Can anyone help with advice on - if it’s a good idea to purchase a Travel Sim here in Australia before travelling for phone and tablet and if so, which one is best. Would it give you a new phone number?
Which is the best travel insurance for a pretty fit 71 year old?
Is it worth getting a travel card from the bank before travel, or is there a better way…
Hope you can help…
Hi @Reg
As your request is multifaceted I was hesitant to move it into a already existing topic that may have covered only part of your requests. There are a number of topics that cover your requests contained in your post. If you do a search of the site you may find information that helps to answer your requests. I say help because everyone’s needs can be different particularly when it comes to travel insurance and the impact of pre-existing conditions. Some searches follow
https://choice.community/search?expanded=true&q=travel%20insurance
https://choice.community/search?expanded=true&q=travel%20money
https://choice.community/search?expanded=true&q=international%20money
https://choice.community/search?expanded=true&q=money%20for%20overseas%20travel
If you have a premium credit card with travel insurance most will cover one to 76, 80,or 81 at time of travel. The policies are similar to retail travel insurance and will cover many pre-existing conditions, read the booklet.
There are + and - to buying a SIM prior to travel. They will all give you ‘local’ numbers; those bought for the EU while in Australia generally have UK numbers but roaming with them throughout the EU is not a worry. The cheapest way is to buy one ASAP off the plane but if one needs a phone or data in the interim it can be a hassle to save a few dollars.
We are doing a trip to the EU and US and will be buying SIMs prior to departure. I cannot recommend any since I have not yet experienced them, but $AUD35 for 30 days with unlimited talk and text and 6GB data seems enough for us in each locale.
The links @grahroll provided should be helpful.
Money cards can be expensive and can also lock you into expensive exchange rates. I have been using a Wise Debit card which offers very good exchange rates. I transfer cash to a $A account on Wise and tap all over the world. Because the account is $A wise has to handle the exchange rate conversion and that is a lot less than the rates chrged by Visa, Amex or MasterCard. Don’t allow OS vendors to render the bill in $A as those commercial exchange rates really hurt - just pay in the local currency. You can also use Wise cards in ATMs, although there will probably be an ATM useage charge - Dkk25 ($A6), i think, in Denmark.
What countries are you traveling to?
The question is do you need a SIM card?
If you are buying one especially for overseas travel, the only ones which will know you new number will be those you tell. The only real benefit will be if you plan to make a lot of local calls in the countries you are when travelling.
Alternatives to a SIM is use WIFI calling or look at an app that allows calls to landlines/mobiles when connected to WIFI. An example being Viper.
For calling back home, there are many apps which allow messages, voice and video calls over WIFI to anyone who has the app. We use this method when travelling to remain in contact with friends and family, along with WIFI calling and finds it meets our needs. The only disadvantage is it isn’t good for emergency calls as it relies on having a WIFI connection.
When we travel for pleasure, we go away so that we can’t be readily contacted. We have never had any issues travelling without buying a SIM or using an Australian Telco’s international roaming - and relying on WIFI calling. It isn’t a cost thing, but to ensure that we can enjoy our holiday away without be unnecessarily disturbed.
Italy, France and Switzerland are the three countries we plan to visit later in the year.
Thank you so much for your suggestions so far. It is very helpful (and I’m sure to others in the same boat)
A reason for having a local SIM, phone or data or both, is that depending on how one travels one can be alerted to disruptions via push notifications from their apps (assuming one has installed them). Voice is sometimes handy to contact your travel agent or airline (etc) customer service (if there is any) and make new arrangements since it cannot always be done easily online.
Sometimes public free or paid WiFi is available and works a treat but sometimes, especially free in public places, it can be so under-provisioned it is useless. Pre COVID I expected to be able to ring my family member via WiFi connected VOIP as I got out of customs in the USA. After countless attempts to get a free airport WiFi connection (overloaded) the performance was so bad I couldn’t make a call and the VOIP app at the time did not support texts. The for-fee WiFi was expensive for an hour/day use; a SIM would have been the same cost for a month.
There were ways to deal with it and we did but the point is what convenience is traded off to save a few dollars? If one can go to the EU or anywhere else one needs travel insurance. it is said that if one cannot afford travel insurance one probably cannot afford to travel. While everyone has their own norms and expectations and solutions, I personally add mobile service to my mix. If I cannot do travel insurance and a SIM I would personally question if I can afford to go.
I recommend strongly against buying a simcard in Australia before you go. 6gb data may sound like enough but my main use of my phone overseas is navigating round foreign cities. That uses up data very quickly and you will find yourself frequently having to top up. Instead buy a local simcard on arrival. On a recent trip to Spain a card cost 15 euros for 30 days with I think about 100gb of data. You won’t be able to receive calls on your Australian number but use Whatsapp. Its free. You just need an internet connection. It works well for voice and video calls and is way better than email accounts for sending photos and videos. Just leave a message on your phone before you leave asking folk to use Whatsapp to phone. As for travel credit cards, I agree with the earlier response recommending a Wise debit card. For travel insurance I rely on my credit card cover. Not perfect but I am in good health and prepared to take my chances with the level of free cover.
HereWeGo has offline maps that use no data - if you remember to download them and set offline mode, so can be a viable option. Local SIMs are always best if you do not need service from T0 on arrival.
Off-line maps are ok if you don’t have an internet connection but they’re just like old fashioned paper maps and don’t give directions as you move about. Far better to be able to navigate in google maps.
Actually they do give directions. You should try it. They use the mobiles location facility, GPS, or similar, or the towers. I used it regularly around Melbourne prior to cheap data.
Then I stand corrected, though I don’t understand how you can get directions without an internet connection. But for 15 euros per month I will have a local simcard
It has little to do with the internet and everything to do with GIS databases and positioning.
eg $AUD25. As I noted, different priorities for different travellers.
Most phones these days have GPS receivers and so can be used by many apps to locate you on a map system that uses GPS positioning data. Having internet access is not needed for this process. Bluetooth and W-iFi information can also be used to fine tune the location even without being actively connected to these systems, as long as your phone has these services enabled they use the pings from the nearby services to help place where you are in real time and with fairly good accuracy.
Offline maps take advantage of this positioning data to trace your path across their maps. GPS just tends to be a larger drain on batteries, so it is often used either as an emergency system or longer term if plugged into a power source such as a car’s accessory power system. If you think you are going to be outside of internet access range then it is easy beforehand to download the maps for the area you are visiting and then just rely on the GPS system to keep you updated on your maps. Just be sure to keep the battery well charged, plugged in to the car or similar, or have a battery backup means handy (e.g. an external battery).
If using Google Maps you can download offline maps by searching for the area your are interested in, then
Select the country, or town, or other location you are interested in (in this case I chose Brisbane Qld)
From the menu (the … option) select “Download offline map” from the choices.
Most (if not all) offline maps on Google maps need to be re-checked very 4 weeks or so otherwise they are removed.
In Apple Maps
Select your account icon ( the icon next to the search bar) H in this case
Then select Offline Maps
Next select the area you want to download (this can be sized in the frame that you will see). Use the Download new map option to search for the place or area you desire.
Download the data.
You can set the options to always use the offline map even when connected to the internet and to delete any maps that haven’t been used in awhile.
I agree with you that if unable to afford a sim card, then I would query whether I should be travelling. I will want a sim card for internet access whether or not I also use it for navigation. And I understand that Reg also wants a sim card, but is asking whether better to buy a European card will be less expensive and provide more data than a Travel Sim, so that’s the way to go for me. But I will download a map and try navigating, just out of interest and to understand how well it works.
Depending on the app their downloaded maps will differ in coverage and content. HereWeGo is by country and/or state/province, shows the file size for when that matters, and updates them ‘every 2-3 months’. Google downloads an ‘area’ and is arguably most up-to-date. Waze does not offer downloaded maps. Each app is different as is their display.
There are many who travel who chose not to have a mobile phone. We have travelled through Asia, South America and Europe without any need for a mobile. We have struck many like us when travelling. If we did need connectivity, we used WIFI when available. This more than sufficed.
It is worth noting that it is only a decade or two ago, everyone travelled without mobile phones. There isn’t an overriding need to travel on a holiday with one today. Possibly a business trip is different.
My previous employer also tried on numerous times to try and persuade me to accept international roaming on the work phone to take whilst holidaying abroad. I refused and always left a message on voicemail to call my manager in the case of an urgent matter.
For local maps, we use MapFactor Navigator and download maps for the countries we are visiting.
There isn’t a need to have a mobile when travelling, unless one is FOMO.
Is one also considering cyber security advice?
Cyber security when travelling overseas | Smartraveller.
We minimise or avoid connecting to free WiFi. Some devices and service types are more vulnerable than others.
A travel SIM is a great way to go. Also consider a VPN, which is essential if one needs to access banking, email etc while away. We have used Nord. There are others. https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-and-technology/internet/connecting-to-the-internet/review-and-compare/vpn-services
Having travelled Europe, UK, and parts of Asia without mobile devices we now would not travel without at least one connectivity option. Being contactable can be as easy as setting all voice calls to divert to SMS messaging. There is no cost to receive SMS while OS (assuming roaming is enabled). The options to return contact if necessary can be as low cost as using iMessage etc or any one of several face to face services providing one has access to data.
We’ve also travelled semi independently with larger family groups. Travel sims provided a great way to coordinate, once the respective numbers had been shared.
I hear you. I travelled overland from Australia to Europe taking 8 months in 1973-4. Obviously no mobile phone (no lots of things) - but I do like to have the phone now
