You'll laugh, but because I’m pretty cheap and pretty minimalist, I use an old iPhone 5 and my carrier is Public Mobile, a low-cost alternative that is super cheap but so bare bones that they have no service in Europe.

I’ve decided to go with WrapTel and I’ll report back in case it might be helpful to others

lwildernorva

I have used giffgaff for several recent trips. You start by putting some credit (I remember it being 10 pounds GBP) in your account and then can choose a PAYG plan or get a 30-day plan (called a Goodybag) with the data expiring after 30 days. For the amount you seem to be seeking, you'd have a cost of 6-8 GBP for the month you travel. When your Goodybag expires, you don't need to purchase another Goodybag immediately, and a text or a call every six months (using the credit you originally deposited in your account which doesn't expire) keeps your SIM alive so that you wouldn't have to pay anything between your yearly trips and then could recharge once in time for your next trip.

Note that giffgaff has increased their data allowance for each of their Goodybag plans over the past couple of years so that the base amount could possibly rise from 500MB. I also like giffgaff (a MVNO that piggybacks on the O2 network) because they allow recharging with a non-UK credit card. And while UK-based, roaming in the EU, including Belgium and Spain, is charged at the same rate as use within the UK--unless you run over, in which case, giffgaff is not for you because the rates become extremely expensive. It's one of the reasons I buy the 20 pound GBP Goodybag which has an overall 80 GB limit but a 20 GB limit in the EU. I've never exceeded 10 GB for a trip of roughly two weeks.

More information here: https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans

sidpost

Buying a SIM in-country is pretty cheap. For very infrequent trips, why the concern over a 10 Euro (give or take) 30-day SIM that gets thrown away back CONUS?

draver

Your iPhone 5 premiered in 2012 and does not have a bunch of bands used in Europe and most of the world. Your connection and coverage will be restricted and probably quite poor as a result, regardless the provider. I assume having service is only a minor part of your travel experience.