What is Roaming

international sim card to travel

sim to travel

One of the most common questions we get regarding travel technology is some variation on “What’s the best way to use my phone overseas?” and “What is roaming?”, and that’s not much of a surprise. 

Once travellers leave home with their phones they’re quickly confronted with a mess of confusing options and high prices, usually with unnecessary jargon and uncertainty thrown in for good measure.

So, we’re going to try and clear things up a bit. Here’s our detailed explanation of the different choices, comparing who they’re best for, pricing and difficulty levels, what needs to be done before leaving home and our take on whether they’re any good or not.

International Roaming

What is roaming? 

In brief: You continue to use your current handset and mobile number while you are overseas.

Best for: Short stays, or longer trips with only a few days in each country.

Cost: High, often unbelievably so.

Difficulty: Low.

Mobile data: Usually possible, often insanely expensive. Depending on the handset you have and the foreign network that you’re connected to, you may not receive the same speeds as back home.

Before leaving 

Contact your cell company to make sure that international roaming is enabled for your account, and that your phone will work in the countries you’re visiting. Find out if there are any special plans or packages that you can purchase to keep the price down and any instructions that you need to get connected at your destination.

Confirm that your exact model of the phone will work in the places you’re going. If you have a quad or pentaband GSM handset it should work in most of the world – but even then there are plenty of quirks, especially when it comes to data, so do your research.

Other considerations: Even though your phone remains the same, the power sockets may not – make sure you have a travel adapter if you need one.

Our view

While this is often the easiest way to stay connected, it’s almost always the most expensive as well. Unless you plan on very limited phone usage, international roaming costs can be prohibitive – especially if you’re using data. 

What is roaming?

Phone Rental

In brief: Renting a phone to use in a given country, either before leaving or at the airport on arrival.

Best for: Short to medium-length trips to a single country, particularly if your usual phone won’t work there.

Cost: Moderate

Difficulty: Moderate

Mobile data: Sometimes available, usually limited and/or at additional cost

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Before leaving

Confirm the process with the company that you intend to rent from. Some companies will send you phone before you leave and expect it returned once you get back, while others will have a package waiting for you at the airport or your hotel when you arrive.

Other considerations: Be sure to check the fine print regarding things like deposits and damage. Your phone will come with a usage plan of some sort, and it may be quite different to what you’re used to back home. Make sure you are aware of any restrictions.

Your rental phone will have a local number, and won’t contain any of your usual contacts or call history. If you can’t copy them across before you leave, be sure to take your usual phone with you so important phone numbers are still available, or have another copy of those details printed out.

Be sure to pass your new number onto those who will need it.

Our view

Renting, collecting and returning the phone can be a bit of hassle (although it isn’t always), and the process generally tends to occupy a middle ground between international roaming and using a local SIM card – without the convenience of the former or the price advantage of the latter.

What is roaming? You don’t need it if you use this option! 

International SIM Cards///////////////

In brief: Buying a new international SIM card that will work in every country to use in your existing phone.

Best for: Short to medium-length trips to multiple countries, especially if having a consistent number is important.

Cost: Moderate

Difficulty: Moderate

Mobile data: Sometimes available, at (often significant) additional cost

Before leaving

Make sure that your phone will work in the countries you’re going, and also that is not locked for use only with your current service provider.

If necessary you may be able to get the handset unlocked (particularly if you’re off-contract) by asking your cell company, but if they won’t do it, you’re stuck with less-official methods. Use at your own risk.

Do plenty of research – international SIM costs vary widely. Check the fine print closely, as the per-minute rate is rarely the only cost involved. There are three different sizes of SIM card currently in use – full, micro and nano – so be sure to get the right one for your model of phone.

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Other considerations: Be sure to pass your new number onto those who will need it – although it will stay consistent wherever you go, it will be different from your current one.

If you plan to use your international SIM for multiple trips, check the expiry dates for both credit and the SIM itself.

Calling a number associated with such cards is likely to be an international phone call from every country in the world. While you can set up services like Skype numbers to provide an alternative local number (at extra cost to you) for folks back home, the international call will act as a disincentive for people in the country you’re currently in.

Our view

 If having a working phone and a consistent number everywhere you go is important to you, this isn’t a bad compromise between cost and effort.

That said, there are ways of achieving the same outcome at lower rates (albeit with more work), so we’d recommend this only for those who don’t want to deal with the challenge of buying local SIM cards in each country, or who only use their phone sporadically. 

What is roaming? You don’t need it if you use this option! 

More details about this option

International SIM cards (sometimes called “travel SIM cards”) aren’t tied to a specific country or group of nations, but allow you to use your phone all around the world — for a price.

There are several of these cards on the market, each with different plans and pricing. We’ve checked every service to find which one is the best for travelling. Below you will find this information! 

WorldSIM offers voice, messaging and data plans for over 200 countries, and promises to reduce roaming charges by 95%.

Its offerings come in four variants:

• Infinity (voice plans and automatic connection to 50 million Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide)
• Data (for mobile internet)
• International (voice, messages, and data)
• UK Travel (aimed at UK residents, for use within the country and abroad for voice, data and messages).

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Advantages:

Rates and expenses

How many countries does it work in? 200 for International and Infinity, 188 for Data, 190 for UK Travel

Data plans: Casual rates start at $0.10 per MB, but data packages are also available, starting at $13.50 for 500MB valid for a week. Prices for both casual data and packages vary depending on your destination, but most packages work across several countries.

Outgoing calls: rates start at $0.18 per minute.

Extras: users can sign up for unlimited national numbers for over 50 countries at $2.50 per number. WorldSIM also offers a Global Wi-Fi pass, allowing access to its Wi-Fi hotspots starting at $22.50.

Local SIM

In brief: Buying a local SIM card in each country to use in your existing phone.

Best for: Trips of any length where you will spend more than a week in each country, and/or for moderate to heavy call and data use.

Cost: Low

Difficulty: Moderate to high

Mobile data: Almost always available, at relatively low cost

Before leaving

As with most of the other options, make sure that your phone will work in your intended destinations and is not locked for use only with your cell company.

Other considerations: Purchasing and activating a local SIM card and topping it up with credit is very easy in some countries, and remarkably difficult in others.

As with international SIMs, be sure to buy the right size of card for your phone. Nano SIMs can be harder to find, although it’s getting easier all the time.

Your number will change every time you go to a new country, so have a method for notifying people of your new number (or as above, use a service like Skype numbers to redirect a local number from home) if they need to call you.

Our view: This is our preferred method when we are in a country for a week or more. The costs are much lower than any of the alternatives, especially when using data – as a general rule, it costs around $10-$50 in most countries for a local SIM card and enough call and data credit to last a month.

Now you know all options on how to stay in touch while travelling. We are waiting for your comments.