TravelSim

They now provide very poor support – Travel sim, since I used them last have now reduced their customer service hours to business hours in Estonia. So if you arrive at an airport expecting your travel SIM SIM card to work and it doesn't, as I did, the chances are you won't be able to contact travel SIM support by phone or online chat. You might have to wait until business hours the next day or possibly after the weekend.

life saver – had trouble connecting at first but when it was connected it was our life line with out we would of been lost anybody wanting an overseas sim card travel sim is the one Show details

Very good sim for using abroad – 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! Show details

Great sim to have in your phone when going overseas – 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. Show details ·  1

Scam, Scam, Scam! (Brought from an airport vending machine) – From the vending machine, it is just a scam! The preloaded $10 of data loaded onto the Travel Sim was used for about 5 minutes, and then they said that the $10 worth of data was all used up. How can this be possible, if I have only used it for a short period of time? After that, I tried to make an account on their website, however, it does not… Read more

work. This Travel Sim was brought from an airport, which cost about $10. Both my money, and my time was wasted, and I had a really difficult time during my holiday.

Worst sim ever – Not clear, it's very expensive (4$ for using data just some minutes), it had worked for one day than got problems and not possible doing anything (neither check balance). Estonian number. Show details

Would not recommend. Unreliable and a waste of money – I purchased a TravelSim with data, calls and text, which was very quick and easy. The TravelSim arrived within a short period of time. Once overseas I made several calls and then didn't use the phone for several weeks. The call log shows 5 calls at a cost of $9.49, plus a TopConnect charge of $26.30 with 00:00 call duration. I have no idea what… Read more

this is. When I tried to use the phone again there was no credit, and I attempted to top up the credit. I tried a debit card and also the card that I used to initially purchase the TravelSim. Both card options failed. I emailed TravelSim as their office was closed to advise that I couldn't top up and asked for advice on how to top up the credit. It is nearly 2 weeks since I emailed TravelSim and I have had no response to my email. Extremely poor customer service. I had hoped that TravelSIM would respond to my email. It is now over 6 months since I contacted them and I have had no response. Getting ready to travel again, but I will never use TravelSIM again.

SCAM BEWARE – Recharged twice. Both times went to use said no data remaining. They were honest 6 years ago on the Gold Coast in Australia Now Estonia just a SCAM Show details

Expensive – This was a very expensive option for a SIM card. Buying from the airport upon arrival would have been so much cheaper. Then to add insult to injury, when I arrived home I had an invoice for $14.10 CAD from FedEx for Duty and Taxes. It was my fault that I thought I was getting 16 gigabytes because I misread the website that said 1G as being 16. … Read more

I paid $86 for two 1 gig cards which turned out to be exorbitant amount compared to the rates in Thailand and Australia. Once we arrived in Australia I was able to get 74 gigs for $34 AUD. Live and learn. I had not travelled much and didn't realize how cheap these cards were in other countries.

Complete incompetence – We purchased the SIM at JFK airport and added time and data. Then, we went to top it up online while travelling and TRAVELSIM would not accept any of our totally valid modes of payment. I called, "chatted," emailed TRAEL SIM for help and they kept saying it my banks fault. We called the banks--TRAVELSIM system wasn't even attempting to process our request. Dead end. Waste of time and money. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Show details

good enough – I started with an Aust Post travelSIM, prepay in 2019. Came back to use it a year later and discovered that I needed a new SIM because of the upgrade. This was sent for free - good-o. Activation was not so easy, and support sorted that. I needed to install an updated app and realised that the Aust Post website did not fully support the new… Read more

account, I could not see the balance. Talking to support, they directed me to another website , new.travelsim.net.au .. which actually never mentions Aust Post, quite mysterious. Anyway this worked when I registered the account. Support chat actually means e~mail - forget the phone enquiry no. 'cos that's quite slow - and the support people were quite good.

* recharge for data and recharge for phone credit are *separate* , if I wanted both, the minimum cost was $25+25 on this service. I decided to use this SIM for phone calls only while O/S. My advice : set up the credit before travelling. *

TravelSIM refuses to refund due to Covid19 – We have requested a full refund of the balance of our two SIM card accounts due to the fact that all International Travel has been cancelled and we are unable to use the card. We have made numerous requests for a full refund under Australian Consumer Law and the company refuses to refund the money. This company needs to be shut down due to their refusal to cooperate. Never buy from them again, assuming they survive given the complaints surfacing. Show details

An Abject Failure – Inserted the sim the day before departure. Could not connect to Optus network which travelsim operates on in Oz. Would not work in wife's phone either. This was the all new improved sim that cost an extra $25 to replace my old travelsim. I rang customer service who did all they could but after 4 calls they admitted the sim was faulty. I could… Read more

purchase another sim at additional cost (and hope that one was not a dud), but they are not sold at my departure airport or anywhere nearby on a Sunday so no go anyway. Offered to send a replacement sim - would not arrive before departure. This is the second time I've been left in the lurch by their faulty sims, clearly quality control is not a priority. Now the family, airline and travel insurance company all have an unreachable contact number. I've asked for a refund and will never use them again. The only good part was the customer service officer who did all she could - to no avail.

Call credit gone – I purchased sim loaded an extra $25 call credit on half an hour later received text saying credit balance Zero. I hadn’t even touched or used phone. Contacting consumer affairs Show details

Service has degraded with their new SIM – Had 2 of their "old SIMS" and they worked perfectly on a trip to Europe in 2018. I was "goaded" in to replacing these with their "new SIM" cards and extremely disappointed. Worked OK in LA and Miami and on cruise ship until after we passed through Panama Canal. Then neither phone would connect to Cell At Sea. Said there was no network, even though… Read more

other mobile users (not Travel SIM) were able to connect. Both phones worked when in port. Then in Santiago, Chile both phones connected to Moviestar 3G until 25 December when we got "No Network" message on both phones at the same time. Could not connect to a network until we were back in Australia. Message a left on their chat servicewhich was never answered. Extremely unlikely that both phones would have developed the same fault at precisely the same time. Cannot say that they provide a reliable service with their new SIM cards. Will not be paying to keep these cards current.

Disappointing performance from a company which used to be so much better – Have been with TravelSim for some years now and it used to be excellent with helpful service agents always available. In more recent times there is never an agent available to speak, the On-Line Chat service is never available and they take more than 40 minutes to return calls/emails. I have previously recommended TravelSim to friends and… Read more

colleagues but could not confidently do so now. The "new" TravelSim has been fraught with issues. Firstly, the company kept emailing me, inviting me to upgrade to the new Sim; when I finally did upgrade, the Sim took over two weeks to arrive by post - hardly an auspicious start. Secondly, when I tried to use the "Check Balance" (i.e., remaining credit) function, this had changed with the new Sim but TravelSim didn't bother to inform me. A lengthy wait to speak to a service agent eventually rectified this. Thirdly, when I went to check my account online, my account details no longer existed. Another lengthy wait to speak with an agent ensued but was finally quickly rectified; of course, the "new system" was blamed. While the service agents seem to be competent and professional, the same cannot be said for company management. When you offer a new service, surely any management worth their salary would have arranged a series of test runs to de-bug any problems. Not TravelSim it seems. I will try this service one more time on my next overseas trip but if these issues continue, I will be looking for another service provider. Disappointing performance from a company which should know better.

$$Rip off to keep account active, courtesy of Travelsim – Bought one in 2012 and it served its purpose when I went overseas back then. Have continued to pay $5 every 6 months to keep active, so I wouldn't lose my existing credit, thinking I could at least use on my next overseas trip. Wrong! They have now conveniently "upgraded" their plans, with limited options, either pay more money to get a new SIM,… Read more

or lose existing credit. Naturally the existing credit is nonrefundable. It's a sneaky way of making money because some people like me will no longer pay more, & lose their account credit. I don't know what the service is like in 2019 because I haven't had to use it, but don't get sucked in to the endless spiral of paying out money like I did to keep the existing credit active.

Total waste of time and money – I purchased the Australia Post TravelSIM for use in Indonesia. It was activated and I was given the new phone number. It would not connect to any network. After numerous contacts I was told that it would only connect to Optus in Australia. No problem my other mobile is on Optus. It would not connect. I replaced the TravelSIM with my Optus SIM.… Read more

Phone connected to the Optus network and worked perfectly. I replaced it with a Telstra prepaid SIM. Again the phone connects to the Telstra network and worked perfectly.

Dont bother – Impossible to top up credit from overseas. Tried their website from numerous devices and locations and would not load. Do not use this company. I gave up trying to top up my credit after 4 days of trying and many emails. Simply not helpful at all Show details

Don't depend on it for your overseas holiday – I purchased the Travelsim in July 2019 in preparation for my overseas travel. Initially I had difficulties activating the sim whilst still in Australia. I phoned the help number and could not get anyone. I left a message for a call back which came the next day, which was the morning I was flying out. This in itself was a problem as I only have one… Read more

mobile phone and you need to switch between your normal sim and the Travelsim to test it. Regardless, after several calls and by using a friends phone for the help line, I could free up my phone to trial the Travelsim. After making changes to settings as instructed and finding a network that supported Travelsim, it seemed to work. I flew out later that day and when I arrived in Qatar I tried to use it but could not get a network that supported Travelsim. When I arrived in Spain, I again tried to connect and managed to find a network that supported the sim and managed to use it sometimes but it was very unreliable. I persevered for about the first week in Spain, as I could rely on cafes for wifi back-up whenever the Travelsim did not work. However, as I was about to start a roadtrip around Spain then Portugal and onto France, I could not risk being left without wifi so I went and purchased another sim locally in Spain from a Vodafone store. I had no issues from then on. As a matter of curiosity I tried the Travelsim again in the other countries, hoping to get some value from the money I had spent on it, but no, it's unreliability was simply frustrating and will leave you stranded if you are relying on it for accommodation or other services. I am back in Australia now and still have the Travelsim, mostly unused. The outlet I purchased it from didn't want to know about the problems, stating that he only sold them and to contact Travelsim direct.

I usually don't write reviews, only on occasions when I have experienced either exceptional service or extremely poor service. Unfortunately, with Travelsim it is the latter.

Save your money and buy a local sim when you arrive at your destination.

1000% crap – 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… Read more

"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

Expensive 3g data in uk – 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. Show details

Fine for limited data - Phone calls are painful – 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… Read more

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.

Eye-wateringly pricey – 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… Read more

$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.

travelsim.com: could not use this sim at all for phone calls in Lebanon – 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… Read more

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.

Could not use data overseas!! – 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? Show details