Travelling to US, best roaming plans

[sbk1972]

Travelling to the US for 2 weeks end of April. Want to use my phone to make calls, satnav, WhatsApp and pics, YouTube for the kids

Do I buy a $50 SIM card that lasts 4 weeks and has 50gb of data as I don't want to be hit with huge data and cal charges when I get back.

I'm with EE and noticed it sells data roaming packs for the US. Anyone tried this ?

What's the best thing to do.? Will my satnav/ Google maps work in the us ?

Simon

[DavePanda]

I did with 02 last year, £5 per day for whatever i used but only if i used it so for the days we didn't really go anywhere i didn't pay anything, just used Wifi

[x5tuu]

You could use three - they’ve technically removed US roaming but charges aren’t being implemented until late May-22

I’ve previously used EE and their standing charge access - it was totally fine albeit not a particularly cheap option (but somewhat industry standard) … I assume you aren’t on one of the EE advanced plans then as I think they still include US roaming as part of your allowance anyways?!

Everything will work as it would in the uk as long as you have roaming activated

[djc206]

DavePanda said:

I did with 02 last year, £5 per day for whatever i used but only if i used it so for the days we didn't really go anywhere i didn't pay anything, just used Wifi

Next time you go give them a call and see if they’ll put you on the International Bolt On. I have it and it means data roaming in the US, Canada and a bunch of other popular destinations is included.

[-crookedtail-]

I've just returned after a week in the US, I'm with EE.

I added the 'data roaming' bolt on for £10/month and have now cancelled it again now I'm back. Not cheap but much better than the per mb data costs without it. Depending on your contract it might come with an add on that you can swap for the data roaming whilst you are away.

Data speeds were slow though, not sure if that's because it was piggy backing on other networks and got a raw deal.

[Truckosaurus]

I'm with EE and just did their Fiver a day travel bundle. Probably the easiest for a short trip if you're not planning on doing anything like video streaming etc.

[RC1807]

In 2020 I bought a USA SIM card from Amazon. I think it was about £30 for 2-3 weeks, unlimited USA calls and all data, so WhatsApp calls, Waze for GPS, etc., made it very cheap indeed.

[matt3001]

Tom Tom have a 30 day free trial so for nav just download the app and the state maps you require so it works in offline mode (and also if you lose phone signal).

[sbk1972]

RC1807 said:

In 2020 I bought a USA SIM card from Amazon. I think it was about £30 for 2-3 weeks, unlimited USA calls and all data, so WhatsApp calls, Waze for GPS, etc., made it very cheap indeed.

Yeah Im liking this idea. I have a dual sim phone so the nerd in me likes to try this and bore people in the pub ! :-)

Thanks for all your advise guys. I will ring EE and see what they offer and compare it to these $50 for a month sim card deals. I think you get 50Gb of data for 4 weeks which means my kids can surf / youtube as much as they like as we drive about. :-)

SBK

[Steve Benson]

sbk1972 said:

Yeah Im liking this idea. I have a dual sim phone so the nerd in me likes to try this and bore people in the pub ! :-)

Thanks for all your advise guys. I will ring EE and see what they offer and compare it to these $50 for a month sim card deals. I think you get 50Gb of data for 4 weeks which means my kids can surf / youtube as much as they like as we drive about. :-)

SBK

As said above you can either add a daily data plan on EE for £5 per day or add travel roaming with will give you all your data, minutes ect from home. If you have any add ons like BT Sport you can switch this to travel roaming whilst away and switch it back when home for no charge. Travel roaming works throughout Europe, USA, Canada and Australia.

[GCH]

T-mobile here do a pay as you go $15/30 day unlimited call/text/2.5GB data, or $25/30day with unlimited call/text/5GB data..

Or you could perhaps sign up for the t mobile 30 day e-sim trial, which is free.... https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/test-dri...

[jinkster]

I'm with EE and noticed it sells data roaming packs for the US. Anyone tried this ? I use EE with a roaming bolt on but in the USA normally about 4 times per month.

What's the best thing to do.? Will my satnav/ Google maps work in the us ?

Google Maps/ Apple Maps etc work perfectly as they do in the UK. Dont forget the car charger and somewhere to mount the phone if the hire car etc doesn't have Apple CarPlay.

[peterperkins]

Anyone have any advice on SIM cards for data in Canada?
Using Google maps and stuff.

Local Wallmart?

[captain_cynic]

DavePanda said:

I did with 02 last year, £5 per day for whatever i used but only if i used it so for the days we didn't really go anywhere i didn't pay anything, just used Wifi

People consider £5 cheap? I'm going on a 15 day trip, that's going to be £75.

3's roam like home I'm pretty sure still applies to PAYG, so that's a £10 data package for a month. There's probably something cheaper but I've not seen it. I think £10 is pretty good for how hassle free it is. Just make sure you load up before leaving the UK (IIRC you might need an SMS code, that's a PITA with dodgy reception in some foreign airport in a 3rd world country where no-one speaks English... like Florida).

You can also use it to call back to the UK, handy if you need to contact your bank/insurer/airline/undertaker.

https://www.three.co.uk/payg-data-packs
https://www.three.co.uk/go-roam#1214306373996

[plenty]

Look up Sims4Travel on Amazon...they sell Vodafone-branded SIMs with 25 Gb data usable in the US and Canada that last for a month, for £35.

Just got back from two weeks in Canada and the SiMs (we used two) worked perfectly.

[nvubu]

We've also had Sims4Travel during our road trip to Mexico. 4 x 25 gb, but we have used a fraction of the limit.

It also is a data only plan so no phone - even though 3 or the 4 cards allowed calls. If we did it again I'd choose one of the higher limits with voice included and put into one pbone/tablet amd turn on the hotspor.

[Jugosaurus]

T-mobile app, pay as you go eSim for about £30 for 30 days unlimited data (3G for tethering) and then just remove the app and travel profile when you get back