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Coverage
Some international SIM cards only cover Europe, or a small collection of countries, where some are worldwide.  Make sure you have coverage in the countries you are travelling to as well as any countries you plan on travelling to in the future – it’s much easier to have one SIM that does it all rather than several SIM’s that you lose all the time or get confused which SIM does what.

Free International Roaming
What countries are covered with free incoming calls and are new places added very often?  If you can receive calls for free while you are away you can keep your costs ultra-low. 

Does the SIM Expire
Some travel SIM cards expire if you don’t use them regularly, or they require you to top up every month or they will be deactivated. Ensure you get an international SIM card that suits your intended usage frequency.   Rates
Rates across different countries for calls, data and SMS can vary greatly.  Is the SIM for calls only or are SMS messages and data roaming discounted too?  Free SIM’s sound great but this often means that the rates are increased to cover the cost of the SIM. Take a look at the rates for all the countries you plan on visiting as well as where you have already booked for.  If you estimate some usage figures you can get an idea of your daily spend. 

What Phone Number Do You Get
Some SIM cards come with many numbers on one SIM, this might be a UK, USA or even Eastern European number.  What phone number is best for those that will want to contact you?  Some companies offer adding up to 45 different countries phone numbers on your SIM.



Help and Customer Support
In case the worst should happen while you are travelling and you need to make a call urgently but can’t, it’s good to know that you can get help if you need it.  Check the opening times of customer service, see if you can get online help, or if the company offers any how to guides etc.  You should also check social media channels to see how active the company is as that is another place you can get immediate help if you should need it.

Are There Any Other Perks
Different travel SIM cards may offer added perks, for example, free call forwarding or cheap international calls.  Some companies only offer call back usage where you are disconnected when you try to make a call, then you are called back and connected, where others operate like a usual SIM. 

How Easy is it To Top Up
You may be travelling to far off places so make sure you can top up whenever you need.  You don’t want to be looking round for a top up shop all day!  If you can top up over the phone is it 24 hours a day or are you restricted?   Will It Work in Your Handset/SIM Size
With so many handsets on the market it’s always best to check that the SIM is available in the right size and that it’s compatible with your device as you might also want to use it in your iPad or tablet (although a data SIM card will probably give you better data rates).

Quality of Calls
You might find a free SIM with super low cost rates but if you have bad call quality or have trouble getting online due to poor connectivity then you aren’t getting a good deal at all!  Mobile networks with tier 1 carriers are the highest quality and really what you should look for. International SIM Cards The second option is to obtain an international SIM card that you can use in most countries in the world. While the former option may prove to be marginally cheaper if you are staying in one country for extended periods of time, an international SIM is a far more flexible option.  International SIM cards are all about convenience. Here are some of the perks of an international SIM…

1.    Rather than pay to answer calls when you travel to other countries, an international SIM card will enable you to receive calls for free in many countries (for example our International SIM gives you free incoming calls in 95 of the most popular countries). 2.    Having one SIM for multi country trips is so much less hassle 3.    You can manage all your spend in an online account and top up without any language barriers 4.    You get low rates for talk, texts and data worldwide 5.    You get more coverage than the average SIM as international SIM cards are designed specifically for travelling 6.    Having a predefined phone number before you even leave the country will allow you to share it with the people who matter the most

  What else you should look out for:

What country is the phone number on your international SIM?  Some companies give you an Eastern European number, others a US number (FYI we give you a UK and USA number, plus to option to add numbers from over 50 other countries)

Can you roam on your existing number? Forwarding your existing number to a virtual number means you can be contacted on your regular number with no roaming charges (but you will pay for the call).  Find out more here.

How long does credit last? Ideally you don’t want to be forced to top up when you don’t want to.  Although credit on a WorldSIM international SIM card never expires (as long as you use the SIM once a year) many other companies will terminate your SIM if you don’t top up every 30 days.  Ideally you want to keep your international SIM for life so you always have the same number when you travel.   Not all international SIM cards are the same as some require you to top up every month in order to keep the SIM active (we don’t, just so you know).  If you need help selecting an international SIM card you can read this blog post on how to select the best international sim card for your needs.      So if you are looking to buy International sim cards visit http://allindiayellowpage.com for complete information about International SIM cards available centers.