Communication and Internet abroad - which operator is more profitable?

So far we have visited 30 countries and seem to have used all kinds of communication options outside of Russia - from roaming to portable modems. As they say, hope for wi-fi, but don't make a mistake yourself - how to keep in touch abroad 24x7 without fatal financial losses? In the article we will tell you everything we know.

Internet abroad - what do we use?

A bit about the sad experience. Our very first Turkey (and in general the first vacation at sea) was held without communication. That is, so that you understand: no calls, no social networks. And all because the hotel has paid wi-fi.

And now, gritting his teeth and plugging in - for 450 rubles a day! - Internet roaming abroad from our operator, we came to the conclusion. We urgently need to get hold of something that will allow you to go online without such brutal spending.

Cones, experience and experiments did not pass by. As a result, now we are using the following products of civilization, invented by 2020:

With what to go abroad?

Now about each - in more detail.

Travel sim cards

Translation of the inscription "Lord, will there be free Wi-Fi in these mountains?"

A tourist SIM card for the Internet is the same SIM card, but with special tariffs (beneficial for traveling abroad). You don't need to reconfigure it and connect 100,500 options - you insert it into a slot in the phone, it registers itself in foreign cellular networks and immediately starts working.

+ Prices for calls within the country and to Russia are in most cases lower than those of our operators.

+ Available batch or megabyte Internet.

+ No monthly fees.

But there are also disadvantages:

- We'll have to change the number if the phone is not a dual-SIM.

- Fixed deposit amount. Which, however, can be turned into a plus, because the money does not burn if the SIM card is not needed yet.

- In some countries, wildly not profitable (for example, in Bahrain or the Maldives).

For us, travel SIM cards are a universal thing. Firstly, they help out when they just arrived and need to write an SMS to mom / order a taxi / go online at the airport, but wi-fi is not caught. Secondly, when there are 2-3 countries on the route at once, the sim card instantly adjusts to the tariffs of the location (but you should check them yourself in advance). Our choice is already 2 years old Drimsim card ↓

Drimsim

You can see your balance and spending details through the application, conveniently!

So, the most reliable and thoughtful invention of mankind for communication abroad. And in our humble opinion, and in the reviews of tourists.

What is so good about Drimsim, besides acting everywhere and everywhere?

• There is no stupid bunch of “Y rubles a day - and here's X MB of traffic for max. speed, and anything higher is at the speed of a turtle. "
  The speed is constant, and the money is debited only for the spent megabytes, at a fixed rate. The latter depends on the country of visit (and in almost all popular destinations they are adequate).
• The money on the account will not go anywhere if the SIM card is not used. Quietly waiting for the next trip.
  P.S. Therefore, the minimum top-up amount - 25 euros - is not so scary.
• There is a mobile application where it is convenient to monitor expenses and balance (up to a second and a kilobyte), track the cost of local communication and replenish the account.

The prices are almost the same as if you get a local sim card. More numbers, fewer words:

Coverage: 197 countries.

How to get the? Make an application on the website.

Delivery cost: 10 euros, in Moscow and St. Petersburg it will take 1-2 days.

Little life hack: shipping can be reduced to 3 euros... The fact is that Drimsim supports the "Bring a friend" program. If you follow our link, you will be credited with a € 7 bonus when you fund your account!

Goodline

There should always be an alternative, right? Dreamsim's direct competitor is a SIM card with international roaming from Goodline. Unlike Dreamsim, Goodline tries to "take" various packages for the Internet.

Of the fat pluses of the Good-roaming tariff that goes with a SIM card:

• Free incoming calls in 140 countries (only 77 in Dreamsim)
• The ability to call Russia for free on Viber without the Internet (but not from everywhere).

If do not connect to any package, the prices are as follows:

Goodline offers to reduce the cost of mobile Internet abroad using the following packages:

• "Europe for $ 0.01 / MB". At first glance, it seems profitable - 60 kopecks per megabyte! But charged $ 3 for connection gives in total: 1GB = $ 13.
  Dreamsim has 1GB = € 10.24 (but it loses slightly in San Marino, Luxembourg, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus).
  Coverage area: European countries.
• "Turkey 1 GB for $ 10" is an interesting option, it is connected for free. The only thing is, the validity period is 14 days.
  Coverage: Turkey only.
• "Europe" - gives 5GB for 14 days for $ 29, ie. 30 kopecks per megabyte.
  Coverage area: European countries.

Unlimited Internet: Russian operators

Will we support domestic communication while traveling? Well, or just see what tariff plans our operators have come up with. So that your mobile phone is not "out of range" for the entire trip. And choose the most profitable roaming by yourself, based on ↓.

I came to ask Apple - when will there be 2 physical SIM cards in the iPhone? 🙂

MTS

It is not at all difficult to activate roaming on an MTS SIM card (for this you need to activate - for free - the option: "national and standard international roaming"). It is more difficult to choose a tariff within the means.

There are two main proposals from MTS:

• Zabugorishche - 350-390 rubles per day. It is debited only if you decide to call or go online. 500MB per day is given at high speed, then it is cut at a cost per MB like Dreamsim. Plus, it is possible to call your home country at rates according to your home rate.
  Of the popular countries, it does not work in Tunisia and the Maldives.
• BIT abroad - 450, 700 or 1600 rubles per day. It can be used at a maximum speed of 100, 200 or 500 megabytes per day, respectively. In Thailand, the Emirates, the USA and India, an unlimited service is provided for 1600 rubles per day.
  Terribly unprofitable in Iceland and the Maldives.

Beeline

For travelers, Beeline has one and only package "Everything for 1800 + roaming" and an option - like MTS - 100MB per day for 350 rubles.

What does "All for 1800" include? If you use it IN RUSSIA:

• unlimited calls to Beeline numbers
• calls to the numbers of other operators in the Russian Federation - 3000 minutes
• messages to numbers of all operators in Russia - 3000 pieces
• mobile internet in Russia - 15 GB

IF YOU ARE ABROAD, then 1800 rubles turn into:

• 100Mb / day at a good speed (60 kopecks per MB is cheaper than Dreamsim, but only if you use it for at least a month). There is no possibility to call / write sms.

For the first month, 1800 rubles are debited immediately, for the next - 60 rubles per day.

Our review. We can say that the rate for 1800 is excellent for trips of a month or longer. Yes, 100MB of unlimited speed ends pretty quickly, but even limited internet is enough for instant messengers and calling a taxi. And for Insta and other traffic-absorbing applications, there is a cafe or hotel with Wi-Fi.

Megaphone

For mobile communications abroad to work, the main and international roaming must be connected to the Megafon SIM card. Outside of any packages, 1MB of the Internet will cost 9.9 rubles (horror), and calls to Russia - 99-199 rubles / minute.

Is it expensive?

• Service number 1. For Europe and Turkey, you can connect an Internet package of 1 or 3 gigabytes for 14 days - for 999 or 1999 rubles, respectively.
• Service number 2. For 100 countries from the list, the option "pay if necessary" is available (approx. Author's name) - for 329 rubles per day, outgoing calls to Russia in the amount of 60 minutes and Internet abroad in the amount of 1 GB of traffic are offered.

Yota

What does roaming from the sensational Yota offer? In fact, nothing special.

• 30 minutes incoming - 39 rubles / day
• 40 megabytes of the Internet - 400 rubles
• outgoing to Russia - 19 rubles / minute

Not the best operator for communication abroad ☹

Tele 2

So what should you do before your trip?

• The first is to check your account balance. This over-mega is important.
• Second, before the trip, turn off call forwarding if it’s worth it. Otherwise, they cried money, they withdraw for every sneeze.
• And you just have to remember. Forget about the 8-ku number format. We pass through the "+", then we hit the country code and after that the subscriber's number.

What determines the price of communication while traveling? From a specific country and its distance from Russia. So, without connecting additional options, while in Europe and Turkey, an outgoing / incoming call goes out at 15 rubles / minute, and 1MB of the Internet - at 25 rubles.

What about services in roaming from Tele 2?

• “Conversations without borders” - for 5 rubles / day you receive incoming calls at 5 rubles / minute instead of 15.
• "Unlimited Internet Abroad" - 200MB of Internet traffic is activated at an excellent speed for 350 rubles / day.
• For those who have a home tariff “My Online +” the second service ↑ on the first day is provided free of charge.

Attention! Already at home, do not forget to turn off the Internet in roaming and other services. At least check their status. Otherwise, they may continue to write off money, such are the reviews. Applies to most of our operators.

We actively use bank cards when traveling, but we have not had time yet with a mobile operator! Although, according to the terms, everything is very good here 🙂 Who tried it, write your comments, I wonder how it is there.

Tinkoff Mobile

As the operator promises, one card for communication around the world. Everything here is tied to a specific country.

• So, if you travel around Europe and Turkey, then calls will cost 11.9 rubles per minute. And the Internet limit for a day of 100MB will cost 149 rubles.
• In the other half of the world (which includes China, USA, Thailand and +74 countries) incoming / outgoing - 19.9 rubles per minute, 100MB - 299 rubles.

Oh yes, before they forget, Tinkoff Mobile also has cheap unlimited messengers (WhatsApp, Viber, etc.) abroad, it costs 49-79 rubles a day. You can only connect it. The Tinkoff application works in roaming for free.

And for a road trip across the United States, we looked at the Google Navigation option - for 119 rubles a day. Let's try it sometime!

Tinkoff, like Dreamsim, supports an affiliate program: if you register using our link >>, you will receive a month of communication for free!

Internet in Europe - Orange Mundo

The Spanish tourist SIM card for Europe Orange offers 3 advantageous Mundo tariffs:

• Esencial - 3 GB: 7 €
• Plus - 7GB: € 10
• Total - 10GB for 15 €

All three are valid for 28 days without roaming ONLY in European countries. Incoming calls are free. Outgoing calls to Russia - 3.15 euros per minute; within Europe - 0.08 euros per minute + 0.3 euros per connection. A definite plus - the Internet in Europe can be distributed to several devices.

SIM card cost: 1400 rubles.

Delivery by Russian Post is free, by courier from 150-300 rubles.

The SIM card is unlimited with a timely top-up of at least € 5. If the account has less than € 2 for 5 months, the card will be blocked. To monitor your balance, download the Mi Orange application to your phone.

What internet is more profitable abroad?

It depends on where to go and for how long, in fact.

✓ Someone takes a tour for 4-7 days, and in this case, profitable Internet abroad objectively - from Dreamsim. Those who are going to change 2-3 or more countries are also suitable, especially in Europe.

✓ If the trip is from a month or more (tourist-wintering, this is about you), then it is more profitable to take local sim cards. Although, again, not everywhere. In the USA, for example, it is too expensive - from $ 30 to $ 70 per month. Therefore, we used Beeline's "Everything for 1800": communicate in whatsapp / telegram, look at Google maps, upload a photo to the instu - all this was enough.

✓ Outside Russia, Internet for a day from operators - as a rule, it is 100Mb at high speed - the cheapest from Tinkoff Mobile (149-299 rubles).

In general, the Internet has no borders - so that you can hang out on Insta around the clock and unlimitedly, download videos, etc. - This is a local SIM card. Or the option from MTS "Super BIT Abroad", which works only in the USA, Thailand, India, Italy, Spain, Canada.

How to save on communication abroad?

Do you need a cheap connection abroad and good internet, but not a lot of used ones? It is relatively subjective here, because from our personal experience. What to do:

• Catch the net upon arrival at the airport.
• Do not forget about Wi-Fi at the hotel / apartment.
• Catch Wi-fi in a cafe over a cup of coffee.
• If the trip is for 2-4 weeks and to one country, then it is easier to buy a local sim card, but have a universal Drimsim in reserve (and do not forget to pick up a 7 euro bonus using the link).
• Calls via apps - Skype or Whatsapp.
• Download the app for finding passwords from Wi-Fi in public places.
• To navigate foreign cities, use the offline map Maps.me. And you will have free happiness.

And another little life hack, if I may call it that. Have you heard about the offer for VISA premium cards? Unlimited Internet abroad for Beeline, MTS, Megafon and Tele 2 operators for 7-21 days! The offer is valid once a year and until September 30, 2020.