What is the best option for me? (Italy, France and Spain)

xzxxzx

Hi all,

I was starting to feel a bit cross-eyed from looking at so many different global sim card options and rates when I stumbled across this lovely site. Now I'm hoping some of you knowledgable people could help me out. Here's the situation; my two sisters and I will be going to 3 different countries (Italy, France, and Spain) for a very brief trip. By brief I mean; about 8 days in Italy, 4 days in Paris, and 4 days in Barcelona. I was wondering which global sim card you would recommend. Some factors that I would like taken into consideration would be:

1) We would only use these sim cards to make calls/text to each other. I've seem some global sim cards give calls within er.. network.. discounted rates.
2) How much the sim/credit costs combined with shipping rates to Canada.
3) How well it works... this is the part where I ask how annoying having call routed through Estonia is.

That's all I can really think of for now. Also, we all have phones that are unlocked and will work on the proper frequencies.

So far I like the look of MaxRoam overall but would love to find one similar that has a call-to-same-company-sim card-user-discount that works without too many problems.

Thank you for time and consideration!

dg7feq · 15-06-2011, 15:28

As the rates within the EU are regulated you might want to concider just buying some italian cards after arrival.

Outside italy you can call each other for about 45ct/min + 13ct/min for the inbound call and text for 13ct.

Travelsim/Airbalticcard (Estonia) works very reliable, the rates are a bit cheaper (as the inbound charge is missing).

I never Maxroam so i cant say something about that provider.

EU regulated tariff from July 1st 2011:

- outbound calls within EU: 35ct+VAT
- inbound calls within EU: 11 ct+VAT
- outbound SMS within EU: 11ct +VAT
- inbound SMS always free of charge

Chris

xzxxzx · 16-06-2011, 03:55

How is the call quality for airbalticcard? And do text go through instantly?

dg7feq · 16-06-2011, 10:49

So far i did not encounter any problems with the airbalticcard. Free text messages over their website are transferred within one minute, from mobile phones instantly.

Chris

	(#1)
xzxxzx (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 2 Join Date: 15 Jun 2011 Country:	What is the best option for me? (Italy, France and Spain) - 15-06-2011, 12:49 Hi all, I was starting to feel a bit cross-eyed from looking at so many different global sim card options and rates when I stumbled across this lovely site. Now I'm hoping some of you knowledgable people could help me out. Here's the situation; my two sisters and I will be going to 3 different countries (Italy, France, and Spain) for a very brief trip. By brief I mean; about 8 days in Italy, 4 days in Paris, and 4 days in Barcelona. I was wondering which global sim card you would recommend. Some factors that I would like taken into consideration would be: 1) We would only use these sim cards to make calls/text to each other. I've seem some global sim cards give calls within er.. network.. discounted rates. 2) How much the sim/credit costs combined with shipping rates to Canada. 3) How well it works... this is the part where I ask how annoying having call routed through Estonia is. That's all I can really think of for now. Also, we all have phones that are unlocked and will work on the proper frequencies. So far I like the look of MaxRoam overall but would love to find one similar that has a call-to-same-company-sim card-user-discount that works without too many problems. Thank you for time and consideration!

	(#2)
dg7feq (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Guru Posts: 1,164 Join Date: 04 Feb 2006 Location: Germany Country:	15-06-2011, 15:28 As the rates within the EU are regulated you might want to concider just buying some italian cards after arrival. Outside italy you can call each other for about 45ct/min + 13ct/min for the inbound call and text for 13ct. Travelsim/Airbalticcard (Estonia) works very reliable, the rates are a bit cheaper (as the inbound charge is missing). I never Maxroam so i cant say something about that provider. EU regulated tariff from July 1st 2011: - outbound calls within EU: 35ct+VAT - inbound calls within EU: 11 ct+VAT - outbound SMS within EU: 11ct +VAT - inbound SMS always free of charge Chris Germany: o2 blue all-in L, simquadrat Thailand: truemove (phone+sms+wifi) International: xxSim+372, toggle +44/+49/+41/+31 Phones: Huawei Mate7, Huawei P9 Last edited by dg7feq; 15-06-2011 at 15:30.. Reason: added EU roaming rates

	(#3)
xzxxzx (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 2 Join Date: 15 Jun 2011 Country:	16-06-2011, 03:55 How is the call quality for airbalticcard? And do text go through instantly?

	(#4)
dg7feq (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Guru Posts: 1,164 Join Date: 04 Feb 2006 Location: Germany Country:	16-06-2011, 10:49 So far i did not encounter any problems with the airbalticcard. Free text messages over their website are transferred within one minute, from mobile phones instantly. Chris Germany: o2 blue all-in L, simquadrat Thailand: truemove (phone+sms+wifi) International: xxSim+372, toggle +44/+49/+41/+31 Phones: Huawei Mate7, Huawei P9