UK residents: question about buying a SIM card on holidays

[Barrister]

So Mrs B and I are heading to your fair country in a couple of months.  We want to stay in touch with our kids (who aren't coming).  You can buy overseas access through our Canadian wireless provider, but the costs would be outrageous.

What I think I want to do is buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card for while we're in the UK.  I know that's a thing, but any idea how I go about doing that?  Where would you go in the UK?

[mongers]

So Mrs B and I are heading to your fair country in a couple of months.  We want to stay in touch with our kids (who aren't coming).  You can buy overseas access through our Canadian wireless provider, but the costs would be outrageous.

What I think I want to do is buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card for while we're in the UK.  I know that's a thing, but any idea how I go about doing that?  Where would you go in the UK?

This is a good starting point, it lists pretty much all of the payg sims available in the UK.

https://payg-petef.rhcloud.com/

Some of the international 'calling plan' sims are regionally targeted, so one seems aimed at the West African community here, others are people keeping in touch with their Sub-continent family. So there maybe one with good rates back to North America.

[garbon]

And as far as where do you go - just go to one of the stores of one of those providers listed when here. Even if you run into problems with say your phone not working when you buy a sim here, you can always just get a cheap burner (I think like 10-15 pounds) from one of the providers.

The easiest ones, as they have stores you can easily see, are Vodafone, O2, 3 & EE. Not coincidentally, they are also the ones that own the networks.

[garbon]

Did a quick look for Canada pay as you go and each of the providers. Only O2 gave me a quick hit and their international pay as you go is 2p a minute for calls back to Canada. SIM requires minimum 10 pound initial top-up.

[mongers]

Maybe pick a cheap phone from Carphone Warehouse, as they've high-street stores and typically sell unlocked phones, so you could get a value tri or quad-band phone and take it home with you to use in Canada.

[Barrister]

Where do you find such stores?  Are you likely to find a kiosk at the airport for example?

[Monoriu]

So Mrs B and I are heading to your fair country in a couple of months.  We want to stay in touch with our kids (who aren't coming).  You can buy overseas access through our Canadian wireless provider, but the costs would be outrageous.

What I think I want to do is buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card for while we're in the UK.  I know that's a thing, but any idea how I go about doing that?  Where would you go in the UK?

We went to London a year ago.  There were many telecom stores at the airport.  We paid like 30 pounds for a SIM card, asked the staff to insert it into our iphones, and that's it.  There are other plans available.  You can pay more for more more data, or vice versa. 

[garbon]

Where do you find such stores?  Are you likely to find a kiosk at the airport for example?

One all the main streets like mobile providers are in NA. Google them.

Your could try and figure out how to do at airport but probably more trouble than it is worth. From what Monoriu posted sounds more expensive but I don't buy that many sims.

[Maladict]

So Mrs B and I are heading to your fair country in a couple of months.  We want to stay in touch with our kids (who aren't coming).  You can buy overseas access through our Canadian wireless provider, but the costs would be outrageous.

What I think I want to do is buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card for while we're in the UK.  I know that's a thing, but any idea how I go about doing that?  Where would you go in the UK?

Given that the places you'll be staying at most likely have wifi, do you really need a SIM card? They could still reach you anytime on your Canadian SIM in case of emergency.

[Monoriu]

The advantage of buying the SIM card at the airport is so that we have immediate access to useful things like GPS.  Makes the trip from the airport to the city and hotel a bit easier.  Most major airpots nowadays have multiple telecom stores.  The telecom stores at the airport are usually more tourist friendly.  In our Germany trip we only bought the SIM card when we reached a city, but the store people had no idea how to install the SIM cards onto our mobiles.  The clerks at the airports generally know how to help tourists, even those from another continent. 

Another route which we sometimes use is to rent a wifi hotspot that is advertised to work in the destination country prior to leaving Hong Kong.  The up side is there is no need to find a telecom store and waste time on lining up.  Those stores are usually very popular.  The downside is that these hotspots aren't as reliable as the SIM cards.  They work well in the big cities, but if you plan to travel in the countryside, they may go offline. 

Oh and, using a hotspot means you need to carry it around, and that's yet another piece of electronic equipment that you need to recharge every night etc. 

[Monoriu]

Given that the places you'll be staying at most likely have wifi, do you really need a SIM card? They could still reach you anytime on your Canadian SIM in case of emergency.

We tried that approach but it doesn't always work.  Having a local SIM card or wifi hotspot offers much better reliability.  Sometimes you just HAVE to have access to the interent THIS MINUTE to find this hotel/museum/restaurant etc.  Not everywhere has free wifi.  A lot of places like Starbucks restrict wifi use to customers.  They only let you use their wifi if you buy coffee first. 

[garbon]

The advantage of buying the SIM card at the airport is so that we have immediate access to useful things like GPS.  Makes the trip from the airport to the city and hotel a bit easier.

You don't need to be online for GPS to work. Just download google maps of the area you are going to be in (which now days google will in one go download about half of London - did it with my mother) and you can have your phone in flight mode and still get around (even will search some basic things). Combine that with marking in google maps locations of where you are going (save spots) - no need for SIM. Makes sense given that you don't actually pay for data to use a GPS unit. 

Most major airpots nowadays have multiple telecom stores.  The telecom stores at the airport are usually more tourist friendly.  In our Germany trip we only bought the SIM card when we reached a city, but the store people had no idea how to install the SIM cards onto our mobiles.  The clerks at the airports generally know how to help tourists, even those from another continent.

And you will be paying a significant mark-up. Knowing how to put in a SIM won't be hard for shops in Central London. Certainly not those on Oxford Street. 

Another route which we sometimes use is to rent a wifi hotspot that is advertised to work in the destination country prior to leaving Hong Kong.  The up side is there is no need to find a telecom store and waste time on lining up.  Those stores are usually very popular.  The downside is that these hotspots aren't as reliable as the SIM cards.  They work well in the big cities, but if you plan to travel in the countryside, they may go offline. 

Wouldn't recommend this as London has a lot of free wifi.

[Maladict]

Sometimes you just HAVE to have access to the interent THIS MINUTE to find this hotel/museum/restaurant etc.  Not everywhere has free wifi. 

I guess. I'm quite happy to be disconnected while out and about, and I use a paper map and/or ask people if I need directions.
edit: and as garbon suggested, sometimes preloaded maps on my phone.

A lot of places like Starbucks restrict wifi use to customers.  They only let you use their wifi if you buy coffee first.

You don't have to actually drink it.

[garbon]

You don't have to actually drink it.

Also most of said places have their wifi working outside their establishment as well. So you can easily use their wifi without going in.

London also has (though it isn't great if you have actually mobile data) The Cloud which is a slow wifi network that can also be reached outside of many restaurants. And many of the museums offer free wifi as well. As a tourist, I found no shortage of places to connect in.

[Monoriu]

Well, it is up to BB but a SIM card offers true independence.  No need to ask for directions, just search on the phone.  A lot of the so-called free wifi is password protected, and they only tell you the password if you buy something.  Free wifi also tend to be slow or time-limited.  You want internet access anytime, anywhere?  Get the SIM card   I think we paid 30 pounds because we needed it for 2-3 weeks, and it also worked in Scandinavia.  If you use it for a shorter time period, the cost will go down.