Cell Phone Usage

[vasque]

Planning Camino for April / May and would like help in determining which cell phone plan to use. My choices:
1. Purchase international phone plan in U.S. utilizing the T-Mobile network. I would be able to use for unlimited data, talk and text for 12 cents per minute. If anyone has used this option, please comment on the how the T-Mobile network works on the Camino.
2. Purchase a SIM card in Pamplona. Same questions - cost? and how does it work in Spain? (talk, data, text).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rebequa]

Planning Camino for April / May and would like help in determining which cell phone plan to use. My choices:
1. Purchase international phone plan in U.S. utilizing the T-Mobile network. I would be able to use for unlimited data, talk and text for 12 cents per minute. If anyone has used this option, please comment on the how the T-Mobile network works on the Camino.
2. Purchase a SIM card in Pamplona. Same questions - cost? and how does it work in Spain? (talk, data, text).

Thanks in advance.

I had better luck with the SIM card option, but make sure your phone is Unlocked for this to work. When I tried MetroPCS’s (powered by TMobile) international plan, it simply didn’t work, and I had to rely on a friend’s phone. Just my experience, though.

 

[trecile]

I've been using T-Mobile both at home and when I travel for years.
When I'm in Spain it works pretty seamlessly. I receive a "welcome to Spain" text when I arrive, and an offer to spend more for faster speeds, but I never bother with that - the data has always been sufficiently fast without upgrading for me to read emails, upload pictures, use maps, etc.
I don't normally use it for phone calls - my plan is 25 cents a minute while I'm abroad. Instead, I use WhatsApp to call friends and family back home, or if I need to call a landline I use the Viber app. I buy $5 worth of credits, and it lasts me ages because the calls are only 2cents a minute.

 

[vasque]

I've been using T-Mobile both at home and when I travel for years.
When I'm in Spain it works pretty seamlessly. I receive a "welcome to Spain" text when I arrive, and an offer to spend more for faster speeds, but I never bother with that - the data has always been sufficiently fast without upgrading for me to read emails, upload pictures, use maps, etc.
I don't normally use it for phone calls - my plan is 25 cents a minute while I'm abroad. Instead, I use WhatsApp to call friends and family back home, or if I need to call a landline I use the Viber app. I buy $5 worth of credits, and it lasts me ages because the calls are only 2cents a minute.

Used it on the Camino?

 

[trecile]

Used it on the Camino?

Yes, I've used it on 6 Caminos.

 

[J Willhaus]

We used it on the Camino until we had to switch carriers in late 2020. Good service. Loved TMobile until it didn't work in Wyoming when we moved in Fall 2020.

 

[Susan Peacock]

Tmobile works great. As with all services sometimes there are dead spots. A couple of things to know/remember.
1) while they don’t seem to tell you this, there is some kind of limit, that isn’t enforced, but every time I go over 30 days and don’t purchase the additional data, I get a warning letter when I get home, that I have exceeded….
2) There is a limit to the amount of fast data, after you reach this you will go to very slow speeds. This isn’t a problem usually on Camino as I use wi-fi a lot and try not to be on my phone. I had run into the issue while on other travels when I was using maps a lot. A $50 purchase of a lot of data fixed the problem.
3) If you want to call within Spain and have a newer phone with dual sim capability you may want to pick up a cheap Spanish sim. I always just pick up one from ORANGE at the Madrid airport. I could go bank and forth between my T-Mobile and my orange sim as needed. Also the data sometimes works on my ORANGE sim when it doesn’t on T-mobile and vice versa.

 

[Sirage]

It just seems to me that this question has been asked many times and the replies to all the those previous questions all seem the same.

It might help if this topic was highlighted in some place on the forum where new members can find relevant answers and information, and then if there is a specific issue not dealt with previously, then a subsequent question can be asked.

This crowd seems exceedingly forgiving or tolerant of repetition, or perhaps enjoys it.

Although this approach allows new members to avoid searching and reading the 100s of previous replies to find the specific one that helps.

 

[henrythedog]

It just seems to me that this question has been asked many times and the replies to all the those previous questions all seem the same.

It might help if this topic was highlighted in some place on the forum where new members can find relevant answers and information, and then if there is a specific issue not dealt with previously, then a subsequent question can be asked.

This crowd seems exceedingly forgiving or tolerant of repetition, or perhaps enjoys it.

Although this approach allows new members to avoid searching and reading the 100s of previous replies to find the specific one that helps.

@C clearly does a lot of ‘tagging’ and signposting to previous answers to frequently asked questions, which is useful. There is, however, rarely a topic on which further and often repetitive comment will not be added and sometimes it uncovers a nugget of useful information which has not previously been offered.

It is - as you say - a feature of this forum.

 

[peregrina2000]

This crowd seems exceedingly forgiving or tolerant of repetition, or perhaps enjoys it.

That sounds like a forum that I would like to belong to.

Just as the topic of phone usage comes up frequently, so too do the posts pointing out that the search function is an invaluable resource.

I think it’s a great idea to answer questions that come up frequently by posting links to recent threads on the same topic and by offering to help with searching if a member isn’t familiar with it.

But some people can’t figure out the search function or don’t know it’s there, others know it‘s there but figure that there will be some forum members with the answer on their fingertips, and others just want the reassurance that the answers they get are up to date.

This issue seems to me to be of the “no harm no foul” category. Since no one forces anyone to open up a thread entitled “cell phone usage,” I don’t see any cause for complaint.

 

[Kit Holmes]

I highly recommend AT&T if you are from the US (unusual for me). $10 per day (a day is 24 hours from when you turn it on). It then mirrors your plan at home in this case the US. I have an unlimited data, phone, and text plan. Here is the kicker. Max charge for one billing period is $120.00. You are doing the camino to enjoy it not track your cell phone usage. Comes in handy for mapping, (Gronze, Booking.com etc.)making reservations for next night, good food places, places of interest and communicating home via text or Whats App with photos. It is a great deal. See attached. My wife and I did Norte from Irun to Compostela in 34 days then to Sevilla, Barcelona and hiking Cami De Cavalls on Menorca. Total of almost 2 months and cost was $240.00. Saved us many times. Seer attached. T Mobile may have same plan.

 

[trecile]

T-mobile's plan is definitely better than $10 a day with AT&T because the only extra charge is 25¢ a minute if you make a phone call. Data and texting to/from US numbers is already included. My monthly bill is $0 more than when I'm at home.

 

[PepeEstrada]

Planning Camino for April / May and would like help in determining which cell phone plan to use. My choices:
1. Purchase international phone plan in U.S. utilizing the T-Mobile network. I would be able to use for unlimited data, talk and text for 12 cents per minute. If anyone has used this option, please comment on the how the T-Mobile network works on the Camino.
2. Purchase a SIM card in Pamplona. Same questions - cost? and how does it work in Spain? (talk, data, text).

Thanks in advance.

We did our Camino in June of 2022. Our cell carrier is T-Mobile. So, we bought a 30 day international pass from T-Mobile. We had no issues at all. I do recommend downloading WhatsApp because all service providers and pilgrims from outside the US, and now more and more US pilgrims also use it. Whatsapp is how people communicate on the Camino. We also use it to stay in touch with the friends we made on our Camino. I hope this helps.

 

[Steven Dwyer]

With T-Mobile you can avoid the 25¢ a minute charge for phone calls back to your home country if you switch you your phone to airplane mode and then connect to the internet. I’ve done this now for a few years and it works great.

 

[Charlie Davenport]

I highly recommend AT&T if you are from the US View attachment 140431(unusual for me). $10 per day (a day is 24 hours from when you turn it on). It then mirrors your plan at home in this case the US. I have an unlimited data, phone, and text plan. Here is the kicker. Max charge for one billing period is $120.00. You are doing the camino to enjoy it not track your cell phone usage. Comes in handy for mapping, (Gronze, Booking.com etc.)making reservations for next night, good food places, places of interest and communicating home via text or Whats App with photos. It is a great deal. See attached. My wife and I did Norte from Irun to Compostela in 34 days then to Sevilla, Barcelona and hiking Cami De Cavalls on Menorca. Total of almost 2 months and cost was $240.00. Saved us many times. Seer attached. T Mobile may have same plan.

$10 a day vs $30 (max) sim card for a month... I like my

With T-Mobile you can avoid the 25¢ a minute charge for phone calls back to your home country if you switch you your phone to airplane mode and then connect to the internet. I’ve done this now for a few years and it works great.

math better and have used sim cards for 4 months of travel in Spain, Portugal, France (just one card covers all EU countries by law)... AT&T thanks you I am sure... I have had zero glitches and used same as I do at home.

 

[trecile]

I do recommend downloading WhatsApp because all service providers and pilgrims from outside the US, and now more and more US pilgrims also use it.

Not all service providers use WhatsApp. Quite a few are still on landlines.
It's easy to tell which numbers are mobile and which are landlines - mobile numbers in Spain start with a 6 or 7 after the country code of +34.

 

[Philtration]

I purchased a sim card in Spain from the provider Orange for the CF in 2021. It was easy and cheap. I think I paid $20 for more data than I could possibly use. Used WhatsApp to call home for free. If you have a newer phone that has e-sim capability I understand it's even easier and you can switch back and forth between your home plan and the Spanish plan easily if you choose to.

 

[motero99]

Regarding potentially purchasing a Spanish sim in Pamplona, there is a chance it will not work. On my Camino in 2019, I had a few hours to kill in Pamplona between the train from Madrid and the bus to SJPP. My plan was to go to the Telefonos building and get a sim there. I waited until they opened in the afternoon, but they were out of sim cards. They directed me to the Corte Ingles. I waited there for quite a while only to be told that they would not sell a sim. As I was out of time, I headed to the bus station. At Roncessvalles, a kind Basque gentleman warned me to make a reservation for Zubiri, then used his phone to call the place he was staying. Upon arriving in Pamplona again, I found a small cell phone shop in the Casco Viejo and picked up a sim. It worked, but I got daily messages to register my sim. I would have assumed that should have been done by the store. On a return to Pamplona after the Camino, I did find an Orange store very close to the Corte Ingles. If I was going to do it again, I would go straight to the Orange store.

 

[Dennis Pack]

I love it when people from the US discover how their mobile plans at home are some of the worst in the world. You might be able to use them abroad, if you have any arms and legs left.
Buy a local sim and make use of things like Whatsapp on the abundantly available free WiFi

 

[Goyo]

That sounds like a forum that I would like to belong to.

Just as the topic of phone usage comes up frequently, so too do the posts pointing out that the search function is an invaluable resource.

I think it’s a great idea to answer questions that come up frequently by posting links to recent threads on the same topic and by offering to help with searching if a member isn’t familiar with it.

But some people can’t figure out the search function or don’t know it’s there, others know it‘s there but figure that there will be some forum members with the answer on their fingertips, and others just want the reassurance that the answers they get are up to date.

This issue seems to me to be of the “no harm no foul” category. Since no one forces anyone to open up a thread entitled “cell phone usage,” I don’t see any cause for complaint.

That sounds like a forum that I would like to belong to.

Just as the topic of phone usage comes up frequently, so too do the posts pointing out that the search function is an invaluable resource.

I think it’s a great idea to answer questions that come up frequently by posting links to recent threads on the same topic and by offering to help with searching if a member isn’t familiar with it.

But some people can’t figure out the search function or don’t know it’s there, others know it‘s there but figure that there will be some forum members with the answer on their fingertips, and others just want the reassurance that the answers they get are up to date.

This issue seems to me to be of the “no harm no foul” category. Since no one forces anyone to open up a thread entitled “cell phone usage,” I don’t see any cause for complaint.

Thanks, Peregrina2000! You said a mouthful. I, being a newbie on the forum, appreciate all the info I can get from all you kind and experienced folks. Shoot, at this early stage of the game, I don't even know what I don’t know yet. I hope others will be as understanding as you when a rookie asks a question just looking for help. Gracias.

 

[trecile]

love it when people from the US discover how their mobile plans at home are some of the worst in the world. You might be able to use them abroad, if you have any arms and legs left.

As I understand it, Canadian plans are worse!

 

[USMC-Pilgrim]

Planning Camino for April / May and would like help in determining which cell phone plan to use. My choices:
1. Purchase international phone plan in U.S. utilizing the T-Mobile network. I would be able to use for unlimited data, talk and text for 12 cents per minute. If anyone has used this option, please comment on the how the T-Mobile network works on the Camino.
2. Purchase a SIM card in Pamplona. Same questions - cost? and how does it work in Spain? (talk, data, text).

Thanks in advance.

I walked from SJPDP to Santiago in May-June 2022. I have T-Mobile, for $15 a month I went to ADD On's and selected One Plan Plus. It has enhanced international data and speed. You can read up on their standard international plans, I just wanted to have access to a speedier connection for Google Maps and Camino Ninja. I always had a connection and never had a problem with connecting. There is also great wifi available along the way in most bars.
Consider loading up WhatsApp. I communicated with many Albergues and JacoTrans using WhatsApp. Very convenient. Buen Camio!

 

[Sirage]

Shoot, at this early stage of the game, I don't even know what I don’t know yet.

Perhaps don't overdo it - many of the people answering your questions did their first Camino after almost no questions and fewer answers, and had a good experience.

Start with the usual basics of travelling, such and cell/mobile phones, money, a brief introduction to the route & albergues, and off you go.

 

[Goyo]

Perhaps don't overdo it - many of the people answering your questions did their first Camino after almost no questions and fewer answers, and had a good experience.

Start with the usual basics of travelling, such and cell/mobile phones, money, a brief introduction to the route & albergues, and off you go.

Thanks, Sirage. I appreciate the advice. I will be new to el camino and caminando solo, but my Spanish is , I’ve done my share of traveling, surf treks mostly, in a number of countries and under many conditions. I’m sure that this walk will be an incredible experience, that l’ll meet a lot of fine people along the way, and even get to know myself a bit better as well. ¡Vámonos!

 

[vasque]

Thanks Susan. Best advice yet.
Robert

 

[C clearly]

It might help if this topic was highlighted in some place on the forum where new members can find relevant answers and information

It is . On the front page - Forums (on the menu) - scroll down to the tag cloud near the bottom, and you will see that the most commonly used tag on the forum is the one for phones (now attached to this thread, under the title). Any newcomer who browses that main page can see the most commonly asked-about topics. Also on that same page, all forums and sub-forums are listed; the topic of phones is included as a sub-forum under Equipment.

It would be particularly difficult to write a single summary FAQ post/thread on the topic of phones and their usage, since the technology is so complex and dynamic. Also, various sub-topics tend to overlap, which is why phones/apps/gps/maps are combined.

 

[danielgzepeda]

I've been using T-Mobile both at home and when I travel for years.
When I'm in Spain it works pretty seamlessly. I receive a "welcome to Spain" text when I arrive, and an offer to spend more for faster speeds, but I never bother with that - the data has always been sufficiently fast without upgrading for me to read emails, upload pictures, use maps, etc.
I don't normally use it for phone calls - my plan is 25 cents a minute while I'm abroad. Instead, I use WhatsApp to call friends and family back home, or if I need to call a landline I use the Viber app. I buy $5 worth of credits, and it lasts me ages because the calls are only 2cents a minute.

Trecile, except for Viber, I did the same thing last May/June. I have the magenta program with T-Mobile. No problems whatsoever! The phone
didn't have to be unlocked. It serves many countries without further/extra charges.

 

[David Tallan]

Planning Camino for April / May and would like help in determining which cell phone plan to use. My choices:
1. Purchase international phone plan in U.S. utilizing the T-Mobile network. I would be able to use for unlimited data, talk and text for 12 cents per minute. If anyone has used this option, please comment on the how the T-Mobile network works on the Camino.
2. Purchase a SIM card in Pamplona. Same questions - cost? and how does it work in Spain? (talk, data, text).

Thanks in advance.

I have always purchased a SIM card. But then again, I'm Canadian and Canada is notorious for the cost of our telecommunications, so the option 1 may be cheaper for you than the equivalent would be for me.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Mentioned earlier was eSIM. If you have that you have dual SIM capability. That's the way to go. Cellular is cheap in Spain.

Questions about this? See this thread:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/questions-about-esim-card.75197/

 

[Lizbird58]

I walked from SJPDP to Santiago in May-June 2022. I have T-Mobile, for $15 a month I went to ADD On's and selected One Plan Plus. It has enhanced international data and speed. You can read up on their standard international plans, I just wanted to have access to a speedier connection for Google Maps and Camino Ninja. I always had a connection and never had a problem with connecting. There is also great wifi available along the way in most bars.
Consider loading up WhatsApp. I communicated with many Albergues and JacoTrans using WhatsApp. Very convenient. Buen Camio!

Thank you for sharing that is information - very helpful. I also have T-mobile and typically just pay the .25 a minute for local calls, as well as using what's app and Messenger for texting when traveling internationally. I will check this "add-on" out. Still trying to figure out what Camino app to load - but that is an entirely different question!

 

[vasque]

I purchased a sim card in Spain from the provider Orange for the CF in 2021. It was easy and cheap. I think I paid $20 for more data than I could possibly use. Used WhatsApp to call home for free. If you have a newer phone that has e-sim capability I understand it's even easier and you can switch back and forth between your home plan and the Spanish plan easily if you choose to.

Thanks very much for your response. This is all new to me so I do have a couple of questions as a follow up. First, I assume you use the Spanish SIM card to make calls only in Spain. Correct? Does it cover texts as well? Am I assigned a different phone number or do I use my current one? What do you do for email?

Lots of questions so thanks very much in advance.

Robert

 

[RJM]

I love it when people from the US discover how their mobile plans at home are some of the worst in the world. You might be able to use them abroad, if you have any arms and legs left.
Buy a local sim and make use of things like Whatsapp on the abundantly available free WiFi

That's a bit supercilious of you to say.
It didn't come across to me like there were any discovery moments in regards to the costs of international plans on various cellphone service providers. It's just a Q&A regarding what's available and at what prices.

 

[J Willhaus]

Thanks very much for your response. This is all new to me so I do have a couple of questions as a follow up. First, I assume you use the Spanish SIM card to make calls only in Spain. Correct? Does it cover texts as well? Am I assigned a different phone number or do I use my current one? What do you do for email?

Lots of questions so thanks very much in advance.

Robert

You can get Sim cards with both data and calls. There are different packages. Yes, you will have a new Spanish number. You can use wifi for email or your data allocation with your Sim.

 

[David Tallan]

I love it when people from the US discover how their mobile plans at home are some of the worst in the world. You might be able to use them abroad, if you have any arms and legs left.

Some of us have it worse and really envy those US plans.

 

[Philtration]

Thanks very much for your response. This is all new to me so I do have a couple of questions as a follow up. First, I assume you use the Spanish SIM card to make calls only in Spain. Correct? Does it cover texts as well? Am I assigned a different phone number or do I use my current one? What do you do for email?

Lots of questions so thanks very much in advance.

Robert

Yes, you do get a new number with a new Spanish SIM card. Most plans you can get cover text also. I shared my new number with family and friends, and it worked well.

We were walking in the heart of the pandemic. We decided to stop sleeping in dormitory rooms and get private rooms. It was very useful to be able to call locally for reservations, to check if things were open, and for any other reasons that can come up. Once I logged into my email account with the new SIM I had that access. I usually wasn't checking email until at an albergue or casa rural and on wifi. A very large number of businesses use whatsapp btw, so get an account and test it out before you go. I think having a new SIM is even easier now that most phones have e-SIM's. You can switch between new and old numbers very easily. There are other threads about the best ways/locations to get a new SIM. A quick search of the forum will get you tons of information.
Buen Camino!