hi - I am in UK but we have some Canadian cousins coming over for a couple weeks and I’m trying to find best solution for them to use their phones while here. They will be staying somewhere with no WiFi for a while and we’ll need to be in touch with them. What’s the best option for data from experience? TIA.

Before I left the UK, 12 years ago, I had a pay as you go deal with Orange. 25 quid a month for unlimited international everything. I have no clue about UK deal these days.

Pointless post probably.

Tesco Rocket pack sim for 15 ukp gets you 6 gig of data and a stupid amount of calls/texts.
thats what I have been using when I have been in the uk

This - or other similar offers - seems to be the received wisdom. One thing, though, is that you'll need to check that your cousins have their phones carrier-unlocked, otherwise they won't work with a third party SIM. This is now a service that Canadian carriers are obliged to offer at no charge to consumers, but few do so by default - they'll likely have to go to a service counter and ask for the phones to be unlocked.

ok great thanks folks.

Carriers are actually required to sell all new phones since Dec 1, 2017 as unlocked so if its a relatively new handset it will be unlocked by default. Otherwise they will have to contact their carrier and get it unlocked free of charge

For the lazy - all the big three Canadian wireless providers offer "Roam Like Home" for $12/day in Europe. Very expensive compared to a local SIM but sometimes it's the easiest option.

Last time I was in the UK I went to an Iceland and chose a SIM package off the rack for 99p. There were lots of them. I chose a company called EE. I added £10 credit at a post office and installed an app to monitor usage. It was more than enough data and talk time for me for over a week. There are probably cheaper services.

THey can order a GIFFGAFF Sim card and get it sent to them in Canada. A 30 day "goody bag" is between 5-25 GBP depending on what you want,
I've had one for a couple of years. You just buy a month at a time and away you go. Last trip I bought 10 GBP worth of data and texts - it was fine. Whatsapp uses very little data, so we just text using that.......

How long did it take for you to receive it in Canada? Do keep the same SIM card for years and simply top it up online before a trip?