Best cheap option for basic mobile phone while visiting Scotland

August 22, 2013 1:10 PM

I'm visiting Scotland in a month, and my cheapo Tracfone US cell phone will not work in the UK. I understand there are various inexpensive pay-as-you-go options for mobile phones -- tell me about the best balance between cheap, good coverage, and not totally garbage. I don't need or want a smart phone, and I don't want to unlock my Tracfone and put in a UK sim (I mention these two things because countless travel forums I have Googled derail uselessly into discussions of those two areas). I just want something super-basic and really cheap that will work in the Highlands, Skye, and Islay to call ahead to B&Bs and make restaurant reservations with. Thanks!
posted by aught to Technology (9 answers total)

Best answer: If you're only staying for a few weeks, and you don't want to put a SIM in your current phone then, to be honest, it's barely worth your time to research this. They're all cheap (in an absolute sense, and compared to what you're probably used to in the US). Just go into any phone shop or Tesco supermarket and buy a phone. If you don't care about data, then coverage is not an issue in the UK.

If you really want the absolute best deal then up-to-date advice is found at Money Saving Expert. Apparently you want a 3 SIM at the moment. So get one of those in a 3 shop. Get an unlocked phone or a phone from 3 to go with it.
posted by caek at 1:16 PM on August 22, 2013

Yeah, we just literally walked into . . .somewhere? Vodafone? and got a flip phone, prepaid, and went along with ourselves.
posted by Medieval Maven at 1:24 PM on August 22, 2013

Best answer: I have the Nokia 105 (that link is to a common shop where you can get one when you arrive, you can google to see where the nearest one to you is.). There are a few other cheap Nokia phones, that website will have others you can look at and read reviews for. You want to buy one SIM-free, currently the price they have listed is £19.95. You can choose a pay-as-you-go network in that shop and buy a SIM card on that network with credit on it.

Here are some coverage checkers:

3
T-Mobile
Vodafone

And Orange and T-Mobile are now ee anyway, so no need to check both and Orange's bundles are crazy and wierd.

I've been happy with 3's pay as you go prices, most places you can get a bundle of x minutes and x texts for £10-15 (3's are 300 minutes and 3000 texts for £15), and that should do you fine.
posted by you must supply a verb at 1:27 PM on August 22, 2013

Response by poster: Okay - I didn't want to assume it was that simple (I mean, one can - and I did - buy a Tracfone in a supermarket here in the US too).

So, if anyone has tips from their own experience about particular carriers or phones that are great or should be avoided, that would be good too. If anyone particularly has tips connected to coverage or usage in Skye and Islay, that would be ideal.
posted by aught at 1:28 PM on August 22, 2013

Best answer: Yeah, check the networks' coverage maps for wherever you're going to be (here's one for O2 as well) - and be aware that some of the really rural areas don't have any signal at all with any of the networks. If you're in a town it'll be better, but you still might have to be outside and/or standing in the right bit of the town to make a call. O2 and ee (formerly Orange & T-mobile) have both been fairly decent in the west Highlands in my experience.
posted by Catseye at 1:44 PM on August 22, 2013

Best answer: EE and O2 are both decent. Avoid 3, because in my experience, they're useless around Skye/Lochalsh.

Like Catseye said, in some middle-of-nowhere places, you'll likely not have a signal no matter what network you're with, but if you're in a town (by Highland standards, that means at least 10 houses and a pub - so don't think you have to be in a big city), and willing to stand outside, you'll be fine with either O2 or EE. If you're venturing toward the north-east, I'd pick EE over O2.
posted by Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo at 1:58 PM on August 22, 2013

Best answer: Orange will sell you a useable phone for five english pounds when you spend 10 pounds on a pay as you go tariff. Check out their website. The coverage is excellent, particularly out in the sticks.
posted by BenPens at 1:59 PM on August 22, 2013

Best answer: If you were to get that Nokia 105 or any cheap dual-band phone, the "PAYG plus £X topup" option is just as good for you as SIM-free (carrier unlocked) and might be a few quid cheaper in total, since the phone won't work in the US regardless.

(SIM-free is nicer if you just want to take out the SIM and give the phone to a random stranger once you're done.)
posted by holgate at 2:00 PM on August 22, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I really appreciate all the advice.
posted by aught at 5:40 AM on August 23, 2013