This article is now out of date. Kindly refer to the latest version here.
I’ve previously written about how you can get SIM cards for the USA, the UK and France delivered to you in Singapore so you can have them activated and ready to go by the time your plane touches down at your destination.
But it’s also helpful to be aware of the data roaming offers from our various local telcos so we can see how we can get the best deal. I’ve taken the liberty of looking at Starhub, M1 and Singtel’s offers and here are some of my findings.
Starhub (Prepaid)
Happy Roam
Starhub has what I think is the best data-only solution for anyone who just needs data with their Happy Roam prepaid roaming offer. You don’t need to be an existing Starhub customer to take advantage of this, you just need to buy a prepaid Happy Roam SIM.
This offer is valid in the following countries
| Destination | Preferred Partners’ Network |
| Australia | Telstra | Vodafone |
| China | China Mobile |
| Hong Kong | Three (3) |
| Indonesia | XL Axiata |Â Three (3) |Â Indosat |
| Japan | NTT DoCoMo | KDDI |
| Malaysia | All operators |
| New Zealand | 2Degrees | TNZ |
| Philippines | Smart |
| South Korea | SK Telecom |Â Olleh KT |
| Taiwan | Far EasTone (FET) | Chunghwa Telecom |
| Thailand | TrueMove |Â DTAC |
| United Kingdom | Three (3) |
| United States of America | T-Mobile |
There are different pricing configurations on offer
| Validity | Data | Cost |
| 3 Days | 1GB | $5 |
| 7 Days | 1GB | $7 |
| 30 Days | 1.2GB | $10 |
| 30 Days | 2.4GB | $15 |
| 30 Days | 3.6GB | $20 |
You can buy a $15 or $50 Happy prepaid SIM in Singapore, download the Starhub Happy prepaid app and activate it just before you leave. Note that while you will be able to make calls using this prepaid SIM, they will be at the usual outrageous roaming rates. Therefore if you buy a $50 Happy prepaid sim and activate a 30 Day 3.6GB $20 plan, you’ll have $30 left on your phone for calling. Don’t be surprised if that lasts you all of 5 minutes.
If you just need data, I think this is an amazing deal. It’s difficult to beat S$20 for 3.6GB of data.
Happy Roaming SIMs can be purchased at any Starhub shop, 7-Eleven/Cheers store and at Changi Airport (Travellers’ Counter and UOB Currency Exchange Counters). I’ve been using one on my current RTW trip and don’t have any complaints so far.
Starhub (Postpaid)
DataTravel
If you’re a postpaid customer on Starhub, you can pick from a 2GB or 3GB DataTravel pack that costs $15 and $20 respectively.
What’s interesting to note is that these plans cover 12 different countries, but they’re not the same as the ones covered under HappyRoam. For example, you can get Macau on DataTravel, but not the UK or the US. If you want the UK/US, you’d have to use HappyRoam, or…
DataTravel Unlimited
This is Starhub’s version of Singtel’s unlimited data roaming packages. You pay one flat fee, depending on country, and get unlimited data for a day.
However, Starhub’s plans range from $19-50 per day, versus Singtel with $19-29. To be fair though, there’s only one country at the $50 price point (Vietnam- which Singtel DataRoam Unlimited doesn’t support. Presumably the carrier in Vietnam asks for a very high reimbursement rate)
RoamEasy
If the 12 countries covered under Starhub’s DataTravel don’t match where you’re headed, Starhub has a slightly more expensive option in the form of its RoamEasy packages. These cover 80+ countries, but you’re looking at paying $40/$100 for 400MB/1GB, versus $15/$20 for 2GB/3GB with DataTravel.
M1 (Prepaid)
MCard
Where prepaid is concerned, M1 has recently relaunched its MCard offering with a $15 and $28 option. You get 2GB and 10 minutes of calls that are valid for 10 days, which can be used across either 12 or 17 destinations depending which plan you spring for.
M1 (Postpaid)
DataPassport
M1 has a nifty program for its postpaid customers called DataPassport, which lets you pay a fee to use your local data allowance overseas for a given month. $10 to let me use my monthly local data in the USA? Sounds pretty sweet.
These DataPassports come in a few flavors- if you’re going to a single destination, you can pay $10 or $25 depending where you’re headed
And if you’re headed to multiple destinations you have regional DataPassports too
Daily Unlimited Data Roaming
Alternatively, you can pay $15 for unlimited data roaming per day in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA , or $25 for Japan and the UAE. Â These rates are significantly cheaper than Singtel’s (see next section)
Singtel (Postpaid)
DataRoam Saver and DataRoam Unlimited
Ah Singtel. The ones who invented this whole campaign around the “Romaphobe”, poking fun at those who go to ridiculous lengths to avoid using data overseas, while forgetting that the reason they do so is because telcos like them charge obscene amounts for data roaming (and it’s OT but let’s remember that Singtel is the upstanding telco that tried to pull a fast one on all its customers back in 2008 by signing them up for their stupid Color Me Tones and saying you need to opt out or you’ll be charged. They got off with a slap on the wrist).
Seriously, just watching the video again makes my blood boil. It’s like the classroom bully making fun of those who detour down the corridor to avoid them.
Anyway.
Singtel’s postpaid customers can take advantage of DataRoam Saver and DataRoam Daily plans. In my opinion these are the worst value of all the telcos. Â All the plans are for 1 day and expire at midnight local time. Meaning that if your flight lands close to midnight, say, 1150pm, and you turn on your data roaming you’re going to feel very stupid…
| Destination | DataRoam Saver (Unlimited) | DataRoam Daily (100MB) |
| USA | $29 | $10 |
| UK | $29 | $10 |
| Australia | $19 | $10 |
| Taiwan | $19 | $10 |
| Malaysia | $19 | $10 |
| Japan | $25 | $10 |
| S Korea | $19 | $10 |
| Hong Kong | $19 | $10 |
| Indonesia | $19 | $10 |
| Thailand | $19 | $10 |
Do note that if you’re travelling to China, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, you can pay $20 to enjoy 1GB data for 30 days. (promotion valid till 31 Dec 16)
If you’re heading to Australia, you can pay $10 to get 1GB of data that lasts you for one month.
And if you’re heading to Malaysia, you can pay $10 for 1GB of data (one month) or $5 for 200MB (one month).
ReadyRoam
Singtel has also recently launched another offering called ReadyRoam. When you sign up for one of these plans, you get 1GB of data to use across 30 days, with 9, 16 or 31 destinations depending on which plan you spring for. This is very useful when you’re travelling to multiple geographies and may even be better than purchasing a local sim card in some cases.
If you finish using your 1GB your plan will automatically renew at the same price as your pre-selected plan, i.e $12/GB for 9 destinations, $20/GB for 16 destinations and $35/GB for 31 destinations respectively.
Local prepaid SIM
The big advantage of getting a local prepaid SIM is that it gives you both data and voice calling. Why do you need voice calling in an age of Skype/Whatsapp? Well, if you’re on a road trip you might end up in a place with only 2G speeds or no data coverage at all. If you’re trying to book a table at a restaurant they may request for a local number. If you’re trying to register with some of the local apps (eg taxi booking) they might request a local number to send a OTP registration code to. If you’re trying to register with a wireless public hotspot some of them only send activation codes to local numbers. As far as Skype/Whatsapp have come, voice calls over the voice network are still much more reliable and better quality.
EDIT: Another important need for a local number- when you need to call your Uber/Grab driver to tell them where to find you
Other Options
People on the comments have highlighted providers like Interfone where you put a sticker on your sim card that allows for cheaper roaming. I’ve not tested any of these, but feel free to provide more ideas in the comments as well.
The EU recently eliminated data roaming charges across Europe, meaning that if you buy a prepaid sim card in France you should be able to use that data all across Europe. I’m hopeful that closer economic integration among ASEAN and other regional blocs will see similar legislation passed soon, so people can post important cat videos wherever they are.
I used the starhub prepaid SIM and it’s amazing. Used it for my Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand trip all within a month, and the 30-day data ppt was ideal.
If i were to nitpick though;
(1) if need to top-up via Happy app while you’re overseas, you need the prepaid card in the phone. but when using credit card to pay, they will send the OTP to your local number.
(2) if going to the abovementioned countries, you would more often than not, be taking Grab or Uber. Not having an overseas number was quite inconvenient cos sometimes you are at some ulu place, and they can’t find you.
Having said that, it’s really small issues that can be worked around. I’ll still buy this for my APAC trips. Thanks for the comprehensive write up!
great point on the uber/grab and needing a local number. have added it to the reasons why you might want a local sim.
In my experience, most of these Uber/Grab drivers use Whatsapp. So you can save their mobile number (temporarily) and call them on Whatsapp instead to give them directions to the pick up point. That is what I have been doing successfully for the past 2-3 years for work travel.
But Uber gives you a generic number, not their actual number
Strangely, last month when I was in India, Uber displayed their actual number. I was able to call that number using another handset.
Even when I was in Vietnam in March, the hotel concierge called the driver using the number appearing on the app.
That’s not true for Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and India. I’ve received Drivers’ personal numbers in all of these countries
Interesting. Thanks for that, I guess they haven’t rolled out that feature in all countries
The uber issue was a big problem for me when i traveled abroad as most drivers did not have international calling.
Locally Uber is able to redirect all calls from a driver using a local number (switchboard?). I hope they can figure out a way to switch to VOIP when we travel abroad. Its a pain to update mobile number abroad even if we use a local number.
A friend of mine tried to register a local number when he was abroad, but keyed in an incorrect email address. He tried to explain the situation to Uber and requested for correcting the email address, but Uber refused to do anything about it. The only option left was to discard the local SIM and get a new one.
This article is really useful! I have been using local SIM cards all this while and didn’t realise about the Starhub deal until now. Can factor this into whether to get a local SIM card or this, depending on which is more useful.
As far as Uber is concerned, I didn’t seem to have a problem based on my experience in LA when I was there without a local number. I’m not sure how they did it, but all the Uber drivers that I took (and I took quite a few) somehow managed to call me on my Singapore number. I’m not sure if they have some VOIP plan or something.
M1 also has a MCard prepaid SIM for data roam, similar to Starhub’s HappyRoam.
https://www.m1.com.sg/personal/mobile/prepaidmobile/mcard#tab4
thanks for pointing this out! let me update the article
Do we need to maintain a minimum main balance of 8$ for data roaming to work? http://www.starhub.com/personal/support/mobile/roaming/prepaid-roaming/happy-roam.html says something along similar lines
I was in Australia and after deduction, I’m left with $0.11. However, it’s still working while I’m there.
Hi how about starhub postpaid user roaming at Malaysia monthly rate? I can’t just use a new prepaid number as I have an existing postpaid with starhub and I do not have extra phone.
Swap out your sim cards or just put the prepaid sim card into a mifi
Thank you for such an informative article, Aaron. I agree that to get a local, prepaid SIM is the best idea while travelling, as it’s the cheapest variant. But I’d like to put an emphasis on the country one is travelling at. For example, I’ve been staying in Lithuania once and for a local SIM (http://www.ezys.lt/en/) I paid only € 2.09 and it had 1.5 GB of data, so it was perfectly enough. Whereas when I went to Andorra to do some hiking and wanted to get a prepaid SIM, the one and only choice was called Mobiland Clic! and it cost € 60 including the same credit valid for 5 months… So my advice would be, before travelling one should ALWAYS check the prices for prepaid SIMs, as sometimes the hope for a better deal may be naive.
I got the StarHub happy prepaid. Out of 3 trips to Malaysia and one to Thailand and one to Hong Kong, the card only worked once. Money is deducted each time but I am unable to use the data. Got my relative in SG to call StarHub each time. Takes 48 hours minimum and multiple calls and being pushed around to resolve the issue. Each time I am told my card has been deactivated. And I certainly did not do that on my end!
There’s a provider called KnowRoaming that provides free Whatsapp data worldwide, and also provides unlimited data in more than 100 countries for USD7.99 a day. A few friends who are frequent travellers use it frequently. You’ve gotta buy either the sticker which is pasted on your existing sim card or just buy their sim card outright.
Why is this being posted as updated?
There have been some major changes to the StarHub Happy Roam (prepaid) offering not reflected above, mainly the list of countries:
Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea , Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America
StarHub also has postpaid roaming options now – Data Travel:
Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Japan, Macau, Australia, New Zealand
Cost $15/$20 for 2GB/3GB for 30 days
Interestingly, mismatch between the prepaid and postpaid offers.
Site is acting up on me. I was updating this halfway and for whatever reason it’s prematurely posted. I’ve added new singtel +m1 pre and postpaid plans, need to update for starhub too
Not sure how relevant having to call Uber drivers is now. I used the Uber (via the app) exclusively during my recent trip in Paris and none of the drivers had no issues finding me. Perhaps I got lucky.
i meant none of the drivers had issues finding me.
True. In some countries (qatar) Uber is trialing an in app messaging system that lets you send whatsapp style messages to the driver, eliminating the need for calling altogether. Great when your roaming plan has data but not calls
hi
could u do an analysis for circles life as well?
always appreciate your insights.
thanks!
Have been using changirecommend rent an overseas router for the past year and with its 1st day free and unlimited data, I find it extremely useful esp for short trips within a week and within a single country. E.g. 4 days unlimited data in Hkg cost me 14sgd only. Same 4 days in ASEAN roam to MY, TH, ID, VN cost me 23sgd only.
Collection and return is 24hrs operated and they have allowance timing as well meaning you can return at 3am the router without being charged an extra day. One cheap trick I found is that for certain routers to Hkg, e data can be used in China as well…but does not always work. Calls are not available fyi.
Extremely good usage for me for short trips as I mention before and highly recommended for high usage except sometimes the booth can be undermanned during collection and return.
Oh yes forgotten to let you know number of connected devices is 5. So it can shared bw 2 or 3 pax if needed…thus lowering the total cost of data ownership as well….
Is the wifi router good for longer trips say 21 days? Traveling to U.K. And Ireland in September. 2 persons with 4 devices. Cost around $210.
Personally, I find WiFi router rentals to be impractical for longer trips. In terms of both cost and convenience, won’t it be cheaper to even enable data roaming on each device? Depending on telco – Singtel’s $35 option is cheapest in this case. $50 for M1, and no love for StarHub, unfortunately…
When i use starhub happy roam i was always connected to the slow 3G network. Not 4G
singtel prepaid also have data roaming under Hi!Data roam
i use something call Flexiroam. Discovered it off the Rewards section of Grab. There should be sites that offer sign up bonuses (no fees for the sim card, and etc). It also allows you to earn free data rather easily through various in-app rewards (link to FB account, some other easy stuff, more difficult stuff such as referring 5 friends in 24 hrs)
I paid for the sim card (forgot to key in my promo code doh!), managed to get free 800mb of data, and used it in Europe. Was real convenient because i didnt have to keep switching sims. They have many telco partners and you can find a network easily.
Only downside: cannot tether and share. Probably also not advisable to use this in countries where data/sim are cheaper, since my per mb cost was relatively high (15usd for 800mb?)
Suggest to use it for Europe specifically, since one would typically go across many borders. Otherwise, a local sim might be better.
ok, just had a check on their website. seems like their pricing has become rather ridiculous for renewal (data bought last for a year). Not sure if the deal is still good for new sign ups, but feel free to check it out
Hi just wondering if u have an idea on which telco to recommend for a local sim if im heading to Italy n france. Would like a 4g data for 15 days. Thks.
i think data roaming charges in the EU have been abolished by now right? so if you got a giffgaff sim (which many people in sg are distributing for free) you can use your data in italy and france as if you were in the uk?
Heard starhub prepaid roaming sucks for US, despite their claim to be able to access all the different providers.
Any suggestions for an alternative prepaid sim for US travel?