Switzerland and giffgaff

cbaddiley

I have just returned from a weekend in Zurich (Switzerland) and thought I'd share my mobile phone and Swiss mobile network findings with you and hope that it helps other giffgaffer's. 😄

(I have an iPhone and I normally have a £10 goodybag every month in the UK).

1) Goodybags DO NOT WORK in Switzerland.
Roaming charges apply so you will need credit on your giffgaff account to call, text and use data in Switzerland. Calls cost 15p/minute to make, 5p per text, and data is 20p per MB.

I switched data roaming off and used hotel WiFi instead as the credit got used pretty quickly on my iPhone.

2) Roaming network
Giffgaffs network partner in Switzerland was Swisscom. Coverage was very good.
Screen grab below.

3) Electrical sockets for charging your mobile phone
Switzerland has different electrical sockets to the rest of Europe. The UK to EU two-pin Euro adaptors you probably have from other trips WILL NOT FIT Swiss power sockets. They are a funny shape and the pin sizes are different.

My hotel, the cafe's and restaurants I visited and Zurich airport, all have Swiss three-pin sockets which were deeply recessed. Photo below:

Tip: Buy a UK to Swiss travel adaptor from the high street or from the airport terminal on the way there. They cost around £6.00 or £7.00

Hopefully these tips are useful to other giffgaff users travelling to Switzerland / Zurich. 😄

sloz

cbaddiley
Hi, very usefull guide,
Could you confirm
were you charged 15p per minute to call Swiss numbers?

richybhoy36

cbaddiley Hi that's right as Switzerland isn't part of the EU so goody bags wouldn't work ! Thanks for the info .Happy giffgaffing.

endorphin

cbaddiley thanks for an informative guide. 🙂

kathleen414

cbaddiley thanks for this information

the_bookie

Hi and gratus cbaddiley

Really excellent information about
using your mobile in Switzerland .

Giffgaffs costs and sister network
hotels and Wi -Fi yes & in general
great tips and practical advice &
well worth bookmarking or taking
a note of to for our travels thanks

wagstaffes

cbaddiley did you know that Voxi, Smarty and Three all include Switzerland in their European Roaming? I believe they all also cover the Channel Islands, and, the isle of Man in their plans/European Roaming, unlike giffgaff.
A Three PAYG SIM card and one of their Add-ons is particularly useful if you travel further afield as they cover destinations in their Go Roam such as USA, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and, Indonesia. There's usually no point getting an Add-on any bigger than £20 as you can usually only use 12GB in these destinations. You can use 15gb in Switzerland.
Check out the information on their website, Australia is given as an example below. You have to activate and use at least once before you leave the UK.
http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Pay_As_You_Go/Phone_tariffs
http://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming/australia#payg
Ringing an Australian number while you are there, however, is actually cheaper on giffgaff at £1 per minute.

haseebhejazi

cbaddiley thanks for the sharing nice information

alecalexandrou

cbaddiley

One point to note is that you can receive telephone calls and receive text messages free of charge in Switzerland.

Roaming prices
Data 20p per MB
Calls & voicemail within the EU and selected destinations (charged in per second increments after first 30 seconds) 15p per minute
Receiving calls (charged in per minute increments) Free per minute
Sending texts within the EU and selected destinations 5p per text
Receiving texts Free
Picture messages (MMS) to a UK mobile 16p per MMS
Picture messages (MMS) to any other mobile 24p per MMS

rickvigorous

Never realized they have different sockets!

johnrooney80

wagstaffes interesting info, very useful, I'm signing up to Voxi as I've dual sim phone, free social browse is fabulous man! Obviously sticking to giffgaff as they are best, fairest network, but yeah, Take advantage of offers, as sometimes you've never enough minutes for the day... 😀🙌👍💋

jolog

Thanks didn't know about the plug sockets. I've been to Switzerland a few times but never actually stayed there! ie flown in to Geneva for France or as a stop over.

kenco02

whats Europe got to due with the price of fish in Belgium.. these extortionate roaming charges need to be banned full stop

alecalexandrou

That confused me the first time I was there as I thought that it was outside the EU which it is, and that I would not be able to make calls or receive them unless I paid for it.
One day I got a call and I knew I had no credit and thought it was a mistake, so checked it and receiving calls are free.

So just message anyone on wifi and get them to call; you.