How I use tech to get set up in a new country (Part 4/6 — Get a Phone Number)
By: Clare Lynton
Tags: Travel Tips, Remote Working, Expat, Phone

The SIM cards I’ve used

London — I use Giffgaff for my UK number. This was a happy accident. Back in 2014, I’d travelled with a friend which included a week in London for her best friend’s wedding. On meeting each other in London, she’d given us both a Giffgaff SIM. This was the first time I’d ever got a SIM for the country I was travelling in, but it was free, all we had to do was top up some credit to keep in touch. Good marketing strategy there!

End of 2016 was when I landed in the UK once again, this time to live for a year. I’d kept the SIM. Basically because I’m one of those people who doesn’t throw things away, thinking they’ll come in use one day. This was the day. I put the SIM in, reset my password in the app, and it worked. The rules seem to have changed now, but back then my number had somehow remained active for 2 years.

Anyway, since I had a working SIM I didn’t bother looking at other providers. But a lot of other people who’d moved over signed up with Three Mobile. I don’t use much data a month so the monthly plans worked for me. They were also more flexible than other providers like Three who assumed everyone wanted maximum data, and so only offered premium cost plans.

Even now, Giffgaff is great for me. The plans are still well priced (but you now get even more data) and I’m quite attached to my mobile number. I’ve learnt that not many people talk about Giffgaff, but they’re still a great option. Giffgaff even have a Facebook group which you can join to ‘have your say’ in the design of future offerings.

NYC — landing in NYC a day before my full time design course, I was too jet lagged to go to phone stores. Some online research helped me stumble on Mint, a completely digital provider. You order a SIM and it gets sent to you in the mail, ready for you to activate online.

From memory most providers had expensive plans, or contracts that weren’t worth signing up to when you were only going to be in the country for a few months or so. The great thing with Mint though was their 3 month offer for first time users. I signed up for 3 months and paid $20 USD per month (this would rise to $35 USD at month four, but I’d be on my way home by then).

It was so convenient. No walking around town to visit phone stores. I didn’t even have to worry about recharging every month — it would be automatically debited for me. So I guess it was a really short contract. But it fit perfectly.

Dublin — I was already aware of Three Mobile when I got to Dublin. A lot of friends were using it in the UK. But again, the plans on offer were all premium. Yes I could pay 20 euro a month for ‘unlimited’ data. But what if I didn’t want that much data? Couldn’t I pay less for less?

A general online search for Ireland’s cheapest mobile providers listed pretty much all providers, but I hadn’t heard of GoMo. Turns out GoMo uses the Eir network (one of the main providers). I’d also come at a good time. There was 2 days left of their special offer. So I signed up and am now a member on a lifetime plan of 9.90 euros a month with unlimited data.