Mobile phone plans in Portugal

@Cheryl Maybe you should add to this the question: Do I need a mobile plan at all? I am still using the pre-paid SIM card I bought upon arrival at the airport.

I would echo TGCampo's advice.

Though spending a lot of time learning Portuguese, progress has been very slow.

It is a painful process trying to communicate in government offices.

To do the same on the phone, without being able to use body language, would be very stressful.

So I go to offices in person rather than using the phone.

Until my Portuguese improves significantly, it would not be worthwhile considering getting a mobile plan.

I did get a Uzo 5 euro pre-paid card, but it cut off after only using about 3 minutes.

So I would avoid using them, unless they have improved upon this.

@ValFev17 In my opinion one needs a phone in Portugal. However, if the need for data isn't huge (about a GB per month) then a pre-paid SIM card from a good provider might be the best solution. We do have home internet and TV and landline from the same provider, but never added the phone. The reason was that it wasn't financially worth it FOR US. One has to calculate and compare the costs over a number of months and then decide what is best.

Shirly, different persons have different requirements re mobile phone sim types so each should try one or two or three (etc.) until they find whichever they are comfortable with then, maybe, try others as their requirments/life progresses and phone offers change. It's not like an phone sim is a vast investment nor a twin sim phone difficult to navigate.

@TGCampo

I decided to reduce my environmental  footprint in coming to Portugal, and so have a relatively simple lifestyle compared to most.

So I haven't found a Portuguese sim necessary yet.

The one item that was an absolute necessity, was 2fa access for my bank.

Fortunately, my bank does international texts, and I'm able to use a basic UK sim that I kept hold of.

As my Portuguese improves, I expect life to get more complex, and so at some point I will need a Portuguese sim.

What facilities do you find that a Portuguese sim is necessary for?

Thanks Cheryl for posting this. We will be visiting the UK in Dec, then spending 3 months in Portugal, and a the back to the UK for 3-4 weeks. We were thinking one of the Euro Sim cards would be the way to go.

Does anyone recommend a particular card, or are the all about the same?