Roaming: how to save with prepaid cards

Those holidaymakers wanting to avoid the high data roaming costs of Swiss providers can buy a local SIM card in another country. comparis.ch shows some interesting products and how to go about acquiring them.

Surfing the internet with a mobile phone in another country is expensive. In particular, Sunrise and Orange customers still pay a fortune for data roaming even with bundles. It is considerably cheaper to purchase a local SIM card in another country. comparis.ch has sought out interesting offers from four neighbouring countries. In making the selections, we focused on including offers with cheap data bundles as well as the best possible prices for calls to Switzerland.

Before purchasing a prepaid card, first get the address of your hotel. You must also present a piece of identification. Providers ask for an address, which sometimes is required to be within the country. In general, getting this address should not be a problem, though sometimes one has to enquire.

Germany: Edeka and Lidl

For Swiss tourists, the supermarkets Lidl (Lidl Mobile Classic-Tarif) and Edeka (Edeka Mobil) offer good prepaid rates, which are sold directly in their stores. SIM cards are sold by both providers for about 10 euros and include a telephone credit of 10 euros. It is recommended to also add a data bundle. Lidl charges 6.95 euros for 500 MB, and Edeka charges 9.95 euros for the same amount. Calls to Switzerland go for 9 cents to fixed network numbers and 29 cents to cell phones.

Austria: Yesss from discounters

Swiss tourists can get a cheap prepaid card for just under 5 euros at the discounter Hofer, the Austrian Aldi. A 5 euro credit is included. Even without a data bundle, internet use is very cheap at 1 cent per MB. For high volume users, there is a 1 GB bundle for the astonishingly low price of 4 euros. For that, calls to Switzerland are expensive at 49 cents per minute.

Italy: inexpensive data bundles

Italian SIM cards are sold primarily in cellular phone stores. SIM cards from Vodafone and TIM each cost 20 euros and include a 15 euro credit. Those needing up to 250 MB within a week should add the weekly bundle "TIM Sconta Full Small" to their SIM card purchase. The price is 3 euros per week. For high volume users, the "Smart 350 Limited Edition" offer from Vodafone should be of interest. A one-month bundle with 1 GB costs less than 10 euros.

France: be careful when purchasing

Caution: credit can expire after only six days. Therefore, pay attention to the validity period when topping up your credit. Of interest to Swiss tourists is a French SIM card from Lebara, which is sold at many kiosks for 10 euros and includes a 7.50 euro credit. A data bundle with 250 MB costs 4.90 euros. To order, send an SMS with "WEB250" to the number 22241. Calls to Switzerland cost 1 cent to fixed network numbers and 19 cents to cell phones, though each with an additional fee of 15 cents per call.