95% OT: need an eSIM for Spain and Mallorca

[dgauthier]

Long term, I would encourage you to consider using TMobile as your carrier. When you go to Spain (or any of 215 other countries) you bring your phone and it just works without having to do anything. (I'm not sure what dear giordana93 was complaining about. International usage is already included on all of TMobile's major plans. You don't need no stinking data pass.)

International data -- which includes IP text -- is free. Voice is something like 25 cents a minute, but you won't be doing a lot of that because calls over IP data (like Skype or Facetime audio) are free.

We've used it in destinations including Barcelona, Costa Rica, and Hong Kong. Total cost: zero. When it comes to international travel, Tmobile rules.

[plunk]

Buddysim
€40 for 20 GB.

[jemoryl]

Just got back from 2 weeks in Spain. Wanted a Spanish phone number and a data plan. My first hotel was a few blocks from the Grand Via in Madrid, and a search on the web showed high ratings for a kiosk that was on Grand Via nearby.

I wasn't looking for an eSIM so you can ignore, but the kiosk is Vodaphone dealer and they set me up with a regular SIM good for 40 Gb of data and an unexpected plus of 400 min. of international calling including the US for around 20 euros. The woman working the kiosk completed the installation in a few minutes and I found the coverage perfectly adequate wherever I went. There may be cheaper plans available, but I didn't feel like comparison shopping at the time.

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by old fat man

Did you check with your carrier? Verizon was $10/day for Europe for us.

We just returned from 2 weeks in the Netherlands. Our choice was to only use the Verizon plan for my wife's phone, and get a cheaper esim for my phone. I chose the Orange vacation plan, which is 2 weeks for 20 or 30 euros, and it was great. It's data- and text-based with limited in-country calling but that was all that I needed, since we had my wife's phone for any emergencies that might require an international call.

[unterhausen]

For people going to Girona, you might want to watch this video even though it has a bit of a clickbait title. Apparently he could have been fined for riding across the bridge. Also, riding on a sidewalk is a 200 euro fine.

https://youtu.be/9xLGEGTfgiI?si=m4DeslKqSBmGIC1y

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Long term, I would encourage you to consider using TMobile as your carrier. When you go to Spain (or any of 215 other countries) you bring your phone and it just works without having to do anything. (I'm not sure what dear giordana93 was complaining about. International usage is already included on all of TMobile's major plans. You don't need no stinking data pass.)

International data -- which includes IP text -- is free. Voice is something like 25 cents a minute, but you won't be doing a lot of that because calls over IP data (like Skype or Facetime audio) are free.

We've used it in destinations including Barcelona, Costa Rica, and Hong Kong. Total cost: zero. When it comes to international travel, Tmobile rules.

2nd, this has made international travel easier for me. It doesn't give you full speed data but you can load maps and other travel related tasks just fine.

[hokoman]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Long term, I would encourage you to consider using TMobile as your carrier. When you go to Spain (or any of 215 other countries) you bring your phone and it just works without having to do anything. (I'm not sure what dear giordana93 was complaining about. International usage is already included on all of TMobile's major plans. You don't need no stinking data pass.)

International data -- which includes IP text -- is free. Voice is something like 25 cents a minute, but you won't be doing a lot of that because calls over IP data (like Skype or Facetime audio) are free.

We've used it in destinations including Barcelona, Costa Rica, and Hong Kong. Total cost: zero. When it comes to international travel, Tmobile rules.

Originally Posted by FriarQuade

2nd, this has made international travel easier for me. It doesn't give you full speed data but you can load maps and other travel related tasks just fine.

Yes. I have tmobile, and although surfing the internet is slow it's free! Sometimes I grab my wrong phone when I leave the house in Portugal, it doesn't bother me too much since I can do everything on it. Also, when I roam in Europe, I just take my tmobile phone because I know I have limits with my Portugal number and I don't having to monitor that.

[CAAD]

I always use the ATT international day pass for $10 per day. I use my phone like normal. I don't even bother logging into any wifi while traveling anymore. ATT had excellent service in Mallorca when I was there in April. I need clients to still reach me so I need my phone number to work.

[xnetter]

My wife and I went to the Costa Brava back in September for a little over two weeks. We each got a 20gb Airalo esim and I used about 3/4 of that during the trip. Very easy to install and monitor usage along the way.

While I was cycling in Girona, my wife was scuba diving on the coast and was hacked at the hotel she was staying at. The perp got into her Linkedin account and hijacked it. She thinks it was through the hotel wi-fi. A good lesson using shared networks vs. cellular!

KJ

[dmurphey]

I used an eSIM for the first time for a 2 week trip to Barcelona this month. I used Roamless. It worked very well. It accesses multiple carriers networks. It is not location specific, it can be used all over including in the US if your usual carriers service is poor. I purchased 10GB for $25 and got another $5 in credit as a perk. I used 7GB over 2 weeks with lots of Google Map use, routing, internet searches and checking email. I have service left over for future use. I used mostly What'sApp, a bit of iMessenger for messaging. I only did phone a couple times and used Facebook or WhatsApp phone which is very restricted. I had the hotel front desk call locally for me once. I did not have access to my regular phone line or my usual text messages for 2 weeks, but that was not really an issue. I did not have to pay $10/dat to ATT for the whole trip. It is easy to switch the travel eSIM on and my regular ATT eSIM for home use off.

[vav]

Crap, I also spent 3 weeks in Barcelona / Costa Brava this past August ( like 1/2 of the forum I guess and likely another 12 million people ) No wonder the Catalanes are mad at us Anyways, T-Mobile carrier here in the US, do nothing when I land - get welcome message that I am hooked up to the local carrier. Internet a bit slower but perfect for pretty much all our needs. Unlimited texts / messages. Use whatsapp for calls. Hard to beat T-Mobile really

[slowpoke]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Long term, I would encourage you to consider using TMobile as your carrier. When you go to Spain (or any of 215 other countries) you bring your phone and it just works without having to do anything. (I'm not sure what dear giordana93 was complaining about. International usage is already included on all of TMobile's major plans. You don't need no stinking data pass.)

The fine print is that some plans are limited to 256kbps. Other plans have a 15GB data limit before being throttled to 256kbps.

It's usable for texting, but I'd still set up an eSIM. Also, carriers are making money hand over fist with users paying $10/day for international roaming. Get an eSIM.

[dave thompson]

I’m currently in Marbella Spain and using a Saily eSIM. $20 for 20GB for 30 days. Works perfectly.