Should You Buy a Local Sim Card When You Travel?

I found myself using a sim card confusing with the verifications, and multiple numbers, especially when there is an urgent need, and the mind isn't thinking as clear as normal.

On my most recent trip, I used my providers plan, but only used it on travel days, keeping it in my hotel for urgent notifications. (when it was on wifi anyway)
I walked around with another phone with only esim which I used for maps, and photos, and social media posting.

Mint does $5 a day, $10 for 3 days and $20 for 10 days for international travel. I'd mostly use data to find things and gps...wifi for anything really data heavy

I was just talking about this, my Fiancé has a work phone and they no longer let people upgrade, right now they pay for her service although if she were to upgrade it would be on her own bill, unless she swaps the SIM card. So I plan to go to Canada because I love visiting and I'm relatively close and buying her a iphone there because as you know iphones are Esim only in the USA. I get a trip and she gets a phone! It's scary that you posted this right when I was talking about this haha.

I’ve been thinking about getting a surf shark account and I wonder if that might work better for travel and security. Any thoughts?

Unfortunately, AT&T increased their intl data plan from $10 a day to $12 in May 2024 (2nd line $6 a day). I agree it is much more convenient yet more expensive to use your local provider intl plan. It's like using your phone anywhere in the world for $12 a day up to 10 days per billing cycle.

Most phones support dual eSIMs and you can use your cheaper local one for data while being reachable on your home number. Why wouldn't you?

I used the AT&T travel plan, when I visited Germany and since my parents had zero internet, I purchased an Aldi sim card for my I pad, it just worked great !

In Europe Vodafone and O2 are everywhere except damn Switzerland where they have exclusive networks but Vodaphone has recently 'done a deal' to get into Swiss. It is possible to setup accounts but generally better for longer than one month stays. Use e-sims and leave your home sim in your phone switched on only for messages and generally messages from home can be received for free which is especially useful for banking and possible two factor authentication needs.

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One good reason:

You'll have mobile data (internet), so you can order an Uber from anywhere.

I mostly just get the international roaming plan of my main number BUT some country specific apps (like food apps or taxi apps) require a local number so thats something to keep in mind

Hey Mark, awesome and helpful video

I have Tmobile and have never had to.

All hotels, airports and most restaurants, cafe’s and museums have Wi-Fi so even without local SIM you will only be without free internet for very few hours.

Before Brexit I got a Vodafone Sim in London that I could also use in the EU, worked fine in the Uk and France, but in Italy and Greece, I couldn't call relatives in Europe but could call home to Australia, so frustrating and nobody knew how to fix it

When I go to Ukraine , I buy a local SIM. I pay around $5 for a month of nearly unlimited high speed data. I only go for a week , but it's so much cheaper than using my local sim , it's worth switching. Bonus: it works in many EU countries, too , for no extra cost.

These days you can have multiple sims on your phone that covers you for when someone back home calls you.

eSIM allows you to use your USA number just for a lot less than international roaming

For me it’s all about getting the cell data; less about using my phone number. E-sims can be a hassle and don’t always work that well, so it may be worth paying just a little more to your phone provider for a temporary international plan.

Japan makes it easy.

At any big camera or electronics store (they're always by major stations), you can get a SIM for 30 days with 14 GB for under $30. I only used half the data with constant Google Maps use. There are cheaper options too for shorter trips or less data.

I have 2 phones, i need the local Sim to operate google maps

I started using a WiFi Puck with eSIM. But eventually used ATT $10day (max $100mo) international plan… It’s surprising how many services depend on a actual Cell number 😐

Markypoo....not far from Marky Mark. LOL

Interesting video!

I spent a month in Australia using an Aldi SIM card. Cost me $15 and included unlimited calls back to the USA, and most European countries as well as NZ and Australia plus almost four times as much data as I needed. Or I could have paid my USA provider $300 for the same service.

Airline employee who travels international all the time. I know Mark is likely trying avoid recommending a particular carrier, but in the US, if you travel international, GET T MOBILE! The ONLY reason I would get a local SIM now are the reasons MArk mentioned, but really only because if I was spending more than about a week I'd run out of data. I only buy unlocked phones because of this. Also, cell service, even for tourists, can be UNBELIEVABLY cheap in some countries. My girlfriend spent a couple of months in Spain, and I think she got 20gigs for like $10 for up to a month.

Phones can matter as well. THe last several iPhone iterations, and I expect many Androids, offer eSIM, dual SIM, or both in their phones. All I need is a local carrier with an eSIM, add it to my phone, and I have BOTH phone lines available.

Don’t forget the newer phones (I can only speak for iPhones, and 14 or newer) don’t have replaceable SIM cards; can only use esims. Would love a video just on those and evaluating them. Thanks.

I bought a 50gb SIM in Paris for 10 Euros. Having data to use City Mapper was a life saver. Having data at my finger tips to help navigate the city was invaluable. I will forever buy a local SIM when travelling abroad as my Canadian phone provider is close to $20/day for international data.

I'm from Mexico. When traveling to Europe, it makes sense because my mx carrier (Telcel) will charge outrageous rates for international travel. Real example:
1 gb for 50 USD

I was in Europe (pre-Covid, sadly life intervened and prevented a return trip) and after that experience I would never go without a local SIM to provide data. It isn't worth it to pay roaming to my Canadian provider, and when I'm on vacation I don't need to be instantly accessible. I used offline maps on WiFi, but local SIM would have provided data and prevented us from waiting in Paris for buses that were never going to show up and closed metro stations due to protests.

Yes, totally eSim, I always carry one from Yohomobile

I always buy the Yohomobile esim, almost all my trips are through Europe and the data works perfectly in all countries.

I bought a cell phone in Mexico when I went, because my phone is locked and my carrier does not offer international plans. I'm gonna need a translator to reactivate it for my upcoming cruise because everything is in Spanish.

I did get to flex on all the American AT&T customers during the big outage though 😂

im going to leave a big yes, yes you should buy sim cards. necessary to get in contact with people back home to let them know you're safe

Esims are a ripoff, get a local sim if possible, much cheaper even for a short stay. sims throttle the speed and lie about how much data you actually get.

I travel to Europe. As I use T. Mobile, I have no problems with roaming of Simm cards. I do pay a premium for voice but email and text is free

airalo, can’t gowrong; never looked bak (eSim).

A local sim / esim card is going to be cheaper than what an esim provider like airalo charges for. Just saying...

Do you have any videos where your kids talks about how they liked Bogotá? It's relatively easy to find adults' opinions but I haven't found any good kids ones.

I have service with T-Mobile and my phone works great in Europe for $10 per week extra

I refuse to do anything with Facebook/Meta, I simply don't like their service. So no whatsup for me.

There's also Facebook messenger. That was how I was able to stay in contact with my father while I was in Peru.

In the UK my cell phone is provided by O2. they have a roaming fee of £6 per day.

On my recent trip to Thailand I bought a sim card for 200thb. then used the usual apps on my phone.

The cost saving is massive

Twenty years ago you literally couldn't use your US phone to call a European number. Has this changed?

I love Whatsup

Ap

I'm just going to use the wifi on my phone in the hotels to plan everything from citymaps, and then simply download maps from google maps ahead of time. I'm Canadian so my provider wants to charge me 500 dollars a month to use the internet once in a while. If it becomes a hassle I will simply get a euro sim and pay a much more reasonable fee. Bu-Bye Canadian cell phone companies, you are utterly useless grifters.

But $10 a day is expensive

Thank you! Always informative