Using your cell phone Internationally

Our phones help us do pretty much everything thing these days from snapping pictures, video, sending text messages, navigation, booking an Uber, and oh yeah phone calls. Naturally many of us would be lost without our phones. So when traveling to a new place having the ability contact someone back home, map your way to that restaurant you want to check out and document your trip with pictures can be invaluable. I have included a few tips on how to make sure you can still using your phone while traveling.

1) Get an International SIM card

We always want to still be able to use our phones when we travel internationally and our cellphone provider wanted to charge us an arm and a leg to do so and not all countries would be covered. This is when I remembered what an employee at a local store when I looking for a new phone once told me. This employee said “Don’t buy the phone from us, especially if you plan on traveling internationally”. I remembered him mentioning that students who study abroad here just come into the store and get a new SIM card. Luckily I had taken his advice and purchased an unlocked phone through Apple. I am not an expert on cellphone technology so I can’t guarantee that this option will work for everyone, but if you have an unlocked phone that takes SIM cards this is the perfect solution for using your phone internationally. I have included my recommendations for International SIM cards we have had both good and bad experiences with.

Name: UK Three SIM card

Where we used it: Norway, Italy, Spain and Finland

Review: We used it multiple countries on our trip and it connected and recognized the network as soon as we turned our phone on in the new country. This SIM card worked so well for us we purchased the same one for our next vacation to Europe. You do need to register the card online for the country and dates of your first stop for it to start working so just make sure you do that within 24 hours of departing so you are good to go when you land. We forgot on one of our trips and luckily were able to submit the activation request any they were able to process the request within a few hours. This company also offers various data limits and time frames if you will be having a longer stay and need more data. The card also provides you a UK phone number.

Name: Worldwide Travel SIM card

Where we used it: Qatar

Review: DO NOT BUY THIS CARD!!! I am only linking this back to Amazon so that you know what it looks like, but by all means do not purchase this card! We purchased this card because we were struggling to find one that had coverage for Qatar and we nervous about going without one if we weren’t able to easily find one at the airport or convenience store.

My husband and I have used SIM cards for international travel several times now. I say that so you know we have used other products like this before, and are pretty familiar with how they usually work. We have never had a problem with other SIM card brands we have used. This was by far the worst experience we have had.

First, activation is more complicated than any other card we have used. Maybe we have been spoiled with other cards...ok, at the very least it is more complicated than needed.
You are required to input a credit card, even though the card is supposedly preloaded. This scared us, but we figured at this point we were committed. You were also required to check "automatically refill my card if my balance is used". That’s when we knew we were being set up - our fear was appropriate.

After a few hours into our international vacation, the SIM card stopped working. We were stranded in Qatar looking for a taxi, so that was great.
So two problems.
First, we were charged $40 with the follow supposed breakdown: 1 minute of phone calls (we didn't make any calls...but OK, even if we did it should have been 30cents), 3 SMS messages and 33 MB of data.
Yet our credit card currently has was charged $40 from this company on top of the $19 we paid on Amazon. So in total we are being charged more than $60 for 33 MB of data. What a ripoff!

Second problem, we had my credit card attached to the SIM card, specifically with the 'auto-refill' option enabled (which you are required to enable) so we don't understand why it was shut off. Even if we had been using up that many gigs of data, why shut off the card? This left us stranded in the middle of nowhere needing an Uber.

Name: Truemove Thailand Tourist SIM

Where we used it: Thailand

Review: After getting left high and dry and a $40 charge from the Worldwide Travel SIM card mentioned above we made it to Thailand. Luckily right outside the baggage claim in the Chiang Mai Airport there were booths set up selling SIM cards for just under $10 and they set up everything for you. We were so grateful for the convenient set-up at the booth along with an affordable price. The card worked perfectly throughout our travels even when in more remote areas outside of the Chiang Mai city limits. I would recommend this card but since I didn't set it up myself I can’t speak to the ease of doing so if you were to purchase on your own. I am sure it would be a simple set up as I have not had too many problems setting up other SIM cards.

2) International outlets/plugs

I personally can’t travel without my electronics as I rely on them to help me get around and document my trip to share with you guys! If you plan on doing the same you should know that your regular charger you use at home may not work depending on where you going if you are traveling abroad. There are two things you will want to consider to make sure you will be able to safely charge your items abroad. For more specifics on the plug type and voltage for the countries you are traveling I would recommend consulting the IEC’s website linked here.

1) Plug Type: There are 14 different plug types used around the world. The good news also is that there are around 50 countries where the American/US “A style” plug will work just fine, although make sure you read the information below on voltage before getting too happy and plugging away. If you are sticking with one country you can purchase the specific plug adapter, otherwise I recommend getting a worldwide adapter kit. We use the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.

2) Voltage: Voltage of outlets around the world can also range. The voltage ranges that outlets can have are 110V-127V or 220V-240V. You will want to verify the input voltage capacity of your device to ensure it will be compatible with the voltage in the country you are traveling in. The input voltage can be found on the plug or power cord. You are good to go as long as the device lists a voltage within the range of where you are visiting, here are a few examples: if the local power is 110V and your device list “Input 120V” you are good to go, or maybe your device lists “Input 110V-240V” you will be good to go as your device is set up to accommodate both Voltage ranges. Luckily most electronics such as cellphones, laptops and tablets are set up to accommodate both ranges, but its always smart to verify before plugging in.

3) Use Wifi based Apps

There are tons of ways to stay connected on the internet these days. This can be a huge help when traveling especially if you are not able to get your phone on an international plan (ie. through your provider or with a new SIM card as mentioned above) and have to rely on Wifi. When traveling you can generally find Wifi at cafes, restaurants and your hotel, hostel or Airbnb should hook you up. I personally stay in connected through email and various messaging apps such as Facebook. One App that helps keep me connected abroad is called WhatsApp. Using WhatsApp abroad allows you to send messages (text, picture and video), make calls and even video chat with your family and friends back home. Luckily with access to wifi we will all still be able to stay connected an share snippets of our travel with friends and loved ones.

Have any more helpful tips that I missed? Please share in the comments so others can use them to stay connected on their next travel adventure!

Cheers,

-Jessica