Orange Holiday Europe - 3GB Internet Data in 4G/LTE (currently 8GB promotion) + 30mn + 200 Texts from 30 Countries in Europe to Any Country Worldwide

I researched the options for getting data while traveling from USA to UK and France, and this was the best option for me. Over 2 weeks, I used 2.6 GBs; I suppose I'm a light user compared to people who stream video a lot, but I was on Google Maps, Yelp, news apps, and the browser as much as I wanted and rarely connected to wifi. So 3 GB was enough for me, and 6 was more than I needed but was nice for peace of mind. Pros - Low cost (compared to paying for roaming) - Good coverage (even in the countryside of Dorset County, England) - Doesn't require you to carry anything else (like a "pocket wifi" device that you'd need to keep charged) - Not just data; you also get some cellular minutes and text messages Cons & things to know - Works best if all you really need is data, because there are limited talk and text messages, but that was totally fine for us - You phone must be unlocked for this to work. If you're unfamiliar with what that means, do a bit of research and/or call your carrier to figure out if your phone is unlocked. If you're on a payment plan with your provider, then your phone is "locked" so to speak. To unlock it, you'd need to pay off the balance with the carrier *and* request for it to be unlocked. - Don't turn your phone off when to swap the SIM card; don't do anything except pop out your old (and keep it safe!) and put in the new. We had an issue when were turned the phone off and turned it back on with a *new* SIM card (iPhone 8, error message said the phone needed to be registered... which was a bit scary). To fix it we just turned the phone off, put in the "old" SIM card, turned it on, and then swapped the new one in and it worked.

These SIM cards worked really nicely for me and my wife while on a two-and-a-half week trip to Europe in June-July 2022. I had read some mixed reviews about these, and felt like I was rolling the dice up until we landed in the Netherlands, so was very happy when that concern turned out to be completely unnecessary. Thus, I felt the duty to share our positive experience. These were simple to install and worked without a hitch. And we were able to stay connected to most friends in the States using iMessage (we’re on iPhones). I think the negative reviews that I read may have been the result of some user error or confusion so here’s my to-do list in case it’s helpful: 1. You need an unlocked phone 2. You cannot activate until you land in your destination country 3. Power down your phone before switching SIMs 4. Restart after you’ve replaced the new SIM* 5. Once activated you’ll get a text to register. Do this once you’re settled, as it will allow you to check usage and top off after 14 days. Again, these worked really well for us. It took just moments to install (less time than waiting in a line at an airport Kiosk for a prepaid SIM), and beat having to worry about international roaming and data with our US carrier. We were in the Netherlands and Italy, and I had no problems contacting people, using maps, browsing the internet, using email, etc. between the two countries. For those traveling for more than two weeks, it was very easy to top off after 14 days (Orange will send you a reminder text). I highly recommend if you’re heading to Europe, and are looking for an affordable way to stay connected. * NOTE: my wife’s phone worked immediately. Mine required a second restart. Not sure why, since we both have the same model of iPhone, purchased at the same time. But this only took a minute or two extra.

This Orange SIM card worked for data, phone, and messages. I issue had to due with total lack of technical support in France by phone, at the Orange stores, and poor web site/links. These cards are good to 14 days only so I knew I would need to top up in France which I did. I did not want to send my passport phones thru the mail so I planned to register the accounts in France as the documentation said I could. If the card are not registered they would suspend service after 30 days. OK for my 29 day trip; I though. I tried multiple times to register in France with the link in the documentation; no success. I tried calling their customer support line and only got automated line in French; no help. I went to Orange store twice for help; no success. We received messages from Orange every day suggesting we register and with link in the message; the link worked to the Top-Up website but no success to register. I was successful in topping up both SIM cards from this link though. ON THE 26th DAY both SIM cards were suspended at probably the worst possible time in the trip. We were attempting to return a rental car after dark in a new city and needed to call the rental company; both phone suspended! VERY FRUSTRATING. The next day I spent several hours searching their TOP-UP web site and trying every registration link I could find. Down at the bottom of the TOP-UP web site is "Orange Holiday Offer" link to FAQ. I found a link in FAQ #18 that finally seem to work for my wife's phone. Nothing I did ever got my phone's SIM card registered. I included my email address with every attempt for both SIM cards and not a single response of success or reason for fail was ever received. I finally turned on the Verizon Travel Pass for my phone to complete the trip at $10/day. I am a very technical person and have used SIM card in the pass for other European trips. I would not recommend this SIM Card or company based on my experience. This card would have to the the only one available before I would consider it again.

I used this while traveling through Dublin airport, France, and Spain. It worked really well for what I needed, and definitely had enough data for the week I was there. I used the call function to call my hotel, and the call went through easily. The reception overall was great- I was easily able to video chat with a friend from inside several shops along Champs-Élysée in Paris, and from my hotel room in Madrid. I also took the train from Madrid to Barcelona to Paris, and it worked for a decent amount of the trip. I’ve taken the train within France before and I found that I had as good or better reception during this train trip. That said, in some of the more remote areas, the cell service did kind of suck, but I had expected as much because no cellular carrier has 100% coverage anywhere. It was nice getting texts where Orange identified which country I was in (being on the train, it was cool to know when I crossed into France), and I found the way to check my data was simple to use. I even got a message saying that I was in the US when I turned my phone back on in the US, and that I was now being charged roaming fees (since it’s only for Europe), and that my current network, with the strongest connection, was T-Mobile. One thing you do NEED to make sure to do is register the SIM card within a? week of ordering it, or it supposedly will not work, even if you still have data credit on it. My only complaint with it was that it didn’t come with a key thing to change out your SIM card. I chose to use my US SIM card until I landed in Dublin. Luckily, in the Dublin airport there was a nice gentleman in an electronics store willing to change out the SIM card for me for no charge. So, in short, this is an amazing deal, and it definitely works. Although it seems sort of like it’s too good to be true, it’s really not. It has flaws, but overall it works well and I will definitely recommend this to friends looking to travel internationally and use this again when I next go to Europe.

Updated: The Orange prepaid SIM cards worked fine in London and Paris - Spring 2024 - for internet browsing, GPS and email. Will not work for international texts or phone calls, or local SMS (photos/files). ---- Thanks to all the customers here for tips on how to use the prepaid Orange sim card. The data portion worked perfectly but calls/texting was less reliable. I did not insert the sim until I landed in France (March 2023). Turned on cellular data on my older, unlocked Motorola E4 phone and my French phone number worked immediately, with 8GB data loaded. Friends with France-based phones were able to call and text me, except when the network was busy in the evenings. This plan does not include being able to call or text folks back home/stateside despite the claim made for this card. I was able to extend the 14-day expiration by using my credit card to pay for the cheapest reload option: 20 euros for 5GB of data. The Orange website instructions are a little baffling but I kept trying until it finally took. I still had nearly half of the data left after 22 days of travel, though I wasn't streaming movies or watching YouTube videos on my phone. Don't have to register the phone with passport info until before the 30 days are up (I tried anyway and the registration didn't take at all). It was very nice to have data for GPS to find museums, historical sites, places to eat and shop. And for figuring out how to get back to the rental apartment! Google Maps directions showing which metro line and bus to take was extremely helpful. This prepaid sim is not cheap for the amount of data included but this alternative is still WAY better than Verizon's rip-off $10 a day international cell service (which was sometimes very spotty and calls/texts would not go through). Very convenient to be able to buy this on Amazon before the trip, and not have to hunt down a phone sim retailer at the other end.

Data, calls, text value, reliability,It worked for my unlocked phone. I followed the instructions in the booklet that came with the SIM card. I didn't register the SIM online cos my trip was only 12 days. During my flight, i inserted the SIM, turned on Roaming and powered down my phone. When I landed in Rome, I turned on the phone. Instructions says to get on the internet, make a call or text. At first it didn't work. I restarted my phone. 10 minutes later, I received a text saying welcome to Orange Holiday, your plan is now activated... It gave me a French mobile number. It said you can now enjoy unlimited calls/texts and 12 GB in Europe + 30 minutes and 200 texts to all countries. I brought this as 8 GB. So, this was a bonus. I received daily reminders to register which I ignored. I was able to make calls, send texts (but not photo text) and use data in Italy, Croatia, Greece, France and Spain. For others to call u, they need to dial the french number that's texted to you. I got lost in Pisa. The data allowed me to use google maps to find the pinned return bus meeting spot before they left. My phone showed 5G, 4G and H+. This was a good deal, reasonably priced. I was on a cruise so i only use the data when in port. I didn't streaming video except on the last 2 days of my trip because I was afraid to run out of data. My ending balance showed I only used 4 GBs and still had 8 GB left at the end of my trip. i would buy this again.

I purchased this SIM card for my travel to UK and France. It was only a one week trip, so a validity of 14 days was more than enough. Although it is not recommended to activate it before reaching a European destination, I tried it anyway just before leaving. It connected to T-Mobile network and activated itself, although no voice or data really worked in the US. I switched on my phone after reaching UK, and it activated again within a few seconds and was operational right away. It continued to work fine later when I was in France. I received 8 GB of data, along with ability to send text messages and 30 min of voice calls from Europe to anywhere, as verified by dialing #123#. I ended up using less than 1 GB for the whole trip, did not use text messages, but a regular phone call to the US worked fine. Another good feature is that it allows tethering, so the data can be shared with other devices, such as a laptop. Some of the other SIM cards do not allow tethering, which is a definite disadvantage. Only issue was that since this is a France based SIM, any messages from the provider (Orange) are in French and I do not speak French. If you happen to need any customer service, it *may* be hard to find an English speaking representative. I do not know for sure because I did not need any customer service. Also, if you need customer service, I believe you must register yourself first, although registration is optional for short term use.

So we recently went to Europe (Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and based on a fairly positive reviews purchased this French SIM card to allow us to stay connected for emergencies and to have cellular data in case the rental car’s GPS would fail or have issues. Installation was simple, exchanged this SIM for my regular one on my iPhone X, turned it on upon landing in Munich, and within a couple of minutes had service. The data came in handy as the car’s GPS was behaving odd at times and google maps was able to lead the way better (by the way, we couldn’t have done without some sort of navigation system). But here comes the problem: whenever I tried to use data for email or internet, I received a message: “Could not activate cellular data network”. Every single time. I could only access those apps via wifi which was luckily provided at each hotel we stayed at. When we needed to send a few texts and a couple of phone calls to the US because of a family situation, we were able to do so, which we were pleasantly surprised about. I repeatedly checked my phone’s settings to ensure I had everything set as recommended, including roaming on, etc., so that was not the problem. We ended up using about 0.3 GB of the 8 GB allowance for the only app it worked for, Google maps. I didn’t bother contacting the available French speaking customer service, as that would not have gotten me very far I am afraid, as my French is limited to a few swear words. So my bottom line experience with this service is: cheap, works for a few emergency texts and calls to the US, but don’t rely on usable data service. All in all, it was helpful having this service while traveling in Europe, but by no means did it live up to what was advertised in terms of available use of data.

Ok

Just got back from two weeks in Europe (France and Switzerland). This phone card was amazing - i inserted it in my phone on the journey over - and as soon as we landed in France my phone had instant network connection to the Orange France network. I got seamless 4G wireless connection which was perfect for navigating our way around. Also used it to call a family member (in India) and call ahead to restaurants etc - i think there is only 30 mins on the card for talking. When we went to Switzerland I just had to go into my settings and make sure data roaming as enabled (the phone card is French) so if you are visiting somewhere else you just need to enable your data roaming. Anyway excellent card - the seller is also great - I had a question and they answered very quickly and assured me they have been selling these phone cards for years and really stand behind the product they sell. The bonus offer on the card is also great. Anyway if you are off to Europe - this is great value and really reliable phonecard!

The Sim card was a Godsent for my trip to Europe! And the bonus 5 Gb works as well so we could used the data for Google map and kept my grand kids busy but still had some left when we left Europe 11 days later, the set up couldn’t be easier: as they said, just insert the sim into the phone once arrived to my first destination and it connected automatically! Our trip included France, Germany and Czech Republic and there weren’t any problem with the sim!

フランスで使用しましたが設定が必要でしたので参考にどうぞ。 端末はXperiaです。 ■Androidの設定方法 設定 └ネットワークとインターネット └モバイルネットワーク └アクセスポイント名 └［＋］からアクセスポイントの編集 └名前、APN、ユーザー名、パスワードに「orange」と入力 これで完了です。 他の方も指摘していますがパッケージがかなり頑丈ですので出国前に開けておくことをオススメします。

Muy sencilla la activación, solo la insertas en tu celular desbloqueado y automáticamente se activa. Me sirvió en Francia, Bélgica, Italia, España, Marruecos y Portugal. Te da 8 gigas para 15 días, después de los 15 días tienes que recargar en la página de Orange.