PrePaid Europe (UK THREE) sim card 12GB data+3000 minutes+3000 texts for 30 days with FREE ROAMING / USE in 71 destinations including all European countries

I am going to cover [below the update*] how to set up this Three.co.uk 12 GB Data SIM Card.Noto Bene: This Card is limited to 3G data speeds OUTSIDE THE UK.I will update* this review if there was anything amiss after I use the card in Europe.===============================UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATEAfter an extensive support call with Three, UK, I can report a few points:1) ALL OF THESE CARDS ARE SOLD BY INDIVIDUALS - THREE UK does NOT sanction the sale of these cards, BUT they will offer support if you need it.2) When I first activated my card in the US, I was encouraged by seeing 4G next to the network. The same was true when I landed in France. 4G speed disappeared after a few hours. According to Three Support, Data Roaming will usually be at 3G (or slower) speeds when outside the UK, because there are no agreements with telephone providers outside the UK for Three Data SIM cards.3) IF you verify your SIM card telephone number with Apple, you can use Apple’s iMessage to message anyone in the world who is also on iMessage.4) You WILL NOT BE ABLE to TEXT OR TELEPHONE ANYONE ANYWHERE UNLESS THEY HAVE A UK NUMBER to call or text. So, I can call and text my spouse who has the same type SIM card (very useful when we wander in different directions during free time or on tours), BUT cannot call back to the United States to talk with anyone there, NOR can I text any SMS messages.5) I CAN CALL non-UK numbers using SKYPE, Google Voice, Talkatone, etc.6) SAVE the data card holder that you punched the SIM card out of. (See last marked up picture). I slipped my ATT card into it for safekeeping. IF you need to call Three Support, the holder has important information (Sim card number and telephone number that you will need to give the support folks).In summary after using my Three SIM card for 5 days on the Cote d’azur:PROS:• 12GB of roaming internet data available.• If traveling with a companion who also has a Three SIM card, the ability to call and text your companion(s).• NOT having to pay ATT or Verizon $10/day to access your own data while roaming internationally. ($58 TOTAL SIM vs $300 TOTAL from a US Cellular company.)• 24GB of data versus the 15GB (includes my rollover ATT data) from ATT.• EXTREMELY PROFICIENT Tech Support from Three!• International Data Roaming in Three’s 71 “Feel At Home” Countries.• Ability to call or text any UK telephone number (UPDATE) AND CAN CALL ANY EU number**. I was able to call numbers in France and Germany in addition to UK numbers.CONS:• NO INTERNATIONAL CALLING OR TEXTING (**except in EU countries since sometime in 2017).• 3G (or possibly lower) data speeds while roaming.• 12GB may not be enough data for you. (I am a heavy data user and it is enough for me for 15 days.) NO STREAMING VIDEO on 3G networks. 3G is too slow to effectively use Google Waze.Summary - I got what I needed and it is a GREAT VALUE. IF I were only going to be in one country next time I would probably land and go to the largest carrier to buy PAY AS YOU GO DATA ONLY SIM card. In France that would be Orange. Maybe not, though, because it was certainly nice to have our phones ready to go by activating them in the US BEFORE we flew to Europe.END UPDATE END UPDATE END UPDATEACTIVATION:Activate TrioSim from Three.co.uk(with International Data Roaming in 71 Countries).1. Turn off telephone.2. Eject current SIM card (or tray if it is a new phone).3. See what size card your phone needs.4. Punch out appropriate size from Trio SIM card carrier. Purple, Green, or White outline. The iPhone 5S and up take the smallest “nano” card.5. Insert the SIM card in the tray (it can go only one way) and carefully slide all the way back into phone.6. Turn your telephone back on.7. Three will send you a message asking you to leave your telephone on until you are connected to Three. (Turning off your WiFi seems to make this connection happen much faster!)8. After told by Three, turn your phone off and back on.9. Use the THREE APP (available through the UK Apple App Store), to check your balance. (Google: “changing from US to another country apple store” to see how to get the free THREE APP which offers the functionality you NEED to see your balances. The THREE WEB APP [as of my experience mid-June 2018] DOES NOT SHOW SIM CARD BALANCES.)

TL;DR: you may not get your full balance, you won't be able to see your usage, customer service may not follow through on its promises, and if you're going anywhere other than the UK and you feel like the path of least resistance would be to give in and top up? You'll have to find a third-party online seller because Three won't even sell to you if you don't have a UK credit card. But hey: even when you're in the UK, the service sucks!I bought this ahead of a one week trip to Europe having a layover at Heathrow on the way to Paris, then staying in London on the way home. A UK card made the most sense because my English is much better than my French and I'd have time to get it set up and worked out during my brief layover.And... it worked as it should! A woman at one of the travel shops popped my SIM card out, I put the Three card in, and in a moment I was up and running with a few text messages about my account credit.Land in Paris, and everything looks good. Get a few advisory texts about roaming costs, and service is spotty on the RER into the city, but that's not really where I need service.I arrive at my flat and my host is late, so I walk around to run a few basic settling-in errands (cash, a micro-USB cable). Service isn't great but I'm able to get walking directions and find my way around. 10 minutes later, I see a bakery and think it'd be cute to get a baguette, so I pull out my phone to look for reviews and... nothing. I can register on a couple of different French networks, get what appears to be full signal, but have no data access (on a 12GB plan activated 4-ish hours earlier).I have to walk all the way back to the RER station to find free Wifi to reconnect with my host and arrange to check in. I make a My3 account and am told I have no remaining balance but can't get usage details. By this time, their phone support is closed for the day (Sunday) so I get on with my evening plans via online maps and some overpriced wifi hotspots.When I get home, I contact their chat support. They won't acknowledge that they failed to give me the 12GB that I'd paid for, but after about 40 minutes, they offer as a "one-time courtesy" to credit me that same balance and that I should receive a text message confirming in 15 more minutes. It's 11pm on my inbound day so I fall asleep without waiting, the text never arrives, and my phone status is unchanged in the morning. I end up walking around for more than an hour to find a mobile shop and end up buying a Lycamobile SIM that gives me data access in France.When I arrive in the UK a few days later, there's a Three shop right by my flat, so I go there as soon as I've dropped my bags off. The woman behind the counter tells me that they've had a batch of faulty SIM cards and that I'm the third such person to come in that day (~3pm on a Wednesday). She gives me a new SIM card, and... no. She can't see my customer record--either what happened to the initial balance or that I was promised a credit, so we call customer service. 20 minutes after I walk into the store, I have what I paid for.The joke? Three's service in London sucks. It was 1 bar of H+ at the shop (the clerk confirmed that it was a bad location) and absolutely nothing at Wembley--Three will roam in Europe but not in the UK, it seems. I would have done better to keep my Lycamobile card, but after I got back from Wembley, it would have been more annoying to find a pin to swap the SIM than to stick with what I had.Lastly! I'd lost my US SIM at some point during my trip, but worry not--I had a SIM card with a high data balance and roaming! And sure enough, when I land, I can get decent H+(2/3g) data back in the US to stay entertained while I get home. But, HILARIOUSLY, when I get off the light rail and try to make a phone call on my walk to the T-Mobile shop on my way home? I can't, and get a text message about topping up. I log back into My3 and take the screenshot above--3000 minutes and I can't use a single one.The lesson? Not Three, not ever. The next time I go to the UK, I'll wait until I get into town, go to an EE and have them activate the card onsite. The next time I go anywhere else, I'm not sure what I'll do (French provider shops, for instance, don't sell or support their prepaid cards), but this card was trash and that's where it's going.