Orange Pre-Pay SIM Card

I don't normally write reviews, but in this case, I wanted to outline procedures for people who are looking to buy this SIM Card prior to travel to the United Kingdom. This is accurate as of mid-2013. - I ordered this card off of Amazon. It arrived in a small box, which contained the SIM Card (standard size, not "iphone" size, as well as a Credit Card-style "Top Up" card (more on that later). - The SIM loaded fine into my cheap, unlocked, quad-band phone. It found a signal from T-Mobile, and I soon started getting text messages from Orange... welcoming me to Orange, giving me the mobile's Phone Number, telling me where I was, etc. - After reading other reviews, I didn't even bother trying to pre-load credit before leaving the US. However, knowing the phone number in advance was my main reason for purchasing this card instead of waiting for arrival in the UK (I like to know that everything is ready to go, and wanted the Taxi company to be able to call me, or me them. - Note that UK numbers are a bit different. The full number is 44 (0) #####-#####. If you're calling from the US, you leave out the (0)... if dialing in the UK, you leave off the 44. Just google "how to call abroad" and it has more details. - I went to the Orange website (orange.co.uk), and I was able to register my mobile number. I was also able to register/link the Top Up card to my mobile number. Note that due to time zone differences, it always seemed that the Orange site was down, or not completely working, when I was trying to do things in the evenings/weekends. If you encounter this, it's not an issue with you, or your computer... just their site. - VERY IMPORTANT: Orange "Pay as you Go" plans have changed a bit, and the sales information here on Amazon isn't necessarily up-to-date. Every new number registered is on a plan called "Orange Starter" --- which has some pretty miserable rates. Orange names their plans after animals (Dolphin, Monkey, etc.). If you're looking to buy this card while in the US, with the primary goal of being able to call back to the US from the UK, as well as to call around the UK, then definitely log into your Orange account and switch to the "Camel" plan. Camel is intended for those that call abroad a lot. Basically, it ends up being 10p/min (that's "pence" per minute... current exchange rate makes that about 16 cents/min) to call from the UK to any US number... and 25p/min to call numbers in the UK. Incoming texts are free... outgoing depends on where you're sending them. - Upon landing in the UK, I turned on my phone, and it instantly found signal. Next, I got a text message from my taxi company saying that my taxi was on its way, so I knew for sure the phone worked. - I went to the newsstand store after exiting customs, and walked up to the register. I simply handed the cashier my already-registered Top Up card, and 20 GBP, and she rang it up. As she was handing me the receipt, my phone beeped with a new message, saying that I had just topped up with 20 GBP. By registering the card, it makes it super-easy to top up like this, virtually anywhere. I could have used my credit card as well (if you read other reviews, it warns that it's near-impossible to get the Orange folks to accept a non-UK credit card over the phone or online... but it's no problem when in-country). - A cool thing about the "Camel" plan is that when you top up, your "special gift" is free International Calling minutes. By topping up with at least 15 GBP, I got 120 free international minutes. If I had topped up with 30 GBP, it would have been 240 free minutes. That further increased the value of having the card. - Signal strength was great everywhere I traveled... literally, the connection was better than my personal cell phone calling another cell phone in the same house. - You have to perform an account action every so-many days (I think it's 90) in order to keep your number and account active. I still have about 5 GBP in my account. The easiest option while in the US is probably to just send a text message. Doing anything while in the US is a bit expensive (exact rates available are on the site), but anything to keep the account going. Overall, I had a great experience with this card. As I said, the product information, and even the information on the Orange site, left things quite vague. I had to do A LOT of research to fully comprehend how everything worked, and the difference between Orange Starter, and the Camel Plan. You definitely want the Camel Plan. Also, I can't comment as to how data services worked. The cheap phone I bought for this purpose does calls and text... it's not a smart phone, so I didn't bother trying anything data-related. I think it would work fine, but I can't guarantee the costs. I'm happy to pass on my knowledge of this stuff to save others from the confusion!

I bought the sim card before a trip to UK, hoping to preload them in order to have a working phone once I land there. Unfortunately, it was not possible to load credits on the phone from USA. First of all, Orange's website requires an UK address. Even when I entered the hotel address, that didn't work ... apparently, they don't accept US credit cards. Then my credit card was also locked by Amex and they froze it due to a fraud alert!! I patched things up with them, but even after this, was not able to load the SIM. So, I ended up in London with a phone that could only receive calls. Even in London, was not able to load it using credit cards. The ONLY way to load the sim, was to go to any store and buy prepaid vouchers. The per minute rates are very high, and DON'T bother trying to use the Internet ... just loading Google Maps once ate up 5 pounds which is like 8 dollars!! Call quality - not too good. Kept dropping my calls frequently. So, bottom line -- just buy a phone once you land in London.

In the package: One SIM card and one generic Top-Up card. The card I received fit the regular and micro SIM size. It has the punch-out perforations for the micro. The phone number has 1pence credit on it. One: The phone you plan to use the card in MUST be GSM AND unlocked. Go no further until you have verified this point. Two: When you try to activate the card by placing it in your phone, there MUST be good GSM service in your area. (ie: AT&T or T-Mobile). No GSM service, wont work. I put the card in my unlocked AT&T, Quad Band, phone and about 2 minutes later got the following text message: "We've updated your settings to bring you the latest services. To activate please switch your phone off and on again. See orange.co.uk/help for more details." Re-started phone. Next text message received, about 1 minute later: "Hello. Welcome to Orange and thanks for joining us Your new mobile number is 0797XXXXXXX. You can start using it straight away." Next text message received: "Hi from Orange. Here's your 4-digit I.D. code XXXX. Keep this safe as you may need it when you call us so that we can confirm your details." From your computer, go the Orange web site noted above, create a login, with password, and register your SIM card with the information you were sent above. When registering online, they will text you a Security Code. Make sure that your phone is on, with the SIM card in, so that you can get this security code. Having accomplished that, click on Manage/Add Swipe Cards. Here you will enter the number on the generic swipe (top-up) card that you were sent. This will associate that card with your phone number. You MUST do this or the card is useless. To add money to your card, call, (From the US, 011 44 797 310 0450, this is NOT a free call), during UK business hours. To Top up card from US, you MUST use an American Express card. Also, first, notify American Express that you will be making a Out of Country charge, or they may refuse the charge (fraud protection). Dial the above number, select option 1 to top up, then option 5 to talk to an operator. The operator (in India?) will ask for your phone number and the security code that was texted to you. Tip to save money. Keep phone in Airplane Mode, but turn on WiFi. The other option is to top up at a vendor when you reach a UK airport. Online voucher $eller$ may add $ervice fee$ to $ell you their product.

Much to my chagrin, after tons of research and reading supposedly helpful customer comments, I was unable to use this card for my Sprint-serviced Blackberry. Should have been easy, esp since Sprint Blackberrys come unlocked here in the States, so one should only need to adjust from US tower technology to GSM. I bought it in advance of my trip to London, expecting to be able to activate it domestically - based on previous customer comments, because of the reciprocal relationship between Orange and T-Mobile. I tried multiple times to activate it here, waiting for it to pick up a T-Mobile tower (attempted in NY + DC), in order to get my UK local mobile number. Nothing happened - it was aware it had been inserted, but no communication occurred. The Orange (now EE website was of little or no help either. Supposedly you can activate without a phone number available - not so.) So I just waited until I arrived in Heathrow. NOTHING. (And yes, I know all about going from US domestic service to GSM service, as I said.) It didn't pickup an Orange tower, although it clearly connected to an Orange signal when I checked the network connection. So adding insult to injury, it never was functional in the UK either - which meant in order to connect with my friends there in the first few days, I had to call on Sprint which ultimately cost me about $20 for 2 days - more than the Orange SIM card itself. In the end, I popped into a Vodaphone store at Liverpool Station and after about an hour of wonderful help with the kind of service I wanted, I left with a fully-functional Blackberry with a Vodaphone UK SIM card installed - for another $20. Removed it once back on the ground in the States, reinstalled by US SIM card and all functioned just fine. Short version of the story - just wait until you're in-country internationally and set in up with a person in a proper store. The time I spent in advance of my trip and the time I spent at Heathrow trying to get this Orange card to function was a giant waste of my valuable time. And now I have a Vodaphone UK SIM card I can use again with future activation and a new UK mobile number. Vodaphone's been around forever and they have a great track record and straightforward service options at great prices too. Orange is one of the largest service providers and should have functioned like that, but didn't and that was disappointing.

Unlike most other UK SIM cards, this is one card that can be activated on-line while still in the U.S. The convenience of having a working SIM before entering England is comforting to those who need to keep in touch with family and business affairs and who will be assured there is telephone and internet service upon their arrival. I had difficulty in getting the SIM card activated. This difficulty was in part caused by having no instructions with the card. The card comes in a sealed plastic bag without instructions. For those who buy this card, be aware that all you initially do is place the SIM card into your unlocked three or four band cell phone. Wait about three or four minutes. After this time, Orange will recognize the SIM on its system and will send you a series of messages that will advise you of what telephone number is assigned to you (you will not know you number until Orange sends the number via a message). Next, you will get other messages that affect security of the card. After the card is working, it needs to have money added to it. If you use the 450 number (directed in the messages sent to you by Orange) to try to put money on the card, you will waste time unless you have a UK credit card. On the other hand, if you call the 0800 - - - number (full number found on the Orange site) and ask for the Orange Store, a sales person there will allow you to use a US credit card and add money to the phone. Adding money is called "top up." I did this and the phone is working fine here in the US. I will be traveling to England soon and expect the SIM to work just fine upon my arrival and while I am there. As a test of the card, I dialed from the card, my home telephone number. The caller ID shows the number of my card ringing my home telephone. All seems in order. In short, if you buy this card, and if there are no instructions with the card, remember this review and you will be able to get the card up and running.

This card has no credit loaded and it seems to be impossible to "top off" load credit using a US credit card. A previous reviewer said he was successful topping it off using a US card but that no longer seems to be true. I made numerous calls to Orange customer service to include a supervisor and received the same answer each time: the Orange system will not accept a US credit card. If you don't care about being able to make calls immediately, I'd recommend buying a SIM card when you get to your first destination the UK. They are widely available and easy to top off once you are in the UK. On the plus side, the card seems to work fine. I have a son in Scotland who is going to purchase a top off voucher for me and send me the voucher number. This will allow me to top off my phone in the States. However, this may not be a valid option for most. You can buy cards with credit pre-loaded but if you do the math, you'll see that you are paying more than you should for the amount of credit that you get. Might be worth it. I have heard that some other companies do accept US credit cards but I can't personally confirm that.

Chances are, you are looking to travel to the UK using your unlocked world phone. A world phone is a phone that covers multiple frequencies, typically frequencies that cover US, Europe, and Asia. Search online and check that your phone supports the UK frequencies if unsure. "Unlocked" simply means the phone is not tied or "locked" into a cell phone company. You can request your phone company to see if they will unlock the phone, or you can purchase an unlocked phone. Now, to the SIM Card! The installation was a breeze. Powered up in the USA, and it found T-Mobile (and AT&T later as well). Text messages arrived from Orange, advising: 1. your cell phone # 2. your pin # 3. instructions to reboot the phone (YMMV) Note this SIM card has no pre-pay value on it. While it's true you can just get a SIM in the UK with value loaded, the purpose was to have a working the phone the moment I landed. There are two ways I know to load the phone prior to arriving: - call Orange directly to top-up with a US credit card -- to do this, go to orange.co.uk/youraccount -- create an account, and click on "top up by credit or debit card" -- that page will advise to call a specific phone number to load with a non-UK credit card -- my message was: --- If you want to use a card that has a different card holder or address, or that is registered outside of the UK, please call Customer Services on 450 from your mobile (or 07973 100 450 from any other phone). --- note that if you are in the US, for me, I couldn't reach an operator during non-business hours - Second method is purchasing a voucher online. I bought mine at ezminutes.com -- (Sorry! Update 6/4/2013 - that site currently has no vouchers... check first if you want to try this!) -- if you are a first time customer there, you will receive an email requesting verification -- email back asking them to place a small charge ( < $1 ) -- email the amount they put on your card to prove you are the card holder -- once verified, they post a voucher pin number to your online account -- go to orange.co.uk/topup and enter your voucher number -- yes, seems tedious, but gets the job done! The SIM card also comes with a "swipe" card for top ups. You need to register this card to your cell phone number before using it. Register in your account online at Orange. Once registered, the swipe card is used to reload your SIM at participating stores with their top up logo, as well as ATMs. Although initial loading while in US requires a bit of work, for my purposes, it was worth it. Even though you can get a SIM after arriving at the airport, who knows what the markup is there. I would even recommend getting this card, and just top up after arrival. PS - Unlocked iPhone users: this SIM probably doesn't fit in your phone. Search for kits that can cut this SIM card to the correct size. Enjoy!

despite the encouraging words of the two previous reviewers (whose reviews were solely responsible for my purchase) i have been entirely unable to activate this SIM card from the SF bay area over the T-mobile network. the phone has sat on my desk for 2 days waiting for Orange to find it - unsuccessfully. Note that my SIM card did come with UK-centric instructions so may well be a different card than that reviewed earlier. caveat emptor. 24-hours later: after 56 hours of waiting finally at 3:55am (GMT-8) the phone received a text containing the phone number and 4-digit ID from Orange. changed from 1->5 stars. now, work out how to add minutes prior to UK arrival....

SIMple. Bought this card to replace the SIM in my 'works' phone after I retired. They let me keep the aging HTC phone out of sympathy I suspect! My phone was on EE, and was locked to the network - couldn't be bothered unlocking it as I only use it now and again, so choice of network isn't really an issue for me. I used a cheap(ish) program called 'Wondershare Mobile Transfer' on my laptop to get all the contacts, photos, etc off my old phone then took out the old SIM. Put this new SIM in and shunted all the info across to the new phone. Added £20 via the interweb and off I went - everything working without a hitch. I thought I was going to have all manner of odd problems but it went as smoothly as it could have and at this price it will do what I want it to.

This arrived 2 days after I ordered it. It was really easy to set up. To top this card up - I went online and set up an account and added some money for credit - took just minutes. These cards are as good as free.. Nothing much more to say other than a BIG THANK YOU to the seller for sending me this..

Firstly, I should say that this does appear to work on my old Orange locked Nokia 6500. BUT you are paying £5 just for the SIM. No minutes or anything like that. You'll need to register with EE which was a fiddly process indeed. In hindsight, the right way to go about this is to go into an EE store with an Orange phone, and they can give you a SIM that will work... For nothing! Obviously you'll need to choose a pay-as-you-go or contract, but no pointless five pounds outlay just for the bit of plastic. However, it arrived on time, and did exactly what it was supposed to. I'd just say don't waste your money before speaking to EE first.

I bought this sim for £5, thinking it would have £5 credit on it. It doesn't. I could of bought a sim for less than 50p. Also I had trouble register the sim as I couldn't phone out as I didn't have any credit, I had to use the phone to call as I didn't have the sims phone number.

Unfortunately this item did not work - I went to an EE shop near where I was staying and they chucked it in the bin and gave me another one for free saying that the one purchased from the internet was not registered so difficult to activate. They put a new sim in the phone and it fired up immediately - so, sorry, non registered sims are not a good idea!