Best Prepaid SIM Cards In Portugal
Finally visiting Portugal after years of dreaming!. Well surely every moment needs to be recorded and shared on your instagram but also you wouldn’t want to pay a lot for sharing your beach aesthetics online. So let me help you save money from high roaming charges. You also don’t want to use unsecured networks available on different places unless you have a VPN or you will end up facing problems.
Options Available
Even if your hotel room will be providing free Wifi still it won’t be enough for keeping your friends and family updated on your trip. Portugal has 3 networks providing in the country
- MEO (By Altice,formerly tmn)
- Vodafone (formerly telecal)
- NEO (formerly optimus)
MEO has the most market share in the country, followed by vodafone and at last NEO. After you finish reading this I hope you’ll know what will be the best one for you.
Buying A Prepaid SIM Card In Portugal + Free WIFI
As a tourist except posting stories online you need connection to data for a lot of other reasons. What if you go for a walk and you want to visit a nearby bar with groovy vibes? What if from the airport or train station you need to get a taxi from any specific app or any other possible reason you need to browse something? You need to have a connection all the time as a traveller to be safe from all kinds of inconvieniences. Trust me, going for a Prepaid sim is the most advantageous option.
Just before you decide on a package or a phone plan, know that if you’re visiting Lisbon or Porto, which are major cities of Portugal, don’t forget to take your share of free wifi. Free wifi is available at:
- Bars
- Restaurants
- Cafes
- Public Libraries
Just ask the password and get access to free wifi till you’re on the location.
Where To Buy
Every famous tourist destination in Portugal has a place to buy a prepaid SIM card. Google the nearest MEO,Vodafone or NOS store from your hotel and you’ll find all resources there to help you forward. A few big convenience stores all tend to provide SIM CARDS but before you purchase it please make sure you look into all the packages and data plans.
Airports have also made SIM cards available, especially Lisbon airport where most of the tourists arrive first. Voda fone store is present just after you arrive in the hall exiting from the aeroplane. Choice at the airport for a SIM card is limited to 3. A Lot of airports are known to sell SIM cards at higher prices than around the city but this isn’t the case at Lisbon. Prices are mostly similar to what is available in the city. Besides the Vodafone Exchange Kiosk store is also available at the airport. However Prepaid SIM card deals of Vodafone are known to be the best at Lisbon airport. For only 20 EURO you get 10 GB data.
Coverage, Data Speed And Affordability
1 Gbit/s is the highest internet speed you can get in portugal. 2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G is on 2100 MHz with MEO and NOS and on 900 MHz with Vodafone. If you get a MEO SIM card you get 5 GB data for one week including calling time and their 4G/5G is great, all this in just 5 EURO. A lot of good deals come at a higher price however you can purchase a 40 EURO NOS SIM card which is data only sim card for unlimited data for 30 days. MEO (by Altice) and Vodafone Portugal SIM cards provide similar service. Most internet providers have phone + internet packages making it a little confusing to choose one as they dont have much of a price difference.
MEO which was formerly called tmn is now owned by Dutch Altice Group. It is very well known to have the best coverage in the country for 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE. MEO has 40% of the market share making them the market leader.
All companies have occupied a few areas where they give best of their service but certainly the coverage is great and you won’t face much difficulties. However in case of any inconvenience, you can contact independent telecommunications watchdog group ADNACOM.
Top Ups
Many shops around offer top ups, they will charge a fee for the service and you will get to have your recharge. For MEO SIM cards you can also use your credit card and personal PayPal account to recharge balance in your card. A fall back of MEO card is that if your SIM CARD doesnt stay active for more than a month but your account has a positive balance, they debit EURO 1 from you for maintenance.
Options for top ups:
- 250 MB: 3.99 EURO
- 500MB: 6.99 EURO
- 1GB: 9.99 EURO
- 5GB: 14.99 EURO
These are some common plans that providers have prepared to provide. Packages can be subscribed and recharged by texts.
Top ups can be made in mostly every payshop agency.
Some prepaid plans for streaming and social media:
- Messaging pack: max. 10 GB (WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, iMessage, Facetime, Hangouts): €4.99
- Social pack: max. 10 GB (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, Linkedin, Pinterest): €4.99
- Video pack: max. 20 GB (YouTube, Netflix, Periscope, Twitch): €6.99
- Music pack: max. 10 GB (Spotify, Google Music Play, Deezer, Apple Music, Soundcloud, TuneIn): €4.99
E- SIM CARDS
E sim is available for all compatible devices. You order online, get a code, enter it on your device and you are good to go. It doesn’t have a number so it cannot be used for calls.
E SIM deals are as below:
- 1 GB data for 7 days = $4.5 USD
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $7 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $10 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $17 USD
- 30 GB data for 15 days = $19 USD
The ready to enjoy tourist offer is being provided by MEO, a special deal struck with airlo. It costs 19 USD and provides 30 GB of data for 15 days.
Travel E SIM can be purchased through Airlo, Holafly, Nomad.
EU Roaming
To activate roaming on your device you need to at least have a recharge for 15 EURO. MEO has implemented EU/EEA roaming on most plans without volume.