SIM card for Switzerland and UK

Hi, will be arriving in Zurich and will be in Switzerland for 1 week and then the UK.

what is the best pre-paid SIM card option which would allow me to use it in Switzerland and the UK and preferably something which will give me a large amount of data to use.

Hi Benedict,

As you said "large amount of data" I was thinking that a portable Wifi hotspot with unlimited data would be a good choice. Please see www.travelerswifi.com. I've used their Switzerland hotspot which was great. No need to replace you SIM card. Just connect to the secured hotspot and you're ready to go.

Please find more tips here: www.myswissalps.com/si mcard

Hi Benedict,

In Switzerland the Salt Pre-Pay SIM will give you unlimited data for a week. Costs CHF 10 and you get CHF20 credit which lasts 10 days as data is charged at CHF2 per day. Go www.salt.ch/en/prepay/ and cancel the pop-up that hides the pre-pay deal.

Not sure about UK but Orange may have something similar over there.

Thanks. Am I able to get this at the airport in Zurich.

Yes there is a Salt Shop at Zurich Airport. See www.salt.ch/en/store-locator/store/center-salt-store-zurich-flughafen-shopping-centre-land/

What country are you from? Can't you get a deal for international coverage with your carrier?

Do you need to get to your email for reservations, confirmations, etc.?

The reason why I ask these questions relates to our recent problems with a stolen phone in Paris.

We're from the US and one of us had her Iphone stolen in Paris. She had to purchase a new Iphone at the Apple store in Paris and then get a US A T and T SIM card sent by Fed Ex from the US to the place we rented in Switzerland. She had to get her information from the cloud to do work. Any US traveler should carry separately from your US phone carrier a "spare" US SIM card if you need to get to your data. We spent hours at an Apple store in Paris but they don't have US SIM cards and could only refer us to L'Orange which will give you a SIM card but it's for a separate plan from them that you have to purchase.

If anyone has any other ideas about what we could have done to solve her problem I would love to hear them, since we spent hours trying to resolve her problem.

Hi cam223,

That's very unfortunate! It's annoying to have stuff stolen and be forced to spend time on replacements and insurance.

With a WiFi hotspot your situation would have been a bit easier I think. It's a separate device, with the size of a credit card, just a bit thicker. It fits in any inside pocket of a jacket. That's were I kept mine, so really hard to reach for pickpockets.

If your phone gets stolen you still have the hotspot. Any replacement phone will be able to access the internet immediately as it's the same as connecting to any other WiFi. In fact, multiple people can connect to it, so that keeps the costs down while still enjoying unlimited data.

Of course you will no longer be able to call if the replacement phone has no SIM card, but calls via WhatsApp or Skype would work.

Hello cam223,

You wrote . . . “She had to get her information from the cloud to do work.” . . . and . . . “If anyone has any other ideas about what we could have done to solve her problem I would love to hear them, since we spent hours trying to resolve her problem.”

Presumably the main reason for getting the replacement AT&T SIM was to be contactable on her US number? Otherwise accessing data (from the cloud) could have been readily accomplished via a cheap pre-paid SIM such as the Salt offering in Switzerland.

Right, all calls have to be routed through the US number. If you don't need to go through that number you can use other means to get to the cloud.

This is a problem for US travelers who have to use their US phone numbers. Getting a new device doesn't solve the problem.

Thanks for you explanation. I didn't realize you were tied to that number. If the phone is unlocked you should be able to use any (local) SIM card instead of the one of AT&T. I prefer the hotspot myself as it provides most flexibiliy and no need to replace the SIM.