Prepaid SIM cards – your safety net against roaming fees

As you probably know by now, international roaming fees can unleash a minor hurricane upon your finances. And like with any storm, you need protection. Some people begin hunting for WiFi hotspots, like some invaluable pre-historic artifacts (wasting precious vacation time in the process). Others might completely turn off their phone’s radio communications (crippling their own phones. Intentionally). But others go the smart way – they buy a local SIM card from a local carrier. Because as any experienced traveler will attest, using the local carriers is the best solution for your overseas internet needs.

So what are prepaid SIM cards, anyway? Prepaid SIM cards are regular SIMs loaded with a certain amount of usage; they can have X amount of minutes and/or Y amount of text messages and/or Z amount of internet data. You use these services until they run out, once they’ve run out you will need to contact the carrier and ask to top-up, or will need to buy a new SIM card. This is in contrast with postpaid SIM cards which charge you after you’ve used the carrier’s network. So the difference lies in the following logic – with prepaid SIM cards you know exactly how much you will be charged and thus control your expenses, while with postpaid SIM cards you have to control your usage to know exactly how much you’ll pay. When you’re traveling overseas and expenses pile up with a staggering rate (hotels, taxis, restaurants, attractions etc.) it’s nice to know that you can control your communication expenses and avoid cellular roaming charges.

Though prepaid SIM cards are the most logical and economical solution, they can be difficult to attain – to use local prepaid SIM cards you have to work quite a bit.

You need to make sure your phone is unlocked. You need to locate a local prepaid SIM card that meets your criteria (for example, 2 Israeli carriers sell prepaid SIM cards, they both offer the same package, but one costs 2X than the other – how/where will you be able to compare before buying?). You will need to change your phone’s APN settings to make sure you can use use the internet (some SIM cards will do it automatically, other won’t). Most SIM cards do not offer an extension period for your balance, so you might have to go out again and look for a place that sells SIM cards. If you encounter a service problem, you’ll usually have to deal with people who might not speak English very well (or at all), this can be problematic if you need to call the company’s customer support.

Luckily for the globetrotting community, KeepGo is able to provide international prepaid SIM cards with either a 1Gb, or an unlimited plan. KeepGo save you the hassle of going out and searching for a prepaid SIM card, by delivering it to your doorstep a few days before your travel date. So you don’t have to waste precious vacation time by walking a foreign city and searching for that one SIM card that will connect you to the Internet. KeepGo also provides 24/7 English speaking support and the ability to extend your rental period and data allowance with a single call to our trained support team. KeepGo provides you with all the benefits of a local prepaid SIM card, with out the hassle that comes with it.

With your time abroad being limited by so many factors (costs, limited vacation days etc.), KeepGo saves you time and money by providing with the best technological and logistical solution to your roaming data needs.

Enjoy 3Ging…