Traveling from US to Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands

[HeyBob]

I will be traveling for a few weeks in Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands.

Anyone have any suggestions for the best data plans, pre-paid cards, etc? I use data almost entirely and very little voice.

With T-Mobile's international roaming services, they said it would cost me: $15/MB that's right $15 per megabyte! That is the equivalent of paying $3,000 for the same 200MB plan they offer here in the states.

I have seen some other deals on pre-paid cards but they mostly focus on voice and data is still pretty damn expensive!

 

[ragnarokx]

Sounds like you either need to find some local prepaid SIM cards and/or find/party for local WiFI. Hopefully someone who travels more than me has some good tips

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G

 

[chimpusmaximus]

Just been through something similar but i'm in the UK traveling to Europe. No real cheap option i have found so far, most pre paid cards etc charge about $1.50 to $2 a MB which soon adds up. One good option i have just used when traveling to France is a UK Vodafone PrePaid sim that charges ?2 a day for 25MB. Not sure off the top of my head it covers all the contries you had but as they are pretty main stream i would suspect so.

Chris

 

[HeyBob]

Just been through something similar but i'm in the UK traveling to Europe. No real cheap option i have found so far, most pre paid cards etc charge about $1.50 to $2 a MB which soon adds up. One good option i have just used when traveling to France is a UK Vodafone PrePaid sim that charges ?2 a day for 25MB. Not sure off the top of my head it covers all the contries you had but as they are pretty main stream i would suspect so.

Chris

Thanks - That's exactly what I'm looking for. The only ones I've found so far that offer a similar deal (blau.de) do not ship the SIM to the US and you have to ship to a local address.

 

[wcoast]

While in London (Felltham) last month T-Mobile UK gave me random free data. At that time my sensation was on T-Mobile US stock rom and was unlocked by T-Mobile for my trip and weird part was that I was using MTN SIM. Depending on the hotel you’re staying, see if you can have them give you free Wi-Fi, talk to their manager and make it clear you will like to give them good review when you’re back in US. Good luck.

 

[chimpusmaximus]

Had a quick look on ebay.com and seems a fair few sim cards for Vodafone UK available. Worse case i can probably sort you one out as they only cost about ?1 over here and sometimes can get them for free.

Voda also do a a broadband dongle that provides 100mb for ?8 a day in Europe.

Some more details can be found here Using the Internet Abroad – Vodafone

 

[DannyAves]

I will be traveling for a few weeks in Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands.

Anyone have any suggestions for the best data plans, pre-paid cards, etc? I use data almost entirely and very little voice.

With T-Mobile's international roaming services, they said it would cost me: $15/MB that's right $15 per megabyte! That is the equivalent of paying $3,000 for the same 200MB plan they offer here in the states.

I have seen some other deals on pre-paid cards but they mostly focus on voice and data is still pretty damn expensive!

A new option is now available from XCom Global (XCom Global - Unlimited International Mobile Broadband Rentals) and that is a MiFi or mobile wi-fi hotspot. For about $15 per day you can rent a small device which will give you unlimited mobile 3G coverage in just about all of Europe and parts of South America, Asia and Africa. This is an intriguing option and although on the outset it looks expensive would perhaps work out to be cheaper than the daily charges in a hotel. Be careful because there are charges for insurance and for extra battery (highly recommended) which add up quickly but it might even be easier to buy an extra battery at Amazon or eBay instead of paying their fee.

If you are technically inclined you could buy the same MiFi unit unlocked online from eBay for less than $200 and buy a data plan for each country you are going. For example, if you are going to the UK you could get a pre-paid SIM card with 3GB data good for 3 months for under ?21 from the UK provider 3 (three.co.uk) and use that with the unlocked MiFi. You could do the same for every country you are going then sell the MiFi when you return to the US.

 

[wcoast]

A new option is now available from XCom Global (XCom Global - Unlimited International Mobile Broadband Rentals) and that is a MiFi or mobile wi-fi hotspot. For about $15 per day you can rent a small device which will give you unlimited mobile 3G coverage in just about all of Europe and parts of South America, Asia and Africa. This is an intriguing option and although on the outset it looks expensive would perhaps work out to be cheaper than the daily charges in a hotel. Be careful because there are charges for insurance and for extra battery (highly recommended) which add up quickly but it might even be easier to buy an extra battery at Amazon or eBay instead of paying their fee.

If you are technically inclined you could buy the same MiFi unit unlocked online from eBay for less than $200 and buy a data plan for each country you are going. For example, if you are going to the UK you could get a pre-paid SIM card with 3GB data good for 3 months for under ?21 from the UK provider 3 (three.co.uk) and use that with the unlocked MiFi. You could do the same for every country you are going then sell the MiFi when you return to the US.

Smart,