Does anyone go without buying data for the US?

[Andysaurus]

I'm on Three with Go Roam as part of my contract, however will be using Disney wifi just in case.

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by mrsbenny

We have always used free WiFi. Can I ask people that use data what is the benefit of buying one of the sims for data. I do use free WiFi and order Ubers and a little bit of browsing in the hotel. I would get one if there will be benefit to it. I’m genuinely curious. Thanks.

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Just having connectivity whenever wherever. For a tenner. That's four weeks of connectivity for less money than I spend on a single drink in Universal and WDW.

With done with theme parks now and are chilling in a villa. Today we decided to go down to Tampa to see the Rays play the Orioles. Having data access meant...

- Waze could navigate us to Tropicana Field, taking us round any traffic issues. There was one crash on I4 that we missed a result.

- As above, getting us away from the stadium bypassing some of the local gridlocked roads.

- When we got close to the villa allowing us to check the Applebees menu whilst on the move. Two of us are veggies and Applebees has always struck us as one the more, ahem, "traditional" eateries that seem to believe people will only eat meat.

- When we decided Applebees wasn't for us, allowing us to mobile order Chipotle and Five Guys to pick up. There was a mammoth queue in Chipotle, so we saved time.

None of these things are essential, obviously, and are quite easily worked around. But, again, this holiday has cost many thousands of pounds - £10 on a SIM card is not worth thinking twice about.

[ScoopsAhoy]

First year I haven’t had it as Sky wanted to charge me per day so have been relying on WiFi which has been dodgy at best.
Dh paid £10 for a month with EE so he got a great deal.
I will pay next time to add it on

[Claudette]

Until my most recent trip, I have only ever used free wifi and it has rarely been a problem. This trip I decided to get an eSim so that I am fully covered when not near a wifi. It was $5.99 I think so seemed a no brainer.

[PoohBears#1fan]

We used an ESim on our Jan/Feb trip and by the July I'd changed to O2 so had roaming included.

Makes life much easier if you're out and about, if you're staying onsite and not venturing off then probably no huge benefit. I'd mostly use it for navigation and to keep in touch with the 'kids' (they're adults) back home and would do that in the car on the way somewhere so very useful for us.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by Bozza

The holiday costs thousands of pounds.

A tenner on a SIM card is neither here nor there. Why wouldn’t you?

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Because it isn’t needed ?
Most U.K. providers have either a package bolt on or a daily flat rate of between £3 and £6 for 24 hours.
However
For most people the easiest option is to turn off roaming and use wifi with any calls home on WhatsApp or messenger (even at home with unlimited calls most of my personal calls are in and out on WhatsApp anyway ,even my 80 year old MIL calls with messenger).
In an emergency the flat rate for 24 hours is there (and if it’s a genuine emergency then hopefully only one twenty four hour period is required) for an average cost of a fiver.
For most people the added faff of getting an extra SIM isn’t needed anymore (years ago it was ) .
I’d rather pay £10 for a bolt on if it was available in an ideal world but as I’m also with Sky it currently isn’t but I’ve honestly never struggled with wifi in the US.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by ScoopsAhoy

First year I haven’t had it as Sky wanted to charge me per day so have been relying on WiFi which has been dodgy at best.
Dh paid £10 for a month with EE so he got a great deal.
I will pay next time to add it on

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I wish Sky did a bolt on for the US , it’s the main reason I haven’t moved my husband from EE to Sky with the rest of us.
We discussed it recently , we pay £10 for the bolt on for emergencies (rarely use it as we always have SatNav which would be the only reason we’d realistically need it ) as he’s looking at updating his phone and he’s the only one left with a contract handset as the rest of us have bought Redmi note 5s outright and SIMOs at £4 amount with more data than we ever use.

[Floridafan]

Originally Posted by duchy

Because it isn’t needed ?
Most U.K. providers have either a package bolt on or a daily flat rate of between £3 and £6 for 24 hours.
However
For most people the easiest option is to turn off roaming and use wifi with any calls home on WhatsApp or messenger (even at home with unlimited calls most of my personal calls are in and out on WhatsApp anyway ,even my 80 year old MIL calls with messenger).
In an emergency the flat rate for 24 hours is there (and if it’s a genuine emergency then hopefully only one twenty four hour period is required) for an average cost of a fiver.
For most people the added faff of getting an extra SIM isn’t needed anymore (years ago it was ) .

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Mine is Tesco and I can’t find anything on the website to say I can buy a bolt on for my phone for the USA. I’m planning on buying a cheap sim (the one mentioned earlier looks perfect for us) and then I am going to fire up an old mobile so we can use it as a satnav and also so we can speak to our daughter who will also be coming but she will be totally separate from us (own apartment and car). Although we’re quite used to talking over WhatsApp, I can see plenty of occasions when we might not have wifi so a tenner is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by Floridafan

Mine is Tesco and I can’t find anything on the website to say I can buy a bolt on for my phone for the USA. I’m planning on buying a cheap sim (the one mentioned earlier looks perfect for us) and then I am going to fire up an old mobile so we can use it as a satnav and also so we can speak to our daughter who will also be coming but she will be totally separate from us (own apartment and car). Although we’re quite used to talking over WhatsApp, I can see plenty of occasions when we might not have wifi so a tenner is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

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Yes Tesco are one of the few who don’t offer either a flat rate or a bolt on as far as I know. (It comes up at work occasionally)
Remember you pay to receive as well as call in the US in some cases so your daughter will also need a SIM if she’s also with Tesco.

[SamH88]

I just used Wi-Fi 99% of the time last time we went and will do the same this time. My phone plan has a roaming plan that’s €3.99 a day that I can use if I need to, if we’re somewhere that doesn’t have Wi-Fi.