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Jimmy Stang · 01-22-2019, 07:01 AM

I have had good experiences with Carphone Wrehouse in the UK. They’ll be able to give you the best plan from a variety of providers.

When I was in Italy this last summer, I ended up getting a Vodafone sim because that was the first company’s store that I stumbled across. It cost about 25€ and included text and voice and I think about 3 gigs or something. It was more expensive that I expected, but still cheaper than using Fido’s daily roaming thing. We were streaming music throughout the South, often in fairly rural areas, and never had an issue with the network.

Speaking with Fido Roam and other providers “roam like home” plans... I had always kept data roaming off when travelling, and knew that texts and calls were a la carte. If I had to send a quick text or make a call (before getting a local sim), it would cost $0.75 or $1/minute, which is robbery, but expected.

Fido was kind enough to switch me to the $12/day option, I didn’t see the email of them doing this, and I fired off a single text upon arrival. Then my phone B sent an iMessage activation text in the background the next day. Then I smashed phone A and had to swap sims, so phone A sent an iMessage activation text on day 3. For a total of 3 text messages over 3 days, two of which I didn’t technically even send myself, Fido charged me $36.

The charges were eventually reversed, but Fido dug in a bit more than expected.

So if you don’t plan on using roaming from your Canadian plan, double check with your provider because even a single text can get you rolling on an entire day of roaming for $12 (and not the expected 0.75 a la carte rate), and you may not have even sent that text yourself because of iMessage activation.

That being said, $12 isn’t bad for your first day to help you get oriented and find a local sim. If I had known that my single text had triggered a day of roaming, I would’ve used it and not complained. The two iMessage activation texts were frustrating, however, so if you’re swapping phone and putting your Canadian sim into another phone, do it before you leave to avoid it sending a text on the foreign network.

01-22-2019, 07:01 AM	#23
Jimmy Stang Franchise Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Calgary Exp:	I have had good experiences with Carphone Wrehouse in the UK. They’ll be able to give you the best plan from a variety of providers. When I was in Italy this last summer, I ended up getting a Vodafone sim because that was the first company’s store that I stumbled across. It cost about 25€ and included text and voice and I think about 3 gigs or something. It was more expensive that I expected, but still cheaper than using Fido’s daily roaming thing. We were streaming music throughout the South, often in fairly rural areas, and never had an issue with the network. Speaking with Fido Roam and other providers “roam like home” plans... I had always kept data roaming off when travelling, and knew that texts and calls were a la carte. If I had to send a quick text or make a call (before getting a local sim), it would cost $0.75 or $1/minute, which is robbery, but expected. Fido was kind enough to switch me to the $12/day option, I didn’t see the email of them doing this, and I fired off a single text upon arrival. Then my phone B sent an iMessage activation text in the background the next day. Then I smashed phone A and had to swap sims, so phone A sent an iMessage activation text on day 3. For a total of 3 text messages over 3 days, two of which I didn’t technically even send myself, Fido charged me $36. The charges were eventually reversed, but Fido dug in a bit more than expected. So if you don’t plan on using roaming from your Canadian plan, double check with your provider because even a single text can get you rolling on an entire day of roaming for $12 (and not the expected 0.75 a la carte rate), and you may not have even sent that text yourself because of iMessage activation. That being said, $12 isn’t bad for your first day to help you get oriented and find a local sim. If I had known that my single text had triggered a day of roaming, I would’ve used it and not complained. The two iMessage activation texts were frustrating, however, so if you’re swapping phone and putting your Canadian sim into another phone, do it before you leave to avoid it sending a text on the foreign network.