Want To Use Your Phone On Holiday? - Save 85% With A Free Roaming Global Sim Card!

TravelSim cards are just £17.99 including £5 call credit.

Typical Holiday Savings

Sally is planning to go on a 1 week holiday to Spain. She knows that using her phone abroad with her current provider will be costly because of roaming charges.

She has thought about registering for her providers Overseas discounts scheme (e.g. O2 International Traveller Service or Vodafone. Passport), but finds that she will still pay to receive calls and will have to pay a monthly fee to receive slightly cheaper calls.

Sally decided to purchase a TravelSim global SIM card.

She is no longer worried about the cost of receiving calls because TravelSim receives calls for free. Her Mum will be calling her every day for about 5 minutes. Sally will not pay to receive these calls.

Cost comparison based on 50 minutes outbound calls, 25 minutes inbound calls and sending 35 SMS texts.

Leisure Trip	TravelSim	O2 (ITS)	Vodafone ICS	T-Mobile	Orange
Europe ex Andora & Malta	£23.10	£30.50	£36.33	£32.00	£37.35
Australia	£24.06	£52.70	£73.48	£73.60	£68.60
Argentina	£71.79	£139.85	£99.40	£129.50	£116.10
China	£45.36	£139.85	£115.98	£112.00	£116.10
Cyprus	£15.44	£30.50	£36.33	£33.95	£37.35
Demark	£25.08	£30.50	£36.33	£33.95	£37.35
Hong Kong	£34.51	£52.70	£99.40	£112.00	£116.10
Japan	£21.16	£139.85	£115.98	£112.00	£116.10
Malaysia	£43.24	£52.70	£99.40	£112.00	£118.50
New Zealand	£29.83	£52.70	£73.48	£129.50	£68.60
Russia	£56.20	£139.85	£99.40	£129.50	£116.10
Saudia	£25.36	£139.85	£99.40	£112.00	£116.10
Singapore	£23.18	£52.70	£73.48	£112.00	£116.10
South Africa	£23.84	£52.70	£73.48	£112.00	£116.10
Thailand	£50.42	£139.85	£73.48	£112.00	£116.10
UAE	£22.72	£139.85	£99.40	£112.00	£116.10
USA	£64.15	£64.75	£89.73	£86.10	£54.85

* We tried really hard to understand the costing plans for each of the alternative service providers and are pretty sure we interpreted them correctly, but boy, do they make it complicated! Comparison costs are based on a Monthly contract and we have used any "International Saver" type option they offer to try and show TravelSim prices against the other networks best prices.

** Assumes Vodafone Passport is used and uses 50 % of inclusive minutes. If Vodafone customer were to have remaining "Inclusive minutes" then savings would be less than shown. We have tried to use realistic usage figures in this example - but it was a challenge figuring it all out.

Sally's friends and family can call her from between 5p and 13p per minute from a BT landline and Sally can use her mobile to call home and not have to worry about roaming charges.

What You Need To Know

Many of the providers use Zones and use flat rate costs "to make it easy to know what you're paying". What we noted, was that if you call outside of the Zone, your charges shoot up even higher!

Some providers offer "International Saver" packages. These sometimes cost an additional monthly fee or may be included in a monthly contract if you "opt in". We used the providers "International Saver" option where they offer one, to show you the cheapest rates they offer - Still looks pretty costly to us...

We believe in transparency and Plain English. We endeavour to keep our rates simple and straightforward.

No smoke and mirrors
No connection charges
No monthly fees
No minimum usage to qualify for cheaper rates.

What you see, is what you pay. No clawing back of unused call credit, No freebies enticing you in the short term, but charging you in the longer term.

Cost obtained from the "roaming advisory service" an independent service comparing mobile roaming charges. They collect all possible information from the major networks then carry out specific same level comparison. Cost correct at time of printing November 2008.

E&O excepted.

Don't let your mobile phone bill cost more than your Holiday!

With the cost of travel falling, and budget flights costing just a few pounds, one of the most significant costs of a holiday or short break is your mobile phone bill.

Whilst you are sunning yourself on the beach, or playing a round of golf, when some one calls you on your mobile, you are paying to receive the call and when you make a call, you are charged "Roaming Charges" which significantly increases your mobile call costs.

Some unfortunte people return home to a mobile phone bill that costs more than the flight or holiday.

Don't spoil the memories of your holiday by returning to a huge phone bill. Use a TravelSim global SIM card to make calling home insignificant.