Getting a mobile phone contract in another country?

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Re: Getting a mobile phone contract in another country?

Postby RamblingMan » Thu Jul 28, 2016 2:36 pm

As long as your phone is unlocked (not locked to your current carrier) then buying a new sim card is the best option by far for 6 month visits.
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Re: Getting a mobile phone contract in another country?

Postby Serpent » Fri Jul 29, 2016 1:35 am

I bought a prepaid sim card in Finland 5 years ago :) I've also seen offers for "international" or "traveller" sim cards.

Make sure you suspend/disable any extra options when you leave the UK.
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Re: Getting a mobile phone contract in another country?

Postby rdearman » Fri Jul 29, 2016 12:59 pm

RamblingMan wrote:As long as your phone is unlocked (not locked to your current carrier) then buying a new sim card is the best option by far for 6 month visits.

This! This is the most important piece of advice anyone has given you. If your phone isn't unlocked you cannot just stick any old sim into it. You need an unlocked phone. I'd try to get someone to take over your contract, (Parents perhaps) and buy a cheap unlocked phone off amazon and stick in a new sim when you hit the country. Make sure the sim you buy is "pay-as-you-go" or you're going to wind up with a couple more contracts to pay.
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Re: Getting a mobile phone contract in another country?

Postby tomgosse » Fri Jul 29, 2016 2:30 pm

Here are a couple of pages from Rick Steves, a well known American travel writer:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/ ... one-europe
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/ ... -in-europe
I hope they help. :)
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Re: Getting a mobile phone contract in another country?

Postby Rem » Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:57 pm

Thanks for all the responses everyone. :)

I tried my mums' sim card in my phone (she's on a different network) and it worked, so I guess that means that I'm in luck and my phone is unlocked, so I should be able to use it while I'm abroad and just buy a local sim with calls and data.

My company wont let me suspend my contract and there's no one that I know who could take over my contract either. Cancelling my contract is pointless as it looks like it would cost almost as much as keeping it going. :( At least keeping it gives me something to use when I'm back in the UK for the odd week or two which is helpful I guess.

I've started looking around to get an idea of prices and it doesn't seem to be too bad. I'm not sure how busy I'm going to be with settling in and finding my way around so I may have to put up with the charges from my UK company for the first couple of days although, from what I've been reading, it might be possible for me to buy a sim when I arrive at the airport in Germany? Having never stepped foot in an airport in my life I wouldn't know if that's true or not.
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