Travel SIM cards: the best alternative for the traveler
It is not surprising that many Russian tourists planning a trip abroad are primarily concerned about the issue of communication with their homeland. Frequently and hotly discussed in the media and blogs, cases involving huge bills for roaming services, force each of us to think carefully about this side of the journey. And this concerns not only telephone conversations, but also Internet traffic. The most famous evidence of this is the conflict between Megaphone and a married couple from Vladimir, which ended in legal proceedings.
All this gives me a great reason for an analytical article devoted to finding the best way of mobile communication for tourists traveling abroad.
To make the result as objective as possible, we will define a number of factors by which the various methods of communication will be assessed.
You are planning a trip to Italy for a week and do not want to save on conversations with relatives and friends. You are not traveling alone on a trip: you are with family, friends or other pleasant fellow travelers. In addition, right now you are developing a tumultuous SMS-novel with a colleague at work.
If you describe this situation in a dry mathematical language, then your communication needs can be represented as follows:
It would seem that this is the most obvious option. But economic considerations will make even the richest and most unreasonable person consider this method as the last thing. Judge for yourself.
Let's apply the presented tariffs, for example, Beeline, to our situation.
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Before traveling to the airport, the traveler will have to perform some actions. For example, Beeline subscribers must, firstly, pay off the debt on the SIM card, if there is one, and secondly, replenish the balance by 1,500 rubles. This amount is called a guarantee fee and in theory is returned to the subscriber to the account when the service is disabled. But in practice, this money usually melts as soon as a person makes a couple of calls home.
Megafon and MTS warn their subscribers that the ability to pay for roaming bills is limited, so it is recommended to replenish the balance in advance by the optimal amount.
According to this criterion, I must state the advantage of the big three. Your number remains the same without additional tricks, and even if you forgot to tell your boss that you are going on vacation, he will find you even across the ocean. Although in this aspect it is worth considering whether this is an advantage?
Our assessment of this method: 1 of 5.
This option looks much more interesting. If only because each of us intuitively guesses (in the event that he does not know for sure) that a call by mobile phone, for example, from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg costs much more than a call, say, from Rome to the same St. St. Petersburg. That is what a civilized market means.
Let's try to figure out how convenient / economical / simple (underline you want) to travel is the option of buying a local SIM card.
In order not to load readers' brains with a variety of prices of all Italian cellular operators, let's take the price of Vodafone, which is very popular in Europe. At the same time, the actual side of the issue will not suffer from such a focus, as, according to eyewitnesses , “the prices of tariffs for all companies are about the same.”
And what does this mean in practice?
There are no problems with the connection: you get out of the plane and in the nearest salon of cellular communication you buy a SIM-card. But it is a pity that this cannot be done immediately after landing.
This is one of the disadvantages of this method. Especially if you consider that foreign numbers are unusual for the Russian eye to perceive, and if the subscriber suddenly did not have time to pick up your call, it is unlikely, looking at unfamiliar prefixes, he will decide to call you back.
It is also necessary to take into account that all services of a SIM card will be in a foreign language (ilsaldo e pari a zero), and the validity period of a card without use is extremely limited. If next year you again decide to rush to Italy, then the whole procedure of acquiring a SIM card will have to be repeated.
Our assessment of this method - 3 out of 5.
Undoubtedly, this option is the most profitable from all points of view. Now you yourself will understand this.
Sim cards for travelers are a relatively new phenomenon in the tourism business. But upon closer examination, there is nothing mysterious about them - these are ordinary SIM cards of another country: technologically they act according to the norms of their states, but the tourist doesn’t have to go into these details - the map is fully adapted for the Russian user.
The mechanism is simple: during the trip you connect the map of another country to the operator E1tele.com and get a whole bunch of advantages.
Travel kit "Basic". Price 990 rubles.
We calculate the cost of communication in accordance with the tariffs E1:
It turns out that the total cost of communication during the trip will be 2225 rubles .
These numbers look much more acceptable: the amount is more than 2 times lower than what we would have paid when buying a local SIM card, and almost 4.5 times lower than roaming from the big three.
Premium travel kit. Price 1690 rubles.
As already calculated, the cost of communication in accordance with the tariffs of E1tele.com , is 1715 rubles. Further calculations (similar to the above) show that the total communication costs for the purchase of the Premium package will be 2365 rubles .
Travel Suite "Lux". Price 2490 rubles.
Thus, the cost of communication will be 2490 rubles , taking into account 20 additional minutes.
To use a SIM card, you do not need to take any complicated actions: when you buy any of the travel kits, our manager will connect everything himself, and you can use your SIM card immediately after landing, without wasting time searching for a mobile phone salon.
It is absent, since all travel kits from E1tele.com support call forwarding from any number you specify.
Our assessment of this method is 5 out of 5.
I hope this article will be useful to all who are planning a trip to Italy, especially since this country is one of the most beautiful and amazing of those I have been able to visit.
* All data is taken from the official sites of operators
All this gives me a great reason for an analytical article devoted to finding the best way of mobile communication for tourists traveling abroad.
To make the result as objective as possible, we will define a number of factors by which the various methods of communication will be assessed.
- Tariffs for outgoing and incoming calls (both local and in Russia).
- The cost of SMS-messages.
- Quick and easy connection.
- The need to change the number.
You are planning a trip to Italy for a week and do not want to save on conversations with relatives and friends. You are not traveling alone on a trip: you are with family, friends or other pleasant fellow travelers. In addition, right now you are developing a tumultuous SMS-novel with a colleague at work.
If you describe this situation in a dry mathematical language, then your communication needs can be represented as follows:
- calls to Russia: 5 minutes a day (35 minutes during the trip);
- local calls: 10 minutes per day (70 minutes during the trip);
- SMS: 20 SMS per day (140 SMS during the trip).
Option 1. Roaming from the big three
It would seem that this is the most obvious option. But economic considerations will make even the richest and most unreasonable person consider this method as the last thing. Judge for yourself.
Cost of Italian roaming from the Big Three *
| Beeline | Mts | Megaphone | |
| Local calls | Outgoing: 69 p. Inbox: 69 p. | Outgoing: 69 p. Inbox: 59 p. | Outgoing: 36 r. Inbox: 39 p. |
| Calls to / from Russia | Outgoing: 69 p. Inbox: 69 p. | Outgoing: 59 p. Inbox: 59 p. | Outgoing: 39 p. Inbox: 86 r. |
| The cost of outgoing SMS | 19 r. | 19 r. | 19 r. |
- Calls to homeland = 69 rubles * 35 minutes = 2415 rubles
- Local calls = 69 rubles * 70 minutes = 4830 rubles
- SMS = 19 rubles * 140 SMS = 2660
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Quick and easy connection
Before traveling to the airport, the traveler will have to perform some actions. For example, Beeline subscribers must, firstly, pay off the debt on the SIM card, if there is one, and secondly, replenish the balance by 1,500 rubles. This amount is called a guarantee fee and in theory is returned to the subscriber to the account when the service is disabled. But in practice, this money usually melts as soon as a person makes a couple of calls home.
Megafon and MTS warn their subscribers that the ability to pay for roaming bills is limited, so it is recommended to replenish the balance in advance by the optimal amount.
The need to change the number
According to this criterion, I must state the advantage of the big three. Your number remains the same without additional tricks, and even if you forgot to tell your boss that you are going on vacation, he will find you even across the ocean. Although in this aspect it is worth considering whether this is an advantage?
Our assessment of this method: 1 of 5.
Option 2. Buying a local SIM card
This option looks much more interesting. If only because each of us intuitively guesses (in the event that he does not know for sure) that a call by mobile phone, for example, from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg costs much more than a call, say, from Rome to the same St. St. Petersburg. That is what a civilized market means.
Let's try to figure out how convenient / economical / simple (underline you want) to travel is the option of buying a local SIM card.
In order not to load readers' brains with a variety of prices of all Italian cellular operators, let's take the price of Vodafone, which is very popular in Europe. At the same time, the actual side of the issue will not suffer from such a focus, as, according to eyewitnesses , “the prices of tariffs for all companies are about the same.”
The cost of mobile communications in Italy (at Vodafone prices)
| Local calls | Calls to / from Russia | |
| Incoming calls | Is free | Is free |
| Outgoing calls | ≈ 6 rubles | ≈ 95 rubles |
| Outgoing SMS | ≈ 4 rubles | ≈ 12 rubles |
| SIM card cost | ≈ 500 rubles | |
- Calls to homeland = 95 rubles * 35 minutes = 3325 rubles
- Local calls = 6 rubles * 70 minutes = 420 rubles
- SMS = 12 rubles * 140 SMS = 1680
Quick and easy connection
There are no problems with the connection: you get out of the plane and in the nearest salon of cellular communication you buy a SIM-card. But it is a pity that this cannot be done immediately after landing.
The need to change the number
This is one of the disadvantages of this method. Especially if you consider that foreign numbers are unusual for the Russian eye to perceive, and if the subscriber suddenly did not have time to pick up your call, it is unlikely, looking at unfamiliar prefixes, he will decide to call you back.
Other disadvantages
It is also necessary to take into account that all services of a SIM card will be in a foreign language (ilsaldo e pari a zero), and the validity period of a card without use is extremely limited. If next year you again decide to rush to Italy, then the whole procedure of acquiring a SIM card will have to be repeated.
Our assessment of this method - 3 out of 5.
Option 3. Tourist SIM cards from E1tele.com
Undoubtedly, this option is the most profitable from all points of view. Now you yourself will understand this.
Sim cards for travelers are a relatively new phenomenon in the tourism business. But upon closer examination, there is nothing mysterious about them - these are ordinary SIM cards of another country: technologically they act according to the norms of their states, but the tourist doesn’t have to go into these details - the map is fully adapted for the Russian user.
The mechanism is simple: during the trip you connect the map of another country to the operator E1tele.com and get a whole bunch of advantages.
- No subscription fees.
- Cheap fares, including calls to Russia.
E1 tariffs for mobile communications in Italy
| Local calls | Calls to / from Russia | |
| Incoming calls | Is free | Is free |
| Outgoing calls | ≈ 7 rubles | ≈ 7 rubles |
| Outgoing SMS | ≈ 7 rubles | ≈ 7 rubles |
- Unlimited validity of a sim card. This means that if your friends or you decide to travel to Italy again, you will no longer need to buy a new SIM card. It is enough to purchase a package of minutes in E1tele.com .
- All SIM services are available in Russian.
Products from E1tele.com
Travel kit "Basic". Price 990 rubles.
- SIM-card of the Italian mobile operator with a starting balance of € 5 (≈ 200 rubles);
- additional funds on the balance of the company E1tele.com in the amount of $ 10 (≈ 280 rubles);
- call forwarding from your Russian number.
We calculate the cost of communication in accordance with the tariffs E1:
- Calls to homeland = 7 rubles * 35 minutes = 245 rubles
- Local calls = 7 rubles * 70 minutes = 490 rubles
- SMS = 7 rubles * 140 SMS = 980 rubles
It turns out that the total cost of communication during the trip will be 2225 rubles .
These numbers look much more acceptable: the amount is more than 2 times lower than what we would have paid when buying a local SIM card, and almost 4.5 times lower than roaming from the big three.
Premium travel kit. Price 1690 rubles.
- SIM-card of the Italian mobile operator with a starting balance of € 5 (≈ 200 rubles);
- additional funds on the balance of the company E1tele.com in the amount of $ 30 (≈ 840 rubles);
- call forwarding from your Russian number.
As already calculated, the cost of communication in accordance with the tariffs of E1tele.com , is 1715 rubles. Further calculations (similar to the above) show that the total communication costs for the purchase of the Premium package will be 2365 rubles .
Travel Suite "Lux". Price 2490 rubles.
- SIM-card of the Italian mobile operator with a starting balance of € 5 (≈ 200 rubles);
- additional funds on the balance from the company E1tele.com in the amount of $ 60 (≈ 1700 rubles);
- call forwarding from your Russian number.
Thus, the cost of communication will be 2490 rubles , taking into account 20 additional minutes.
Quick and easy connection
To use a SIM card, you do not need to take any complicated actions: when you buy any of the travel kits, our manager will connect everything himself, and you can use your SIM card immediately after landing, without wasting time searching for a mobile phone salon.
The need to change the number
It is absent, since all travel kits from E1tele.com support call forwarding from any number you specify.
Our assessment of this method is 5 out of 5.
I hope this article will be useful to all who are planning a trip to Italy, especially since this country is one of the most beautiful and amazing of those I have been able to visit.
* All data is taken from the official sites of operators
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/120114/
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