US ATT phone in England

[CountZero]

Wife and I are going to England for a couple weeks coming up. For one of those weeks I'm working and another we'll be together being tourists.

We'd like to have our ATT phones usable with at least data/voice for the trip. To keep in touch, call anything local we might need to call and to have easy access to maps should we find ourselves more than a little turned around.

I saw on the ATT site that I can add one month of international plan to a phone for a nominal (kind of expensive actually...) fee. Has anyone done this? What was your experience like?

My main worry is going overseas, thinking we're all covered and finding out that when we left London we incurred massive charges because the plan didn't cover that area.

I know some people talk about just buying a local pay as you go phone or doing a sim card swap. Both of these options sound kind of obnoxious but anyone with experience doing that would be nice.

Our phones are Galaxy S4s if that matters.



Moved from OT.

Anandtech Adminstrator
KeithTalent

 

[Ns1]

Yes for iPhone in India.

I did not pay for voice, and instead paid per minute.
I did pay for intl data, and I find that 600mb/weeks is manageable if I don't go on the internet TOO much.

Total cost = $60

Text messages are free to receive, will cost you some money to send. IF you're intl w/o a voice plan and receive a call AND it goes to VM, it counts as 2 minutes (1 to call you, 1 to connect to VM).

 

[Ryland]

You could also look at Worldsim if you dont mind switching sim cards. I did the local sim card route for a few countries then bought a worldsim but havent gone over seas since then.

 

[tommo123]

if yours is unlocked, go into a 3 store when you arrive and get a sim. £13 ish and you get unlimited data so can skype, google maps all you like.

 

[vshah]

if yours is unlocked, go into a 3 store when you arrive and get a sim. £13 ish and you get unlimited data so can skype, google maps all you like.

this is what I used to do before t-mobile global roaming. the only downside is that people can't call you on your local number.

 

[s44]

3 has poor data coverage compared to EE (T-Mo/Orange) though. If you go out of London into the countryside, look for one of those.

 

[tommo123]

i know that used to be the case but i've been with them since last feb and not had a probs in the north west. only really rural areas when travelling on a train through Wales

 

[EvilYoda]

Perfect timing for this thread! My friend bought me a SIM when I went to Taiwan 2 years ago and I just booked a trip to Europe this summer. Is there a carrier that would best serve Paris, London, AND Copenhagen? Otherwise, the bulk of the trip will be in London.

 

[Ryland]

Perfect timing for this thread! My friend bought me a SIM when I went to Taiwan 2 years ago and I just booked a trip to Europe this summer. Is there a carrier that would best serve Paris, London, AND Copenhagen? Otherwise, the bulk of the trip will be in London.

Check into worldsim, they cover every country AFAIK.

 

[magomago]

this is what I used to do before t-mobile global roaming. the only downside is that people can't call you on your local number.

That is what my friend did in Japan; the only caveat is that you get EDGE reception. He didn't have to spend the 45 bucks on a BMOBILE sim card, and he could send SMS messages, but my internet speeds were far far faster.

 

[dawheat]

Last year when I was in the UK and France, I just bought a local pre-paid SIM in each country when I arrived. I think I bought an Orange SIM in the UK and SFR in France. Both took about 15-20 minutes in store and I paid cash for a certain amount of calls and data. No issues with my unlocked AT&T phones (Note 2 and iPhone 5) - though I only got 3G data and not LTE.

Not super cheap, but still not expensive overall for the convenience of using my own device. I was surprised at how little data I ultimately used as I used mostly maps, yelp, and email while out.

One annoyance with the UK was that it took an hour or so to be 'active' while the SFR SIM worked immediately.

 

[Axon]

Wife and I are going to England for a couple weeks coming up. For one of those weeks I'm working and another we'll be together being tourists.

We'd like to have our ATT phones usable with at least data/voice for the trip. To keep in touch, call anything local we might need to call and to have easy access to maps should we find ourselves more than a little turned around.

I saw on the ATT site that I can add one month of international plan to a phone for a nominal (kind of expensive actually...) fee. Has anyone done this? What was your experience like?

My main worry is going overseas, thinking we're all covered and finding out that when we left London we incurred massive charges because the plan didn't cover that area.

I know some people talk about just buying a local pay as you go phone or doing a sim card swap. Both of these options sound kind of obnoxious but anyone with experience doing that would be nice.

Our phones are Galaxy S4s if that matters.



Moved from OT.

Anandtech Adminstrator
KeithTalent

I've done it. It was exceedingly simple and cost me like $5. I wasn't gabbing 24/7, I only made calls as needed. I strongly suggest this rather than going ballistic switching sim cards and the like. However, I was only in London.

You can also just get a disposable phone in England once you're there.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Perfect timing for this thread! My friend bought me a SIM when I went to Taiwan 2 years ago and I just booked a trip to Europe this summer. Is there a carrier that would best serve Paris, London, AND Copenhagen? Otherwise, the bulk of the trip will be in London.

You either have to go with one of those global plans like Worldsim or get a different carrier SIM for each country. My hopping experiences in Asia are basically about having multiple SIMs. I have a Chunghwa Telecom SIM in my backpack right now with a one2free SIM also. I just swap around between Taiwan, HK, and USA. I don't bother with China though.

There's multiple approaches, but most people I work with in Asia just swap SIMs. It seems like the US mentality is more to just get a global plan.

It depends what you need though. When I'm in Taiwan or HK I need to receive local calls. Therefore having that local # is important. If you don't need that then the global SIM makes more sense.