15 days in Ireland + 5 days in London

[drama queen]

Originally Posted by kevinn

My wife and I are travelling in August. We will be in Republic of Ireland for 15 days and London for 5. We'll probably do three SIMs in Ireland (1 Voice+Data for phablet; heavy use for data, medium for voice; 1 for basic voice mobile, low use; 1 for data-only tablet, medium use).

In London, we'll probably be fine with 1 Voice+data, medium usage, for the phablet.

I've started looking on here for Ireland, and it seems Meteor would be best. But would it be best to use it over there, or get another SIM? Or is there something that would be better to use in the two countries?

Thanks!
Kevin

I would recommend that you pick different SIM cards in both countries to get the best tariffs. As you have already researched - Meteor is probably the best option in Ireland. Even if you choose their most basic tariff €5 per month nominally 50MB, you can add the 1GB Internet Add-on for free for the first month by simply texting "sub internet 1GB"
to 50104. That gives you 1GB during your 15 day trip for €5 - hard to beat!
This is not very clear on their website - so make sure to send that text message after you activate.

You also get free unlimited access to the national network of Wi-Fi hotspots operated by Meteor's parent - Eircom. eg Dublin Airport, Railway stations, many cafes, hotels etc. Map on their site.

Meteor also have an interesting roaming feature that might help you in London. They offer free incoming calls when roaming in Europe, providing you text Europe to 50104 in advance. You also get a reasonable rate of 99c per day for 10MB of data. (If you go over 10MB, then 55c/MB applies). Hence if topped up your Meteor SIM with €10 in Ireland, you could use first €5 to give you 1GB of access in Ireland, and the remainder to give you 10MB per day in London! (I'm ignoring any voice minutes, or text - assuming you will use Skype/Viber or VOIP, What's App etc).

If you need more Data in London, I can recommend GiffGaff who do 1GB for £7.50, but you have to buy a minimum £10 top-up. MVNO on the O2 network in UK, which is good.

(I would avoid Three in both UK & Ireland - worst network in both countries, and their roaming agreements for Voice don't cover data in the areas where they don't have native coverage)