TravelSIM vs. GT-SIM
 

I'm from the US and would like a cheaper but still convenient SIM for roaming through Europe. In the past I've bought local prepaid SIM cards but often on tours or a tourist's itinerary there is little opportunity to buy top-up cards. Often, then, I over-do it when a top-up is available and end up returning t the US with a large unused balance that is wasted (yes, there's always eBay...) For that reason my fall-back for important calls has been the Mobal post-paid SIM - though relatively expensive I can at least use it without worrying about running out of credit while on the move.

I've looked at the international roaming cards but the issue of refills still worries me. You can't find top-up cards abroad, and refilling via the Internet requires access ... and the risk of having personal information stolen at a public Internet cafe.

Lately I happened upon another way. Most here have probably heard of Telestial; a US reseller of SIM cards at (often) inflated prices. They do, however, sell their own branded versions of GT-SIM (Telestial Passport) and TravelSIM (Telestial Explorer) at prices that are not bad. The interesting twist is this: after activation you can register your credit card and have the SIM balance refilled automatically when the balance goes below 10 Euros. Since it is Telestial making the recharge, you don't have to worry about your credit card issuer denying charges coming from overseas as potentially fraudulent - that all come from a domestic source. This, for me, is very attractive.

So then, which is better for phone calls within Europe and to the USA from Europe? As described in the Telestial banner for their branded versions, I see the following:

Explorer (TravelSIM): Must recharge every 12 months to keep account. Flat calling rate to many countries includes cell phones; i.e. rates seem lower. Optional linking of US toll-free number (.35/min surcharge) to allow relatives to call you for free while abroad.

Passport (GT-SIM): Must make a call every 12 months to keep account. More expensive to cal cell phones. Allows manual selection of roaming network to get best signal.

To me, the branded version of TravelSIM seems like a better product. Any opinions on my reasoning? Thanks!

Products are similar.

Some facts that I know, may be it helps you:

-Explorer has cheaper SMS, more wide coverage, cheaper rate to mobiles, free web-based SMS service, also you have possibility to see your balance on handset LCD for free, starting package 49$

-Passport has voice recording feature, conference feature, starting package 69$

-really all TravelSIM based products including Explorer have 24 months expiration, not 12.

-Some months ago Passport had a continious problems with top up.

- other features for both products you can see on telestial web-site and you can ask their opinion too :)

I think that all in all Travelsim is probably the most reliable service by now...

I have noticed that there is a recent decrease in the list of networks available with the travelsim in 0 cent incoming countries (e.g. Greece, Italy, Austria)

Italy never had free incoming calls with Travelsim... not that I care much about it! ;)

It does have now for some time....