There are several options for traveling with your cell phone, smartphone, or tablet: you can roam with your existing phone plan, rent an international phone or buy an international SIM card, use Wi-Fi connections with a VoIP service, or you can buy local SIM cards in the countries you are visiting.
- View our overview of phone and data service options for travel
- View our comparison of roaming vs. local SIM vs. international SIM
If you have a GSM World Phone, you can purchase a local SIM card in 80% of the world, which can simply be slipped into your mobile phone to enjoy cheap local rates with a local phone number. This is often the best choice for people traveling in one country for a longer period (or in one region, as you can often have cheap roaming rates for neighboring countries too).
Having a local phone number can really put you in touch with locals — people all over the world have mobile phones. It can also give you access to accommodation that can’t be found on the internet, and you can phone a local friend if you’re in trouble.
Look for the following when researching SIM card options in advance or choosing a local SIM card while in the country.
Activation Costs
In most countries around the world you can buy a prepaid local SIM card with minimal or no activation cost.
However, that isn’t true everywhere, and you should be on the lookout for activation costs because they can quickly make a prepaid SIM card go from best value to worst value. Pay for $20 of talk time with a $50 activation cost and suddenly you are better off with even the most overpriced roaming package.
If you have to pay more than a minimal activation cost, look somewhere else unless you will be staying for months.
Coverage
Mobile coverage is generally pretty good with even the poorest countries investing in mobile infrastructure as a cheaper alternative to land lines.
However, there are still many companies that have more complete coverage in different areas of a country. Depending where you travel within a country, you’ll need to find a local provider that has service there.
Adding Airtime
You can normally add airtime by paying with your credit card straight on your phone, but some mobile companies don’t accept foreign credit cards.
Make sure you know whether you can add time (sometime called “units”) from anywhere or need to return to a shop during operating hours so you can plan accordingly.
Service Life
Service life is the amount of time the card stays active without any activity.
Typically, the phone number and any unused credits are reserved for the SIM card for a few months or even a year. The service life period normally begins from the last deposit on the prepaid SIM card.
If you keep returning to the same country over and over again, then service life will be important for you letting you keep the same phone number when you return and use whatever talk time that you had left over from your last visit.
Phone, Data and Roaming Rates
The cost of a local phone call, data and roaming in neighboring countries is the last and most obvious factor.
Many mobile service providers have agreements for service across close geographical areas making it cheaper to buy a local SIM card in one country and roam to other countries with it than to buy separate cards for each country.
Tip: Don’t forget that with a local SIM card, you can always forward your home phone number to your destination country phone number via a VoIP service.