topic Re: Going abroad, contract SIM in Apple

Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:19:30 GMT

Please could someone let me know how it works,

So I'm going away for 2 weeks to Hong Kong etc, I am taking my iPhone 6 with me but I will be taking the SIM card out as I have to use a HK SIM card....

Will I still get charged?

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:46:32 GMT

If your sim card is out of the handset, you wont get charged.

Obviously, you will still be charged standard monthly line rental!!

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

jonsie — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:49:13 GMT

No you won't. Use Tugo to get your text messages and calls over wifi....

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Bambino — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:34:15 GMT

If your iPhone 6 isn't unlocked you won't be able to use a HK sim card.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:24:09 GMT

@Bambino wrote:

If your iPhone 6 isn't unlocked you won't be able to use a HK sim card.

D'oh gosh I completely forgot about that.... oh no what do I do

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Bambino — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:08:10 GMT

If you're on an O2 Refresh tariff, the only way to get it unlocked at present is to pay off the device plan part of the tariff and then send an unlock request.

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Other-Products-Services/Unlocking-an-O2-phone-to-use-a-different-SIM-card/td-p/540294

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:10:06 GMT

Okay thanks, not on a refresh but just a standard tariff

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

jonsie — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:10:17 GMT

Tugo let's you use your contract allowance though but as @Bambino says, the only way to get the phone unlocked at the moment i9s to pay off the handset.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:17:12 GMT

Not very happy about this, o2 are the only company that will not unlock a phone....

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Bambino — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:17:30 GMT

If it's a standard tariff then you'd have to pay the remaining months of it off to get your phone unlocked.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 19:26:53 GMT

Absolutely not going to happen its a brand new contract

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:55:14 GMT

That o2 aren't unlocking iPhone 6 at the moment should not come as a surprise. There are dozens of posts about this.

Personally I don't see why they don't but for whatever reason they just won't.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Bambino — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:15:59 GMT

If you're not prepared to pay off your contract to get your phone unlocked, the only other alternative would be to use an old unlocked phone, if you have one, so you can use a HK sim, if that's what you need to do while you're there.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:48:09 GMT

Hi @Cutiekitty992 great to hear you are going to Hong Kong!

I was thinking we can start something like the 'out of the box' reviews but to tell your experiences with O2 while abroad, something like 'out of the country' experiences.

What do you guys think?

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

jonsie — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:50:43 GMT

That could be interesting @Anonymous

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

cyrillicguy — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 09:22:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous @Anonymous great to hear you are going to Hong Kong!
I was thinking we can start something like the 'out of the box' reviews but to tell your experiences with O2 while abroad, something like 'out of the country' experiences.
What do you guys think?

O2 has probably the best roaming offer for trips to EU destinations (countries where Three Feel At Home works would be an exception though). However, as for the rest of the world O2 is probably the worst in terms of costs. Some sort of data/calls roaming bundles for non-EU countries would really help.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Cleoriff — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 09:33:59 GMT

@cyrillicguy wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous @Anonymous great to hear you are going to Hong Kong!
I was thinking we can start something like the 'out of the box' reviews but to tell your experiences with O2 while abroad, something like 'out of the country' experiences.
What do you guys think?
O2 has probably the best roaming offer for trips to EU destinations (countries where Three Feel At Home works would be an exception though). However, as for the rest of the world O2 is probably the worst in terms of costs. Some sort of data/calls roaming bundles for non-EU countries would really help.

Nowadays I only go to Spain so I agree with O2 having a good roaming service for EU. Using WiFi etc my bill is just a little bit higher than normal (with some management and organisation of folk who want to get in touch)

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

jonsie — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 11:09:01 GMT

Roaming on O2 in Asia is particularly shocking and the first thing I do is take the O2 sim out of the phone and replace it with a local sim card. A combination of TuGo on the phone and MightyText on the tablet allows me to keep in touch with family & friends using my allowances.

O2 really should come up with a roaming package for non-European travel. £1.50 per minute to make or receive calls and 49p to send a text is ridiculous in these times and to compound matters O2 charge perpart minute. If I call someone and the call lasts 2 seconds, the charge is still £1.50.

Do O2 not realise that they would generate more profit by encouraging people to stick with their network when overseas if they came up with a travel package rather than relying on the unsuspecting people coming home to bill shock? They will say it's the charges they have to pay foreign networks but those costs bear no comparison to the charges that O2 impose.

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

Cleoriff — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 11:42:37 GMT

Excellent point @jonsie Though I personally have no problem with travel to the EU...others going further afield do. Its a rip off obviously. Could I just ask what Mighty Text is please?

Re: Going abroad, contract SIM

jonsie — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 11:39:01 GMT

@Cleoriff wrote:
Excellent point @jonsie Though I oersonally have no problem with travel to the EU...others going further afiend obviously do. Its a rip off obviously. Could I just ask what Mighty Text is please?

I use it on the tablet or the laptop @Cleoriff over wifi and it allows me to send/receive text messages. This doesn't use your allowance to send texts but it makes sure my friends can text me and that I can contact them whichever device I have with me. You install it on both the phone and tablet and they sync together with your home sim card. You can also initiate calls via the app on the pc or tablet from your mobile if you wish, though I use TuGo if I need to call.

http://mightytext.net/