Using a phone in a new country without any limitations is probably my #1 essential for a trip. Especially when I arrive and am trying to safely find my way to my accommodation. On a trip to England I was able to use my phone exactly how I could at home, and as a solo traveller this made my trip SO much easier. This post will help you learn how to use your phone in England.
How to Use Your Phone
There are a couple of options on how you can use your phone in England. I’ll be focusing on how to use your phone using a SIM card, since that has so far been the most affordable and reliable option.
Some carriers have international phone plans, but depending on the plan that can be really expensive.
I have tried depending on wifi in the past, but this isn’t always reliable. During a trip to Peru, we got lost and separated from our group. The AirBnB address was incorrect so we weren’t able to find our accommodation. We also couldn’t find Wifi, so we couldn’t contact the AirBnB owner, or people from our group, to come find us. We walked around Cusco, in the dark, for hours trying to find our group again. Luckily, with the help of Google Translate, and just sheer luck, we found our group. Having a local SIM card so that we could make phone calls or use data would have been so helpful!
Unlock Your Phone
The first step to being able to how to use your phone in England is to unlock your phone. If you don’t know what this means, it essentially allows you to use your phone with other carriers. When you buy your phone, they will tell you that your phone comes unlocked. This isn’t completely true – there are more steps involved to completely unlock your phone! (don’t worry, it’s easy I promise!)
- Call your phone provider and ask for the unlock code.
- Take your SIM card out of your phone.
- Put a SIM card from a different carrier in your phone.
- Enter in your unlock code (the phone will prompt you to do this after you put in a new SIM).
You can now use your phone with any SIM card!
Get a SIM Card
There are a couple of ways to get a SIM card for England. One option is to purchase it at the airport when you arrive.
Another option is to have a SIM card sent directly to your house before you go! When I went on my trip to England, I had a SIM card sent directly to me (for free!). I got my SIM card from GiffGaff. The SIM card itself is free, and it has the options to load different plans on your phone. It can be used within the European Union too which is great if you are travelling to other countries. The steps to use it are also pretty easy as well!
- Order your SIM card online (takes up to 5 days for it to arrive).
- Use this SIM Card to unlock your phone!
- Go to the GiffGaff website to activate your SIM card.
- Choose which phone plan you want. This is up to you and how much data you think you will use. (you can always top up your data later).
- Make sure to check the option that you don’t want this plan to automatically renew each month.
- The GiffGaff SIM will automatically give you an English phone number.
When I arrived in England, I switched out my SIM cards on the plane. So when I landed in England I was able to use my phone instantly and not depend on data.
And that’s it! Now whenever you to travel within Europe, you can take your GiffGaff SIM card and make phone calls and use data.
Do you get SIM cards when you travel to a new country, or do you go offline? Let me know what your experiences are below. 🙂
