As a blogger, I usually spend most of my time traveling with my family and cat visiting different regions of the world. With all this said, one of my favorite places to travel to is the UK. I love the UK and I have friends that I visit there. I use sim cards, because they are more cost effective to use when compared to using my local Canadian cell phone roaming plan ($12 per day).
In essence, I have come up with a list of my own. So I know you will think it is short, but I will be updating it as I come across any new cards. Please read further below for my list of UK SIM For Canadian travelers.
Where Can I Purchase A UK SIM Card?
So when you land in the UK, you can either purchase a SIM card from the airport or from a local street mobile shop. They are affordable. But you need to provide them with an ID such as your passport. This is a very easy process, you will get a UK mobile number.
How Much Does A UK SIM Card Cost?
Again, this will depend on the carrier you choose to purchase your plan through and what kind of plan you purchase. But they are pretty affordable if you choose that path over purchasing a roaming SIM instead.
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What Are The Best UK SIM Card For Canadian Travelers?
Below you will find my personal list of the best UK SIM card for Canadian travelers.
PrePaid Europe (UK Three) sim Card
The 3 UK prepaid SIM card comes with a variety of bundles and so you can choose the plan that suits your mobile needs best. As a Canadian traveler, you will love the fact that :
- You can purchase it online before you leave to the UK. It is actually available online for purchase on Amazon.
- It is way cheaper to use than to have to use the roaming plan our Canadian service providers have to offer.
- This card works as long as you have an unlocked GSM phone. With this said, if you don’t already have an unlocked phone, you can contact your local service provider and ask them to unlock it for you (For free), or you can go to a mobile store and ask them to unlock the phone for you for a small fee.
- It works in the UK and in most parts of Europe as well.
- Just so you know, if you want to call back to Canada or the US using the minutes you have, you will be charged to do that ( in my opinion it’s expensive). But here is what you can do, you can still use a VOIP App such as Whatsapp or Skype and call your friends and family back in Canada that way.
- A lot of people were wondering if they wanted to use this SIM in Europe (in Spain), and were afraid they need to first activate it in the UK – that’s not true. There is no need to activate it in the UK to use it in Spain or Italy.
- Moreover, it lasts for 30 days. So if your stay is a long stay, this card got you covered.
- Did I mention, it’s inexpensive. You can check its current pricing on Amazon here.
Orange Holiday Europe Prepaid SIM Card
The orange holiday SIM card is another card which you can use when in the UK and is also a great option. It will come with a French number, which you are able to share with your friends and family before you leave for your trip. What I personally loved about the Orange Holiday SIM is:
- You can purchase it online through Amazon before you leave for your trip. It must be used on an unlocked GSM phone. You can check out a list of in expensive unlocked GSM phones here on Amazon if you don’t already have an unlocked phone.
- Tethering and hot spot is allowed (unlike the 3 UK SIM card). With this said, if you want to use more than one device, then I recommend you use this card over the 3 UK SIM card.
- It works great in most parts of Europe. If you want to check where else in Europe you can use the Orange holiday SIM card, please click here to be redirected.
- With this card, you can actually use the minutes to call back home (Canada). So unlike the 3 UK SIM you need to use a VOIP app in order to stay connected with friends and family back home.
- Not to mention, the Orange Holiday SIM card is a bit more expensive than the 3 UK SIM card. However, much cheaper than to have to use our local cell phone provider roaming plan.
- This card is valid for 14 days. But if you plan on using it for more than that, you can definitely top up online and you must then register the SIM. It’s all in the instructions. You need to send in a copy of your passport and you need to fill out a form.
- Still much cheaper to use than to have to use the roaming plan our Canadian cell phone providers offer ($12 per day). You can check its current pricing on Amazon, simply click here to be redirected.
Europe Prepaid (UK Giffgaff) Sim Card
The Giffgaff UK SIM comes with 20 GB of data and is valid for a period of 14 days. With all this said, a lot of travelers who have used this card have had issues with it. For instance, people claimed the card did not work once they arrived in the UK or in other parts of Europe. But let me tell you what to expect when you choose to use this card to avoid having issues.
First of all, the UK Giffgaff card must be used with an unlocked GSM phone. So check with your local service provider before you leave that your phone is unlocked. If you want to check out a list of in expensive unlocked GSM phones, you can click here to check out a list on Amazon.
Second of all, please read the instructions carefully and follow them as stated. With this said, please activate the card 3-4 days before you leave to the UK or your destination in Europe. If you want to know which parts of Europe you can use the Gigggaff SIM card, please click here to be redirected.
With all this said, please ensure you purchase the card a week before your trip to the UK so you have enough time to activate it before you leave to the UK. So when you arrive in the UK, you then will ONLY need to insert the SIM in your phone and you should connect to the best local network there.
So if you follow the instructions carefully, you should not have issues with the Card. Let’s check out the advantages of the Giffgaff SIM card below:
- Valid for 14 days, so if you plan to stay for longer, I would purchase 2 cards.
- If you want to call back home to Canada, use a VOIP App (whats app or SKYPE). With this said, if you are looking for voice and text, then use either the 3 UK or the Orange holiday (see above for more information).
- Just so you know, this card supports hot spot and tethering. So if you want to use other devices, you can.
- You can call Giffgaff numbers for free. So if you purchase 2 cards, you can call each other for free. However, there is a limit of how many minutes you can talk. Thus, please read the guide carefully for further instructions on that.
- It is way cheaper to use than to have to use your Canadian local service provider roaming plan. The Giffgaff costs around $40 CAD (at the time of this post). And so if you use Rogers or any other Canadian roam like home plan, it will cost you ($12/per day *14 days = $168 CAD). You do the math. To check the current pricing of the Giffgaff SIM card on Amazon, please click here.
Orange Holiday ZEN SIM Card
The orange Holiday ZEN Sim card comes with lesser data, voice and text when compared to the Orange Holiday SIM card. But it is cheaper than the Orange Holiday SIM card. Let’s look at some of the advantages to the Orange Holiday Zen SIM card.
- You can purchase this card before you leave to UK online from Amazon. It’s available for sale for US and Canadian customers.
- This card only works on Unlocked GSM phones. So please ensure you use this card on Unlocked GSM phones so to prevent last minute issues.
- Easy to activate. Simply insert the card when you land in Europe (UK) and you should connect to the best local network there.
- This card comes with voice, text and data. Not to mention, you can make calls back to Canada or the USA using the minutes you have (30 minutes). Or if you want you could use a VOIP app (use the data instead) such as Viber, Whats app, or SKYPE to make calls back home.
- This card is valid for 14 days. So if you plan to stay for longer than 14 days, but less than 30 days – then purchase 2 cards. On the other hand, if you are staying for longer than 30 days – you then MUST have the SIM card registered (need to fill out a form and send in a copy of your passport). All of this information can be found in the instructions.
- Most importantly, much cheaper than to have to use your local cell phone provider which usually charges $12 per day. This card will cost less than $40 CAD (at the time of the post). If you want to check its current pricing on Amazon, please click here to be redirected.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you are looking for the cheapest SIM card to use when going to the UK, I would recommend you check out the 3 UK. But please bear in mind, you cannot use minutes to call back to Canada, you would need to use a VOIP App such as Viber or Whats App, and etc.
If on the other hand, you are looking to use actual minutes and texts to call back to Canada – use the Orange holiday SIM. So as you can see, they are all good to use depends on your preference for data , texts and minutes.
Above all though, they all are way better to use than to have to use your local carrier roaming plan which charge $12 per day. But make sure you read more about each card and make your purchase accordingly. And please follow the instructions carefully.
Thanks for visiting my site. I promise to keep updating this list as I come across any new SIM cards. Please if you know of a good SIM card to use when in the UK, share it below and help your fellow Canadian traveler to prevent large phone bills.