headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas
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The fam and I will be in .ch for two weeks this June. I welcome any ideas for cheap mobile plans with text and data. We don't plan to make phone calls. Bonus points if a plan includes cheap texting to U.S. numbers. It's for my wife's phone, which I've confirmed is fully unlocked and will run on just about any frequency band (Swisscom bands for sure). Danke!
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I've had a prepaid card from Salt for a while now, for whenever I'm visiting. I don't tend to stay for very long periods at once, so their offer of CHF2/day for unlimited data works out reasonably for me. If you arrive by Zürich Airport, there's a Salt store there (IIRC).
As said, had it for a while. Did some comparisons back then, but don't know how much the various offerings have changed.
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@cvi Yep, we'll be going through ZRH. It looks like Salt, Sunrise and Swisscom all have stores there: https://flughafen-zuerich.ch/passagiere-und-besucher/shopping-und-erlebnis/storefinder/#q=s:mobile
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@cvi I presume your Salt prepaid card works with "any" phone, rather than having to buy a phone from Salt?
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@lolwhat said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
I presume your Salt prepaid card works with "any" phone, rather than having to buy a phone from Salt?
It should -at least, I don't have a Salt-branded phone (imported S8 from who-knows-where, because that was the only way to get a dual SIM one at the time). Wasn't aware that this could be an issue, I'm assuming that if you have an unlocked phone with the necessary specs, you can use any SIM card.
Still, ask at the store to make sure.
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@cvi said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
I'm assuming that if you have an unlocked phone with the necessary specs, you can use any SIM card.
This.
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@Tsaukpaetra More or less. Nowadays there's three different sizes of SIM cards, so that has to match too.
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@lolwhat said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
will run on just about any frequency band (Swisscom bands for sure).
I was going to suggest WillMyPhoneWork to check the bands if you hadn't
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@Unperverted-Vixen said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
@Tsaukpaetra More or less. Nowadays there's three different sizes of SIM cards, so that has to match too.
IME SIM cards nowadays are usually die-cut so you can pick which size you need. You can also cut down the larger sizes to fit, if you're careful enough
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@lolwhat said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
prepaid card works with "any" phone
I haven't heard of anything else on this side of the pond ... buy a sim, shout at the salesman that you are a yankee just landed from the US of A ... Wave your cowboy head in front of him before putting the phone in his face and shouting jihaa! And he'll pop it just in any phone you hold to his face.
Probably also without being stereotypical, but where's the fun in that ...
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@Unperverted-Vixen said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
there's three different sizes of SIM cards
yes but the phone boot clergy should just cut the right size out of the pre-cut plastic they sell ... hence just ask the drone to put it in the phone.
Also, take the bits of plastic with you ... you can use these as inserts to upsize your sim again to a bigger one if you need a bigger size in an old phone.
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@lolwhat said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
@cvi I presume your Salt prepaid card works with "any" phone, rather than having to buy a phone from Salt?
You usually only get a SIM-lock if you also buy a phone coupled to the pre-paid contract. Some countries like Finland forbid SIM-locks outright.
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@Luhmann said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
shout
ISN'T THAT HOW I GET THEM TO UNDERSTAND ENGLISH?
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I can confirm that Salt is cheap and works well. Their 4G coverage is excellent in my experience. You should probably take a prepay card instead of their unlimited data plan to avoid the SIM activation fee.
If your phone is not locked to a carrier and supports the correct 4G/3G frequencies, you shouldn't have any problems.
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@Luhmann said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
jihaa
I prefer a different phrase, partner:
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@lolwhat
It's Switzerland ... I expect posh Oxford English
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@lolwhat
Looking back shouting jihad or Allah Akbar in an airport might be ill advice
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@dfdub said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
You should probably take a prepay card
I was suggesting that upthread already? Their prepaid card (at least the one that I have) deducts you CHF2 when you first use the data connection, but then you have unlimited data for that day (although, unfortunately it is per calendar day, not per 24h period).
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@cvi I just wanted to add an explanation to your suggestion. (On a longer holiday, a contract for 1 month may sound attractive as well if you don't read the fine print.)
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@Luhmann said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
@lolwhat said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
prepaid card works with "any" phone
I haven't heard of anything else on this side of the pond ... buy a sim, shout at the salesman that you are a yankee just landed from the US of A ... Wave your cowboy head in front of him before putting the phone in his face and shouting jihaa! And he'll pop it just in any phone you hold to his face.
Probably also without being stereotypical, but where's the fun in that ...If I ever travel abroad I might try leaning in hard to all the stereotypes about 'Muricans and Texans, just for funsies.
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@error
just throw in some australian or canadian thing to add to the confusion ...
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@Luhmann said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
@error
just throw in some australian or canadian thing to add to the confusion ...G'day! I'm soory, eh pardner.
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@dfdub said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
a contract for 1 month may sound attractive as well if you don't read the fine print.
Reading the fine print tends to make just about any contract unattractive.
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@HardwareGeek said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
@dfdub said in headed to Switzerland in June - need mobile plan ideas:
a contract for 1 month may sound attractive as well if you don't read the fine print.
Reading the fine print tends to make just about any contract unattractive.
i think tht's the point of the fine print. to make the contract palatable while still containing the clause that gives the other party exclusive rights to your data, and/or soul.
and if the fine print has fine print........ SHEESH!
