Best mobile data deal for Europe

Forums › Off topic › Best mobile data deal for Europe

Aaroona

:)
2895 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 98

Subscriber

Topic # 123163 26-Jun-2013 21:10

I have a flat mate going over seas for 5 weeks ish in August... she's wanting to have mobile data preferably as she travels right round Europe (and London).

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Google is not being the most helpful and I thought it would be best to get the knowledge straight from the horses mouth.

1 | 2

4450 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 843

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 845773 26-Jun-2013 21:20

Just buy the bundle from Vodafone?

Aaroona

:)
2895 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 98

Subscriber

Reply # 845774 26-Jun-2013 21:22

nakedmolerat: Just buy the bundle from Vodafone?

wanna be a little more specific? lol.

nakedmolerat

4450 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 843

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 845779 26-Jun-2013 21:27

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/data-angel-overseas/

Look at the bottom of the page

rayonline

1540 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 39

Reply # 845781 26-Jun-2013 21:29

If you are a contract (monthly) customer with Vodafone you can can access to Data Angel which is a few hundred MB of data for a $30 or so .... Not a huge amount - if so maybe just get a local simcard in each country but more hassle.

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/data-angel-overseas/?gclid=CPXesNmzgbgCFUpJpgodJEEABQ

$50 for 200MB or buy more than one "bundle".

Telecom XT isn't that $10/day to selected countries?

There is also Travel Sim but not really bundles.
https://www.travelsim.co.nz/Shop/

$50 comes with $5 credit. Generally cheaper than most "prepay" rates, maybe $4.80/MB.

sbiddle

27050 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6503

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 845782 26-Jun-2013 21:29

If you're travelling around multiple countries Vodafone data roaming is your best bet.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1571

Reply # 845790 26-Jun-2013 21:58

depends entirely how much data you want to use. (and who you are already with)

a few facebook updates and tweets and Vf is better value

but if you want to be skyping back home, watching some youtube etc, then it will be very expensive and Xt will be better

rayonline

1540 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 39

Reply # 845792 26-Jun-2013 22:04

I was in a country where they don't sell sims to visitors. Other than airport phone rentals (Japan).

What I did was left Skype to when I was at the accom, not high end cos they tend to charge per the day expensively. I used my NZ prepay sim for the occasional $1 text, I did 40 text in the 10 days I was there. Didn't have GPS but I got a Mapswithme $5 app which allowed me to download country maps at a single click and me to save and recall POIs but there was no routing or voice/text assist.

If you are on prepay it might be $5MB with Travel Sim or else $10/MB which is VF and XT I think, 2D is like $25 or $30.
Contract users - VF bundles or $10/day with XT (or is that $15).

Aaroona

:)
2895 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 98

Subscriber

Reply # 845796 26-Jun-2013 22:17

Sorry guys that was really poor of me actually... We are literally looking for data only, dont care for texts or minutes.

Data is all she wants and needs (as she will have iMessage etc.)

Will look into XT...

Also, she is only a prepay customer on Vodafone, so DataAngel isn't an option :(

PS: She is going on a contiki tour, spending at most 2-3 days in any place.

rayonline

1540 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 39

Reply # 845801 26-Jun-2013 22:26

Not sure on their quality, but Travel Sim for some countries is $9.00/MB (for the UK).
http://www.travelsim.co.nz/Rates/

XT is $2.50 for a MB. (Using an iPhone which I think should be the same as other phones - prepaid).
http://www.telecomroaming.co.nz/journey/pricing/

Vodafone prepay $10/MB.

Or just pick up a local simcard if you must must have use the phone more often.

EDIT - Travel Sim to the UK is $0.90/MB.

sbiddle

27050 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6503

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 845858 27-Jun-2013 07:54

NonprayingMantis: depends entirely how much data you want to use. (and who you are already with)

a few facebook updates and tweets and Vf is better value

but if you want to be skyping back home, watching some youtube etc, then it will be very expensive and Xt will be better

How will XT be better? The only scenario where XT can offer better value than Vodafone for data roaming is the $10 per day deal which is only available in a handful of countries and not across Europe.

Since Telecom don't offer any form of data bundles if you're visiting multiple countries in a single trip they're not even worth looking at as they end up far more expensive in virtually every scenario.

With the high availability of free or low cost WiFi these days the 200MB Vodafone offering valid for a month in something like 80+ countries is a pretty good proposition if you're using it only on a mobile device for email, social media and maps. Clearly if you expect to watch YouTube while travelling or upload lots of photos to clous storage then WiFi is always going to be the best option regardless of who your mobile carrier is.

It really does surprise me that Telecom's roaming offerings are so poor compared to Vodafone.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1571

Reply # 845868 27-Jun-2013 08:14

sbiddle:
NonprayingMantis: depends entirely how much data you want to use. (and who you are already with)

a few facebook updates and tweets and Vf is better value

but if you want to be skyping back home, watching some youtube etc, then it will be very expensive and Xt will be better

How will XT be better? The only scenario where XT can offer better value than Vodafone for data roaming is the $10 per day deal which is only available in a handful of countries and not across Europe.

Since Telecom don't offer any form of data bundles if you're visiting multiple countries in a single trip they're not even worth looking at as they end up far more expensive in virtually every scenario.

With the high availability of free or low cost WiFi these days the 200MB Vodafone offering valid for a month in something like 80+ countries is a pretty good proposition if you're using it only on a mobile device for email, social media and maps. Clearly if you expect to watch YouTube while travelling or upload lots of photos to clous storage then WiFi is always going to be the best option regardless of who your mobile carrier is.

It really does surprise me that Telecom's roaming offerings are so poor compared to Vodafone.

Hmm, I actually that most of Europe was covered by the 10 per day price. But it is only uk. Ouch.

Yes, go with vf then.

sep11guy

660 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 36
Inactive user

Reply # 845900 27-Jun-2013 09:27

I used Travelsim all around Uk , Europe, Asia and it worked well.

rayonline

1540 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 39

Reply # 845915 27-Jun-2013 09:46

op came back and said prepaid so data bundle and xt`s ten dollar deals won`t apply. if it was and a higer user ten bucks isnát that bad given the cost of what some hotels charge and u get roaming convenience. when i was in japan i was too cheap but daily rate for rental phone with data was eighteen dollars

Lazarui

136 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 27

Reply # 846029 27-Jun-2013 11:48

One person supports this post

sbiddle:
NonprayingMantis: depends entirely how much data you want to use. (and who you are already with)

a few facebook updates and tweets and Vf is better value

but if you want to be skyping back home, watching some youtube etc, then it will be very expensive and Xt will be better

How will XT be better? The only scenario where XT can offer better value than Vodafone for data roaming is the $10 per day deal which is only available in a handful of countries and not across Europe.

Since Telecom don't offer any form of data bundles if you're visiting multiple countries in a single trip they're not even worth looking at as they end up far more expensive in virtually every scenario.

With the high availability of free or low cost WiFi these days the 200MB Vodafone offering valid for a month in something like 80+ countries is a pretty good proposition if you're using it only on a mobile device for email, social media and maps. Clearly if you expect to watch YouTube while travelling or upload lots of photos to clous storage then WiFi is always going to be the best option regardless of who your mobile carrier is.

It really does surprise me that Telecom's roaming offerings are so poor compared to Vodafone.

Doesn't surprise me at all your talking about a multinational company whom has lots of friends and partners it can lean on for better deals compared to Telecom NZ which is a speck in comparison.

michaelmurfy

Meow
7884 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3915

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 846034 27-Jun-2013 11:56

That's for the rest of the world for Vodafone though - just had to have a sniggle at these 2.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

1 | 2