Yes maybe so, but then the whole point with paypal would be lost.

No. wrong :chair: Users are looking for a way to maintain a German SIM card. To keep it alive without being in the country, you need to do some activity from time to time, at least once or twice a year. Cards of some German providers, you need to top up too.

German SIM cards don't last forever not using them. Some users don't want to buy a new card all the time when coming to Germany. It's inconvenient and extra cost and time to do it.

So, how can you top up a German SIM card (without a German payment system)?
- > You can buy vouchers in Germany before and redeem them from abroad, but this is quite uncomfortable and need some action in advance.
- > You can go to Lebara or Ortel mobile. The only providers to be topped up online by credit card. But some (non-German) cards may not work as well.

After all, if you consider the PayPal method (via prelado.de) so "pointless", what is your solution: How do you top up a German SIM card from abroad. It's easy to say "nah, what's the point" without showing a better way. :o

If there was a bwetter way, I think soneone would have posted it, by now.

Sorry for the bad spelling. I was in a hurry.

Further to my original post, in October 2014, I was able to use paypal, associated with a Canadian Visa card, to make a 15 euro recharge via prelado. However, I had to wait approximately 1 week before I could make a 2nd recharge with paypal.

You don't need to buy a complicated german card.

Simply use three. You will get 13 GB around the world with a simple prepaidplan

http://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming/germany

You can topup here and you are good to go

https://www.recharge.com/en/united-kingdom/three-top-up

German prepaid dataplans are for the bin

What an advice for the bin from you:

no 4G/LTE: generally no 4G/LTE international roaming on Three UK SIM cards. This means a very limited coverage as 3G is not built up outside towns and cities in Germany. Here 3G coverage is only at around 60%, while 4G is at around 90% of population (not area) - And 3G means of course much slower speeds compared to 4G/LTE.
no hotspot data: no tethering allowed on UK Three PAYG SIM card. They sniff and kill tethering (mobile hotspot) connections through Deep Package Inspection
hard to top-up: no chance to top-up an Three UK SIM card without a UK registered credit card or you face high surcharges by some agencies. Recharge.com that you have linked charges around 10% fee for top-ups.

Why do you keep on suggesting these things?
-> without mentioning the strings attached?
When I consume a package of up to 12 GB what you have suggested, users need to have 4G/LTE available nowadays at least most of the time.
3G can still be sufficient for texting and messaging. But for these tasks, not 12 GB, rather 12 MB are needed.

I agree that UK SIM cards (not only Three) can be a good option for roaming in Germany.
Their big advantage is their easy activation which is very tricky in Germany right now through this online video chat.
I've checked all major UK providers, but they only offer a better rate on large packs (> 5GB) compared with usual German prepaid plans.
Three is the least appealing choice with the absence of 4G/LTE roaming and the top-up fees of the agencies.

All major UK operators (other than Three) offer 4G networks in Germany under "roam like at home" rules without surcharges at domestic UK prices:
EE on Telekom LTE and O2.DE LTE networks, but throttled - all credit cards accepted
Vodafone UK on Vodafone DE LTE network, unthrottled - all credit cards accepted
O2 UK and even giffgaff at least on O2 DE LTE network - giffgaff also accepts foreign credit cards

Wolfbin, I had owned a Vodaphone UK sim card for years until my nephew lost the sim card. I have never known Vodaphone to accept foreign credit cards. When did this happen? I use a three sim card now.

Vodafone allows direct topup on the prepaid plans by using a UK issued card only. But they also allow paypal! And they do not check the card there

I was able to top-up most UK providers with a German credit or debit card. I'm not sure whether it worked directly with Vodafone UK, but the PayPal bypass surely works.

EE works with out-of UK credit cards as well as giffgaff. O2 UK only worked with one of mine (N26) which is distributed (but not released) in the UK too. The tricky thing with Three is that they want to check addresses. Even if you use Kwikpay and PayPal set up to the same fake UK address (who cares there is no registration), it was declined.

Generally, the situation is going to improve within the EU. From the end of 2018 all merchants are not allowed to discriminate where the payment source is coming from. This means when they accept MasterCard or Visa, they need to accept all MasterCards or Visas at least issued in any EU country. You can see the first signs happening: on the TIM Italia top-up website there is a tiny boy to check, when you are now allowed to pay with a foreign credit card.

What the UK is concerned, we don't know if these regulations will take effect there as they are bound to leave the EU in 2019 one way or the other. And continental providers still sometimes need a reminder of the rules....To cut a long story short: There is hope, that this restrictive policy is coming to an end - but we'll have to see if this going to be really true for everybody.