3UK activation in USA?
 

Now that I have ordered three 3UK SIM cards off eBay:
Will I be able to activate them in the USA?

Yes, you can topup and activate here in the USA. See this post by JEFFJAGUAR.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post27535007

Thank you.
Most reassuring.

Thanks again. Successfully activated in California.

Sure. Good to know. I'll be doing the same for my 3-UK sim as well, when it's time for me to head to the UK around August.

How I activated/started 3 SIM card.
 

On the web site it was saying it could be up to two hours to activate.

I was receiving textmessages in about a minute after it connected to AT&T.
It also use T-Mobile. [One thing you will not want to do is call a USA number. GBP1.40 to do that. Calling UK number, texts to US and UK cheap. Read up on "Add-Ons" .]
Order I did things.
1. Stuck SIM in phone.
2. Registered with MY3.
3. Paid GBP10 via https://www.mobiletopup.co.uk/ Service charge of 1.49 GBP.
4. Started testing.

For everyone, here is a good link to start to familiarize yourself with this plan/offer.
http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Pay_As_You_Go

Since Three will not mail you a SIM, ebay is a good place to look for
inexpensive Three SIMs.

And this is the be all and end all of info on Three PAYGO:
 

And this is the be all and end all of info on Three PAYGO:

http://www.three.co.uk/termspdf/PAYG...ide_310517.pdf

This PDF file will give you the ability to print out the relevant pages for you use.

It is brand new-----dated May 31, 2017.

This is very good.

Bizarrely, I am unable to print page "3" [get it?] of the pdf.

This plan looks pretty good for use as a trans-European SIM card.
I am not sure about other options or international SIMs but this
card has a certain ease of access for people in the USA compared to other options.
The only issue is that worldwide the cost to call a USA phone number is expensive. Perhaps leave a phone with a 3 SIM with the person in the USA you wish to contact?

No doubt there might be better offers in general and with specific case uses, but what are those offers ease of use compared to this?

Secret info
 

I accidently found how to request balance from a handset.
Dial 555 .

Found another option for buying UK topup outside of UK
 

Found another option for buying UK topup outside of UK.

With all the turmoil of EU roaming starting June 15th, I was doing some research.
I stumbled across another option in buying UK top-ups.
They also ship SIM cards.

They take PayPal and charge only 10% for top-ups.

http://www.uksims.eu/


You seem to be able to order two of the same SIM at a time.

Here is a newer one.
 

Here is a newer one.
http://www.three.co.uk/termspdf/PAYG...ide_010817.pdf

Dated August 1, 2017.

I was reading I think on Flyer Talk that you can't roam more than 60 days in a year without returning to the UK. Is that still true? @rfanzq On the T&C that you posted it stated that the sim had to be activated in the UK. Will activating it here in the US nullify the sim?

Well, 60 days was the start of August..........
 

The SIM was activated in California on May 31.
82 days since activation. I have not left California.
I have sent a lot of SMS to UK and USA [& a few to a Philippine]SIMs.
I have not used data. I think I made some calls to UK SIMs that I have.
I think I might have made 1 call unintentionally to a USA phone number--
--a mistake on my part- since they charge £1.40 for that.

I don't think I am abusing the SIM.
I bought it mainly for testing.
I think if one were traveling to the UK or Europe it is a viable choice.

Hi Powerlifter.

About roaming period: They've used to deactivate roaming in some cases when users used their SIM cards only for roaming. This was reported as soon as after 2 months of permanent roaming in some cases.

This has changed now, as Three UK has to comply with the new EU roaming rules. Now, there is a "monitoring period" of 4 months, in which your consumption may be "monitored". If this is predominantly in roaming, then they are allowed to impose a surcharge of around £8-9 per GB to roaming after that period. They are not allowed to disable roaming (at least in Europe) anymore like they did before.

About activation: Three says activation should take place in the UK. Actually, I've activated some Three SIM cards before through a roaming network in Europe. So I don't think that this is absolutely mandatory as the SIM is delivered pre-activated mostly as there is no registration or anything like this in the UK.

It's a viable choice as long as you can live with the known restrictions: strict 9GB per month cap for roaming, no 4G/LTE roaming outside the UK and European 3G networks get more and more crowded, low priorisation, hard to top-up (without surcharge) from abroad, UK "content lock" in place and strictly no tethering (WiFi hotspot use) on their Pay-as-you-go SIM. How they are going to handle the 4-months rule we'll see later this year.

Is data the big issue for them, then?

If I only use talk and text will they leave me alone?

If I use T&T and very little data am I going to be OK?


We might see in a few months.

@WolfBin That is good to know about roaming as I will use it strictly for roaming. I travel very little to The UK. I will be in Switzerland next month, and was thinking about Swisscom. You can top it up with an American credit card. I use very little Data so nowhere near 9GB
a month. You are right top-up is a pain. As you can see from my Avatar I had a Vodaphone Sim card. Lent it to my nephew who lost it. @rfranz have you used the top-up that you mentioned earlier in the thread?

topping up?
 

I have used the first one that charges 15%.
I have not needed to top up a second time yet.
The second one charges 10%.

Well, I broke down and ordered the 3 Sim card. I will see if it works when I am abroad in a couple of weeks.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Unlike mere international SIM providers, this company
seems to be big enough to want to do this well and
to have the will to do it well.
If they were incompetent,
I think we would have heard more about them by now.
Looking forward to your report.

I was in Zurich. I tried to text a U.S. number the text never went through. I tried texting in U.S. same thing never went through. I am in Oman now. It is way too expensive here to try it. tried to use WhatsApp did not work.

You are probably aware of this, but did you send the text using the +12225558888 format? Most of what I have read about 3-UK is positive. Also, the sims are already data and roaming active. So, not sure why whatsapp did not work for you. As long as you have the correct APN. Also, You may want to to go into the phones menu and make sure allow roaming is selected.

Three UK changes prices for roaming in USA
 

I received a SMS from ThreeUK this morning.
It said "Wecome to the USA" where it has always been since activated in early June[?].
It was titled "Rate Advice".
It would appear that the rates have changed.
{call, text, data} 3.3p, 1.3p, 3.3p/MB [old 3p, 2, 1p/MB]


The newest PAYG_Price_Guide_191017.pdf does not seem to reflect these rates.

Well, I went to Amman, Jordan, but had a layover in Vienna as my flight got canceled. Had a friend there and we talked and messaged several times and the 3 sim worked perfectly. Bossman, I think you were right I might of have roaming turned off. Very pleased with the sim card.