Want to know what the best cell phone provider is for world wide travel?
Am interested to see if anyone has any good suggestions 
Oh, yes. Am interested too.
I have a Google Pixel 2 XL with Google Fi and it works most places in North America and in the Schengen States (western Europe.)
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The best option I found so far is just getting a local sim wherever I go. It makes things a lot easier since itâs often the cheapest option and some services in a particular country can only accept local numbers.
If you are visiting certain parts of the world and will be traveling to nearby countries some providers have roaming agreements with neighbors. For example, I was able to use my Panamanian Movistar prepaid plan to roam in Nicaragua and Costa Rica for free. A lot of EU mobile providers provide EU wide roaming as well.
As a Canadian I have found Fongo to be useful as a Voip app. I was also able to sign up for Google Voice when I visited the US and it is useful for US based services.
I have seen some sites offering âWorld sim cardsâ that can work in any country. However, the data rates a lot of these services are charging are ridiculous.
There are some great plans offered in some countries (e.g. SFR in France, T-Mobile in US). However, a lot of these providers have fair usage limits and you canât roam on them forever. Google Fi seems like a good option if you live in the US and travel often. However, similar to T-Mobile, if you donât use it mainly in the US they might suspend your line:
The Services are offered only to residents of the United States. The Services must be primarily used in the United States and are not intended for extended international use. Further, the Services are designed for use predominantly within our network. If your usage outside our network is excessive, abnormally high, or cause us to incur too much cost, we may, at our option and sole discretion, suspend your Google Fi account, terminate your service, or limit your use of roaming.
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I have a dual-sim phone.
1 main number which is linked for my OTPs and also to Viber (You can link the Viber account to your mobile number, so when you make Viber calls it looks like it is from your mobile number).
And when 2nd sim slot is for the local country I am visiting.
I do have virtual numbers as well, which re-direct to whatever number I need.
From my perspective as someone who spends most of his time in Europe, but with frequent trips elsewhere (although usually not as long as they used to be):
I prefer Google Fi (if you can access it) when traveling for shorter periods outside the EU. I also use a Pixel 2, which has Google Fi built in as an eSIM. Then if you spend a lot of time in the EU, get a cheap sim card that will give you free calls and data across the EU. The same if you stay in any given non-EU country for an extended time (say more than 1-2 weeks) or you expect very high data use.
I mostly use Google Voice or my EU sim (if the service doesnât allow virtual numbers for some reason) for 2FA etc.
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I am Looking for the best reloadable SIM card from Spain for my second phone.
I tried Orange but they wont accept any of my credit cards or even my N26 card.
Would Vodafone be a better choice??
Try using the main Orange site for the top-up.
The Spanish version of the Orange site only accepts cards issued in Spain. I think the site checks the BIN number of your card to see where it was issued.
Most mobile banks such as N26 will assign your card a BIN number based on where the card is being delivered. Therefore, if your card is delivered to a Spanish address, it will have a Spanish BIN and strict websites such as Orange Spain shouldnât have a problem accepting it.
Orange is a good provider since you are able to keep your line active for one year after your last top-up. See this FAQ for more details. This is good if you decided to spend some time outside of Spain and wanted to maintain your number and receive SMS messages.
This is a good resource on prepaid sim cards in Spain.
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While itâs certainly great to pay less, if your time and peace of mind are more important, you may not want to get local SIMs. Many countries have outrageous identity verification procedures for getting a SIM card. In Colombia for instance, you need to let the telco cashier take photos of your password. That is an identity theft and security risk - passports sell on the dark web, and especially US ones are quite valuable.
It can also take over an hour to get a local SIM.
Another issue with local SIM cards is that you wonât have service when you land in a new country, until you figure out where to get a local SIM, and pay for it.
I have been very happy paying $20-$30/month for Google Fi to not be subjected to the privacy invasions of these identity verifications.
Google Fi itself is an excellent service, and you can find may raving reviews about it online. Itâs worked great for me in urban and rural areas, but coverage in some remote Colombian locations has been spotty. You can also get up to 9 (nine) free SIM cards, for one account, which you can use in backup phones, MiFi devices, laptops etc. The service can be paused and resumed at will - not something that can be said of T-Mobile US, which only lets you freeze it for up to 3 months.
Update on Google Fi: beware that they can shut down your account without warning for âextendedâ use outside the US.
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Hi Everyone-
Curious if there is an update to recommendations re: mobile phone service for travel internationally and if anyone has suggestions for how to keep a UK number? We have lived in the UK and now Portugal for the last 10 months and are planning to set off on our travel plans. I now have a UK business and need to keep my number active to at least get messages; and we will need service globally as we travel.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Thank you
Mara
I dont believe there is a simple answer to this. It depends on the country. As several have mentioned, Google Fi is good for most western countries.
In Southeast Asia, buy a SIM card in each country is necessary and very cheap. Some newer phones allow dual SIM but I havent tried this abroad. In Thailand I found that local laws required me to provide a passport to get a SIM card so I assume they monitor your use so be careful.
Hi Mara,
If you want to keep a UK number for receiving texts, I suggest switching to a prepaid plan. Most mobile providers simply require you to top up your prepaid line once every few months to keep the line active. If your current provider doesnât offer a prepaid plan Iâd suggest porting your number to another provider. There is more information here.
With my O2 sim, I add 10 pounds every 6 months to keep the line active. Iâm able to receive SMS texts without any cost anywhere in the world. I can make and receive calls as well but that has fees.
Cheers
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I have been travelling across Europe in a van with Unlimited 4G internet for $14 Euros/week.
The way to do this is by getting a prepaid sim card from the Netherlands https://www.vodafone.nl/
and using their bundles.
the coverage in Germany, Sweeden, Czechia, Austria, and Slovenia has been 9.5/10 so far.
Hope this helps!
Cheers
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Update on the Google Fi situation:
it used to be possible to activate Google Fi globally using a VPN (there are several guides online that show this)
Google Fi now requires mobile data to activate, so VPN activation outside US no longer possible.
This means AFAICT that you now need to start your Google Fi subscription from within the US. The other comments about the potential of getting banned for too long abroad still apply of course.
Any updated tips on the best international sim card still very welcome.
I checked the three threads on Google Fi, and posted this here because it was the most recently active one.
I just use Whattsapp. It connects world wide, free and encrypted with all my friends and work contacts. I dont speak to anyone else but use email because service companies, restaurants and car hire firms are too fond of agreeing a sale that evapurates when I arrive. If I use email I have a record.