TravelSim

Currently (Aug/Sept) 2019 I am traveling in the USA/Canada. However previously I have tried to use Travelsim in the UK & Europe (I'm a slow learner). The result from my perspective is the same - viz exceptionally limited service.

Right now as I write (2 Sept in Calgary Canada) I cannot make or receive voice calls or sms - apparently due to an "outage'. Otherwise I cannot use Googlemaps/apps/emails - unless I am connected to an alternative wifi - typically the hotel I am staying in. So far as Travelsim is concerned - sweet nothing.

Back home in Australia - interesting calls/sms seem to be routed via the UK - I have a 91 year old father in law with serious health issues and a son with other health issues both of which I need to keep an eye on. Courtesy of Travelsim - which I purchased in good faith I cannot find what is happening to either father in law or son. What was that about duty of care/ethics?

My solution is when the stores open locally in Calgary I will buy a local sim and ditch Travelsim

Sum of this review only buy Travelsim if you are absolutely desperate

I bought a twin pack for a recent trip overseas and put credit on both cards to cover our time away. The travel sims worked perfectly overseas.

Now that we have returned home I wanted to close my accounts and get my remaining credit refunded only to be told:
"Unfortunately the credit on your account is non refundable.
Cheers,
TravelSIM Team"
and
"Our agent has updated your request (36984)."

This has now made the Travel Sim a very expensive option for our travel.
This important detail needs to highlighted during the purchase and credit phases.

Would have got 12gb for less from another provider who mails out sim but decided to buy in postshop thinking they help u activate it - they dont. Was in uk and 3g very slow.

I have used this SIM card in Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Greece, the US, and Canada. The best phone use took place in Portugal, without a hitch. However, trying to use it since then in all the other places I mentioned has been harrowing. There is a workaround they don't tell you about: if you can't call out, your phone will call itself and you have to accept the call to suddenly get to the number you were calling in the first place. For the longest time I didn't know this was the way they did it and I had to find out the hard way: by contacting their tech support. However, even the chat technician couldn't help me and they had to send my inquiry up the ladder to a more advanced tech, who finally told me what was happening. By the time I got that explanatory email my trip was over and the chance to call home pointless.

Also, they advertise that calls to your number don't cost anything, only calling out will cost you.... however, since they give you an eastern European phone number, and most people can't call internationally (at least not from most people's cell phone plans in the US). Giving your number to people is actually pretty pointless. In fact, I have a landline in Canada that can call internationally, and I have called many other international numbers, but calling the number on this travel SIM doesn't work AT ALL. Then, when my partner tried using the SIM card to call our Canadian landline the call dropped repeatedly. The whole attempt to use this SIM in Canada was pretty useless, actually.

On the other hand, the best thing I used this SIM for was a two week roaming data purchase I made in Turkey. It was a special sale and worked like a charm. It was well worth it as I also traveled to Greece for the final three days of the data usage, and it still worked! The international boundaries did not affect my ability to roam.

I do have a balance I want to get a refund on, especially since it dropped the call a minute into the last conversation I was having (in Canada). It's a pretty expensive SIM for not much of a product.

I bought a travelsim for a trip to Morocco,Spain, and France a month or two ago. I was surprised to find my first $25 was used up after a couple of days of what I thought was light use in Morocco. I spent another $25 topping it up, and that lasted another 48 hours, with very light use. On the way down from the Atlas Mountains, I invested another $25 dollars so that I could quickly check booking.com and book accommodation in Skoura. Surprise, Surprise - the data had all gone after three minutes of browsing, and before I could book! The next day I bought a cheap local simcard and euro 20 of credit, which lasted me for the next fortnight. Conclusion: travelsim presents as a neat solution, but don't buy one unless you're prepared to spend a motsa.

I am reviewing travelsim.com..there is another travel sim with a name like this one but with a different web address. Sim meant to work in Lebanon and neither myself or friend were able to use it to call home in Australia or to make local calls to relatives. Read data package info very carefully..no data for middle east only Europe as far as I could tell. Data did not work in Jordan but calls OK. Calls & data worked In Scotland. This sim routes calls through an Estonian number. The number you get with the sim has the Estonian prefix of +372.

I wish I had read the reviews before purchasing travelsim. I could not use the data at all, while overseas. I still have the full balance. How can I get a refund on this?

I had trouble using this product for data. I set up per instructions but had to seek help from Singapore. I used a significant portion of credit trying to connect to networks in Norway, which was disappointing.Next time I would choose another product.

Used Travelsim when I was in Japan on a business trip and had no issues whatsoever. Had to keep in touch with my dad who was sick at the time and despite his bad hearing he could hear me without issues (something I've got a lot of problems with with other providers). Rates are reasonable for international calls and the calls go through every time. Cheers!

We had some surplus funds left on the cards after traveling in Europe and wanted to use this for email contacts when travelling in Australia.
First of all, 25 c per MB is very expensive.
Second, when trying to use a phone to connect the computer to internet it failed to activate hotspot, responding that if you need a hotspot contact vf.nl. The site vf.nl is actually listed for sale, obviously not vodafone. In the end, we could not send email messages.
The cards worked in Europe, but again to use them is complicated and expensive.
Buying a local SIM is way cheaper and simpler.

We investigated several Travel Sim Cards before settling on Travel Sim. I checked, confirmed by phone and email that we could port our existing number across, so to allow continuity of contact. We supplied all of our contacts, both local/emergency and accommodation with our existing number. When we got the airport on the evening of our departure we proceeded with contacting Travel Sim support department, as advised by email and phone call, to port the number, only to be promptly advised that "you must contact your service provider to do this". We were now left with a new number, which none of our emergency, local, overseas and accommodation had, and our flight was nearing departure. We managed to contact all of the peoples whom had our existing number with our new number. When we were overseas, Europe, in Netherlands, Germany, Italy, we required to restart the App several times, as it would not update our balances of calls/data. At one stage, and this was a good/prompt support effort, the card had to be reset by Travel Sim direct, for the phone to work. We had several data connection issues in Germany and Italy. Also the phone did not work at all in Switzerland, however this was our issue, as we did not read the supported countries page correctly. When it did work, albeit inconsistently, it worked fine, however the initial advise, and the sole reason why we chose Travel Sim in the first place, of not being able port the number, left a sour taste.

The sim actually worked on a cruise ship on my way from Sydney to Noumea. This saved me money having to buy internet from the ship and kept me in touch with my loved ones back in Australia.

Easy to set up , always someone on hand to help via the app or email for those just in cases! Great coverage. Highly recommend when travelling overseas. We used in Fiji and USA. I sometimes had trouble seeing my balance on the app. Apparently this has been updated. We had the double pack sim, which was a free way to communicate within our travel group.

Bought a twin pack of TravelSims to use on a cruise around NZ. Data and text worked fine. Used my card and recharged several times but didn’t use my wife’s card and now find that the unused credit is totally withheld by TravelSIM. I am not planning on using it again for overseas travel. This withholding of surplus credit is not reasonable behaviour. Also watch out If you use the TravelSIM app on the iPhone. It has a suggested recharge amount of $200 rather than a more reasonable lower level which you need to toggle to achieve. On what basis does TravelSIM need to withhold all surplus credit on these cards. The relevant clauses in the Terms Of Service are 11.4 and 12 (d) which are not reasonable. How many other folk are not happy about surplus credit being withheld by this company? I will be challenging this through the ACCC unless I get a reasonable refund.

My wife and I and our 4 teenage sons travelled to Japan and Singapore. We all purchased Travel Sims. The free texts between family members was an invaluable way to keep in touch. And the voice rate was low enough for my wife to call her father back in Aus regularly to say hello. Great product. Easiest way to use voice and text while overseas.
Regards,

Second time we have used Travelsim and second time we have had problems. Travelling in South America we were unable to make calls. Contacted Travelsim and operator was unable to assist so said she would elevate the issue and an "engineer" would ring us back. Heard nothing (but did receive a survey form) until the day before we were due to return to Australia. Would not recommend Travelsim based on our experience.

Had to go to England for a funeral just before Christmas was fantastic to keep in contact with family at home

I use my travel Sim when travelling and at home as a back-up. A great easy to use service with fast balance check and recharge.
Many thanks, Bill

A real saver overseas. Helps in keeping in touch with home at a very nominal rate. Prefer this phone than taking your Optus or telegraph on roa

Travel Sim allowed for easy and convenient phone and message access to home while traveling without the worry of international roaming fees from my provider in Australia.