Travel SIM Data Only – Ways To Get Service

Over the last few years, many people have literally stopped using their cell phones to make actual calls. Instead, they will text or contact each other through apps. These apps are usually going to rely on data usage to be able to function properly. That is pretty much how travel SIM data only plans where born. People just flat out decided that they had no need for minutes or even texting and just wanted data. Data only plans also served as a great way to get internet coverage on your tablets and other devices such as laptops even. If you are going to travel abroad though, could you take your data only plans for international use? 

As is the case with many of the cell phone plans that you buy locally international rates tend to be absurdly high. There is really no reason to sugarcoat that particular fact. If you have read through some of the other articles on the site, this is something that you know already. That being said, even if you are able to travel with your data only plan on an international trip, getting good coverage can be the actual problem that you are effectively going to be facing. 

There are a couple of things that you can do, and as you can probably expect these are the tips that we are going to be talking about in this article. The main goal is to give you the most cost-effective options out there. To take your data only plans for international use or buy a data only plan on foreign soil! Here are some of the topics that we are specifically going to be covering in this particular article. 

Is taking your data only plan “as is” on the trip an option?

We want to be as honest as we can be on this web page about this. From the research that we have done in most cases, the data only plans that local providers offer are prepaid. This means that you are going to be limited to a certain number of GB that you could potentially use. Some of these plans actually do offer some form of international coverage. Especially if you are headed to Mexico or Canada. As far as this being a good option most of the signs point to the fact that it is just not a great idea to be doing this. 

Your coverage is more often than not going to be very restricted. You may be getting very slow coverage in some areas or no coverage at all. If you are on a prepaid data only plan, there is no reason why you shouldn’t try and get coverage. What is that you are going to have to lose right? Even though you can try to get coverage with your regular plan it would be a good idea to make sure that you plan things out as if you are not going to be able to rely on that coverage. Getting a data only plan internationally, is not that hard at all! Many of the SIM card options that you can find are actually data only. That is a pretty good indicator of just how frankly easy it is to get coverage abroad.    

Getting a data only plan with international coverage

As we mentioned before many of the SIM cards that you can get abroad are essentially data only. Especially if you happen to be bargain shopping. There is a good chance that the SIM card that you find at a decent price is actually data only. The next question would be can I use that SIM card on other gadgets, not just the phone. That is going to depend on the particular provider that you are getting the SIM card from. If we had to take a guess we would say that most companies will open up sort of widespread SIM use. To the point where you can use it on all gadgets without a care. A lot of the SIM cards that you can get out there already offer this feature.  

At the end of the day, it is really about finding the right provider and making sure that they offer what you are looking for. There are some of you reading this, that may still want minutes and the chance to call home from anywhere in the world. From what we have been able to gather the difference in price between a data only plan with international coverage and just a regular SIM with maybe 200 minutes and some texts, is pretty much the same. You are essentially not going to be benefiting from a drop in price with a data only plan. 

Really what you have to worry about the most is that the SIM card that you buy gives you coverage wherever it is that you are going. Also that it is compatible with the device that you want to put it in. If these two scenarios are not met, then really nothing else matters. Making sure you buy a SIM card ahead of time can ensure that you get what you need, and you don’t just end up with what you can find! 

Why would you need this data only plan?

It is really simple actually if you don’t have a plan you are going to be paying a lot of money for coverage. There are really not too many ways around that. As we just mentioned there are people that are going to want minutes and texts. If you have data these days, you can use different apps to call. Potentially, you may not lose your phone number. So, configuring certain apps like Whatsapp, for example, is not going to be as tough on you. These apps have essentially become more adaptable to the changes in your phone number. If you don’t want to have to deal with this, you could actually buy a data only plan, put it in a non-phone device and then use that device as a wifi hotspot. If you do that, you really won’t have to worry about your phone number changing.

If you have a dual SIM phone all of this essentially becomes much easier. At least if your plan is to actually install this SIM on that particular phone. At the end of the day, there are a lot of different options that you can explore. Once again, the best idea is to explore all of these options while you are still at home. That way you are going to be able to test a lot of the modes of operation out before you actually go on your trip and have to rely on that foreign data. At least, that is the way that we see it! 

Using a device with a Travel SIM data only plan as a wifi hotspot

This can be an option for families and large groups. If you need to buy 4 foreign SIM cards it is safe to say that your trip can get more expensive than you probably want it to be. That being said, this could be an option. What you need to look out for though are the limitations of the plan itself and the foreign SIM card that you ultimately buy. Some SIM cards are going to limit the amount of data that can be used as a wifi hotspot. It is one of those situations where you would need to make sure that you read the fine print. 

If you can find a foreign SIM card that gives you only data and that really has no limitations as far as shared data goes it would not be odd if you would end up using up the data a lot quicker than you would for individual usage. At the end of the day though if you end up having to buy 2 SIM cards instead of 4 it’s a win. There is really no reason to lie about that. Again, the viability of this plan is going to be solely determined by the type of SIM card that you buy.    

Picking the right travel SIM data only plans for international use

Speaking of reading that fine print, there are a couple of things that you would need to worry about when choosing the right data only plan for international use. Mainly the countries where you need coverage. More often than not we find that people will just buy the SIM card that promises coverage all over Europe, all over Asia. The problem is that different countries even within the EU for example, are going to have different rates. In some SIM cards, you are going to get limited coverage in certain countries and certain parts of the country as well.

This basically poses another question. Should you buy the SIM card that promises coverage in an entire area or should you worry about buying one card per country that you are going to visit? This is actually a debate that may be worth having. There are a lot of things that are going to come into play. For example, if you are going to spend 10 days in one country and 10 days in another country it may make sense to buy a very limited 15 day SIM card for each country that you are going to visit. Usually, you can find these on sale for around 20$ or maybe 20€. It may make more sense than buying the 40 or 50$ option that promises to cover all of Europe or all of Latin America. 

Another question that people tend to have is why data only plans can change your phone number or come equipped with a phone number. You wouldn’t really need a phone number if you can’t take calls right?  That is what logic would dictate, the thing is some companies use these phone numbers just to keep track of their users. So even with a data only plan your number could change for Whatsapp or other apps within your devices. This can be a real pain, and that is why it’s one of those things that you would need to watch out for. 

Taking many devices with you on an international trip

So you are taking your phone, your tablet, and your laptop or iWatch and you want coverage on all of them. Can you get this done? Yes, of course, you are going to be able to put a data only SIM card on virtually any device. Just make sure that you are using or buying that you know is going to fit into your device. The problem with doing this is that it is going to cost you a pretty penny. If your idea is to buy a SIM card for each device. Again you could share data across all of your devices with one SIM card. 

Even while doing this you are probably going to want to find a SIM card that gives you a lot of data. If you travel to Europe for example it may make a lot of sense that you buy the PAYG MBB 24GB from Three UK. This card is going to cost you around $80. It is going to give you 24GB of coverage and your credit is going to be good for two years. This card, for example, is a data only card. Which means that you are not going to be getting access to calls or texts!   

• 

Is it worth it to get Buy A Travel SIM Data Only?

Most of the SIM cards that are being sold for travelers are actually data only. This allows you to really use any device while you travel without having to find “special” SIM cards. The real trick though is to find the right card that is going to fit your device, give you good coverage where you happen to be traveling.  If you can get that card at a good price then you have really won! There is really no doubt about that. Get a travel SIM data only plan asap!