Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\nLow cost – SIM cards cost less than $10 USD in most cases. In Argentina, the Personal SIM card was $1 USD. In Peru, I\u2019ve bought a SIM card for $3 USD. Sometimes you will get a small amount of credit with your prepaid SIM purchase.<\/p>\n
Data only plans \u2013 I experimented with TelCel (Mexico) and they have an awesome prepaid data plan. The cool thing about TelCel is that you can buy \u201cdata only\u201d if you wanted to. 15 days for up to 1GB came out to $15 USD which was pretty cheap.<\/p>\n
Free incoming calls \u2013 Some prepaid SIM cards come with free incoming calls which is a huge plus.<\/p>\n
Free WiFi usage \u2013 Some public hotspots have logins for Claro, Movistar, etc. Once you have your pre-paid SIM, you will have login info for free WiFi in certain places.<\/p>\n
Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\nHard to find nano-SIM cards – Most of the time, it\u2019s really hard to find a nano SIM card from a mobile carrier. Most vendors will carry the regular sized sim card. To get around this, you will need to have the carrier cut the SIM card for you in order for it to fit in an iPhone 5S. I bought one on eBay for $1 shipped and I plan on carrying it around when I travel.<\/p>\n
Give up sensitive info – You will often have to provide a passport. Some people might be turned off by handing over personal information, but it is necessary as they have to enter your information in their computer system.<\/p>\n
Language Barrier \u2013 When you\u2019re in a foreign country and you don\u2019t speak the language, you\u2019re going to have a hard time getting a SIM card let a alone a nano-SIM card. I would try going to big malls around tourist areas and there is always one person who will know some sort of English and try to understand you.<\/p>\n
Expiration \u2013 The SIM cards have expiration dates, but some don\u2019t. One simple recharge could possibly bring your SIM card back to life. After a long period of time, always check your SIM card with the carrier to see if it’s still valid.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\nYes, I\u2019ve gotten the \u201cWhy don\u2019t you switch to T-mobile for free international data?\u201d Well, that\u2019s an amazing deal for sure, but I really dislike T-mobile. I\u2019m a Sprint kind of guy and their LTE is blazing fast in Los Angeles. Plus, it\u2019s fun to play around with international prepaid SIM cards and you get a \u201clocal\u201d number, so you can feel just like a local. This isn\u2019t for everyone, but playing the prepaid nano-SIM card game is quite challenging. I\u2019m always up to challenge and the SIM cards are cool to collect.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I carry two phones whenever I travel, a BlackBerry (don\u2019t ask me why) and an iPhone 5S. A few weeks ago, I\u2019ve finally broke out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49,50,176],"tags":[2674,2677,2675,2676,2678,2679],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S - Points Summary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S, nano SIM card, prepaid sim card, data plan, unlocked iphone 5s, voice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S - Points Summary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S, nano SIM card, prepaid sim card, data plan, unlocked iphone 5s, voice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Points Summary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/first2board\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-19T05:27:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-19T05:30:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/\/sites\/12\/2014\/03\/prepaid.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Points Summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jamucsb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@jamucsb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Points Summary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/\",\"name\":\"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S - Points Summary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-19T05:27:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-19T05:30:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e\"},\"description\":\"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S, nano SIM card, prepaid sim card, data plan, unlocked iphone 5s, voice\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/\",\"name\":\"Points Summary\",\"description\":\"A First2Board Travel Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e\",\"name\":\"Points Summary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Points Summary\"},\"description\":\"My name is Jamison and I write the Points Summary travel blog.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.pointssummary.com\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamucsb\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/author\/jammanxc\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S - Points Summary","description":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S, nano SIM card, prepaid sim card, data plan, unlocked iphone 5s, voice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S - Points Summary","og_description":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S, nano SIM card, prepaid sim card, data plan, unlocked iphone 5s, voice","og_url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/","og_site_name":"Points Summary","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/first2board","article_published_time":"2014-03-19T05:27:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-19T05:30:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":1024,"url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/\/sites\/12\/2014\/03\/prepaid.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Points Summary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jamucsb","twitter_site":"@jamucsb","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Points Summary","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/","url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/","name":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S - Points Summary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-19T05:27:29+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-19T05:30:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e"},"description":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S, nano SIM card, prepaid sim card, data plan, unlocked iphone 5s, voice","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2014\/03\/18\/advantages-disadvantages-prepaid-sim-card-world-unlocked-iphone-5s\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Advantages and Disadvantages of the Prepaid SIM Card World with an Unlocked iPhone 5S"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/","name":"Points Summary","description":"A First2Board Travel Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/e4de6edf2a59f09721ae805578db3e9e","name":"Points Summary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8a4f6d0634b2003bf933efc498ab8a46?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Points Summary"},"description":"My name is Jamison and I write the Points Summary travel blog.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.pointssummary.com","https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamucsb"],"url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/author\/jammanxc\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/\/sites\/12\/2014\/03\/prepaid.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dnP7-2B7","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9989"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"prepaid\"](\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/files\/2014\/03\/prepaid.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n