12 May 2014 8:22 PM:

Hi,

Coming as a tourist for a few days and planning to buy a prepaid SIM for a few international calls and data.

I know about the passport and address but I'm not sure I understand the Spanish pricing, in particular, the maintenace fees.

Some operators offer parking your number while you're away and if it's not parked it seems there would be some monthly charge even if the phone is entirely idle. Could you please clarify if that's the case with all the operators? I'm kind of prepared to accept that the advertised prices are without VAT and that there is a ubiquitous connection fee but paying for a prepaid number that is not used seems a bit too much.

For example, if I take Orange SIM Mundo plan (sorry, can't include links here) and add Alta Mundo 500Mb for EUR 6 per month, does it mean I will be charged something every subsequent month regardless of the usage? These particular plans (SIM Mundo and SIM Holidays) don't have much details but other prepaid plans like Ballena or Delfin suggest you must pay some reduced monthly fee if you don't want to pay the whole price for the plan.

I read that Yoigo is a very good operator for short-term data usage but, unfortunately, their site is only in Spanish so I have to stick to Orange or Lyca or Lebara (MÁSmóvil has an English version but their prices don't look convincing and their maintenace fee is apparently unconditional unless you explicitly park the number). By the way, do Lyca and Lebara also have this bloody maintenace fee? I know these operators from other countries so I wouldn't really mind trying them in Spain

Thanks a million.

Thread: Mobile phone!!! What's best deals???

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