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Rent or Buy? Complete Guide to Israel Cell Phones & SIM Cards for Travelers

Last year I wrote about your options for renting a cell phone in Israel and I’m realizing, as I prepare for my next trip to Israel this winter, that I’ve oversimplified a very complex issue.

The more research I’m doing, the more complex I’m realizing the landscape of options actually is for travelers to Israel.

First, let’s break down the main options before figuring out where to actually spend your money and time.

I’ve concluded that there are 3 rational options for using a mobile phone in Israel (for Americans and Canadians. However, these options may differ or be more expensive if you are overseas, although I’m interested to know what the European and other options are as well):

  1. Renting a Cell Phone / SIM card from an American company
  2. Purchasing a Pre-Paid Israeli SIM card
  3. Purchasing an Israeli SIM card in Israel via a Plan
  4. Roaming in Israel with your American (or other) Phone (not a rational option)

The options I’ve listed here each have their pros and cons, namely: cost, convenience/time, and customer service.

1) Renting a Cell Phone from an American company
PROS: Convenience, Time (Customer Service varies – but all beat Israeli customer service any day)
CONS: Cost, Old Crappy Phones, Smartphones Limited to Blackberrys, Not Using Your Own Phone

Over the past 10+ years I have strictly gone down this route, with a few different companies. The experiences weren’t all bad, but I did find them limiting, and pricey as compared to owning your own SIM card, albeit a bit more convenient. Numerous companies in the U.S. exist (many of them serving Canada, UK, and elsewhere) that rent out cell phones, smart phones, wifi cards / USB modems, and mifi (mobile hotspot) devices, and even SIM cards. The majority of them have offices in the NYC area, and numerous ones in other major Jewish cities in North America and beyond.

Companies:

  • Unlimited Israel – This company has simplified its offers for customers: iPhone rentals with unlimited talk/text/web access for $45/week, SIM card rentals for $5/day, Kosher phone rentals, MIFI rentals, all with unlimited access, no nickel and dime pricing.
  • Amigo – I have used Amigo on numerous occasions between 2000-2007, specifically on group trips. We used walkie-talkie phones (former NEXTEL phones). I believe AMIGO has since revamped their lineup of phones which also include Blackberrys at an added cost for data. I found their customer service easy to work with and their billing accurate. I would recommend using them. They have MANY pickup / drop off locations in the US and Canada in 17 cities. Amigo Phones operate on the MIRS network.
  • Talk N Save – They’re the biggest of all the rental companies and have been around for the longest. Their main focus is on yeshiva students coming to Israel for the year, and that’s how they make most of their business. However, over the years numerous friends/colleagues have not had great experiences with their customer service and billing.
  • TravelCell – I used TravelCell recently (2011). I was given a fairly simple, crappy Nokia phone. Nothing special device. I did have customer service issues when dealing with them that were never really resolved and do not feel that they were honest with me. (This was my personal experience). They only have 13 total locations around the world, typically with only 1 pickup/dropoff point in each city, except NYC, where there are 3. TravelCell phones operate on the Cellcom network.
  • Israel Phones – While I do not have personal experience using them, I am impressed by the amount of locations where one can rent / return devices, which include MANY locations in the US (in 12 states), 4 locations in Canada, one in the UK & Brazil, and nearly 20 in Israel. They are the only rental company with an office inside Ben Gurion airport (however, you’re likely to pay a premium to rent from there).
  • Amp Cellular – I do not have any experience with this company. I have found out that this is run buy guys that left Talk N Save to run their on thing.I’ve heard good things about them from guys that resell their service.

Ultimately, these companies are fairly similar to each other and can only differentiate themselves with their pricing, types of phones / SIM cards offered, customer service, and/or other conveniences (pickup/dropoff locations, shipping options, etc). I have heard numerous stories in the past few years with people have billing disputes with a few of the aforementioned companies (including my issues with TC). Pay close attention to your minute usage and the charges you will receive a month or so after your return (due to the fact that the Israeli phone companies bill them a month after you return).

Typically, all of these companies will require you to return the phone ASAP upon returning home. They may charge you extra if you fail to return the phone within their stated window of time. Check your contract with them, but it may be less than a week. If you do not live near a pickup / drop off location, expect to pay shipping fees to and from your house at approximately $10 each way.

If you choose to rent a SIM card and use it with your existing US mobile phone, you MUST make sure your phone is unlocked. If it is not, it will not read any other SIM card other than your carrier’s. Also, only AT&T and T-Mobile phones in the US have SIM cards which you can remove (they run on a GSM network). Verizon, Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, and U.S. Cellular run on CDMA networks, and do not have removable SIM cards, thus, if your phone is on one of these networks, you’ll likely have to rent or purchase a GSM phone (cheap crappy ones are available on eBay). (If the phone is locked, you will see an error message when you turn on the phone or a message prompting you to enter a subsidy code. The phone must be capable of functioning in the 900 and 1800 or 2100 MHz GSM band.)

2) Purchasing a Pre-Paid Israeli SIM card
PROS: Cost, Keeping Phone Number for Multiple Trips, Using Your Own Device, Have Phone Number Before Leaving US, Ability to Budget Yourself, Better Data Rates,
CONS: Not as Cheap as Buying it in Israel, Long Term Investment, Requires Unlocked Phone

General advice: if you’re not sure how to use a SIM card, or aren’t quite sure how they work, it may be best to stick with renting a phone to have to deal with figuring out the SIM process on your own.

While renting a SIM card may make sense for those who rarely travel to Israel, frequent fliers to the Holy Land should consider purchasing their own SIM card, allowing them to keep one phone number for multiple trips (with limitations).

Purchasing a SIM from a provider in the U.S. makes the process easier (although you can purchase a pre-paid SIM once in Israel as well, assuming your Hebrew is strong enough to know if you are getting ripped off or not.

If you run out of talk time / data, refill cards are widely available in Israel, which allow you to just add time to your existing SIM card.

As with renting a SIM card (mentioned in the above option), you will need to make sure you phone is unlocked.

SIM packages are well priced, but it’s important to know that the plan starts the day you sign up for it, you can’t order in advance.

For short term trips, get the “pay as you go” option.

For those studying for a year in Yeshiva – avoid the rental companies (who often give kickbacks to the Yeshivas for forcing parents to rent from them). It will be cheaper for you to buy a SIM card and get a package rate.



Companies:
3 Major Israeli mobile companies sell prepaid SIM cards:

  1. Cellcom (TALKMAN)
  2. Orange (BIG TALK)
  3. Pelephone (TALK N GO)

Choosing which one to use used to be based on cost of plan as well as who in Israel you will be calling. It used to be cheaper to call cellphones in Israel within the same network, and sometimes VERY expensive to call to a cellphone on another network. Today, Pelephone & Orange charge a flat rate to all numbers, and Cellcom has a difference of 8 agurot/min. To my knowledge, the majority of cellular phones in Israel utilize these 3 companies listed above. There are other cellular companies that exist, but do not offer pre-paid plans, making this a bit more complicated than it needs to be. (See the next section for details on the other companies)

Sample plans:

  • Orange – 100MB: ₪27; 5GB: ₪99 (30 Day Plan)
    ₪135 – Unlimited texts calling in Israel, 1GB Data (refill card) (English site for Orange)
  • Cellcom – 100MB: ₪40; Unlimited Data: ₪150
    ₪200 – Unlimited texts calling in Israel, 2GB Data
  • Pelephone plans are the cheapest but Pelephone does not offer any instructions, menus, or customer service in English whatsoever. Either way, Pelephone has the worst customer service in Israel amongst cellular providers.

Companies in the US selling Israeli SIM cards:

  • IsraelSIMS.com – only offers Cellcom & Orange SIM cards and plans. They purposely do not offer Pelephone SIM cards due to the reasons mentioned above. Too many headaches for consumers. If you don’t care about the Hebrew issue, you could make a special request for the Pelephone SIM card, they are very flexible.
  • PrepaidIsraeliSim.com – offers SIM cards and plans to all 3 companies as well as others.

Both companies will cut the SIM into a MICRO or NANO SIM to fit your iPhone, iPad, Android, or other smart phone at no extra cost. Check what SIM your phone uses before you order. Most new smart phones use a smaller SIM, either a Micro or Nano SIM. Check GSMarena.com to identify the shape of your phone’s SIM before ordering.

If you purchase a SIM in Israel they will not come pre-cut, so if you have a smart phone, you may have to shave the SIM card down manually with a pocket knife.

3) Purchasing an Israeli SIM card in Israel via a Plan
PROS: Lowest Costs, Keeping Phone Number for Multiple Trips, Using Your Own Device, No Contract Plans
CONS: Least Convenient, Requires Someone in Israel to Assist in Setting Up, Dealing with Israeli Customer Service

In order to take advantage of this route, you will need someone within Israel, presumably an Israeli citizen with a Tehudat Zehut to purchase this for you. It is by far the cheapest route as you will be paying the rockbottom prices that Israelis are able to take advantage of on their cellular plans.

Recently, 3 new cellular companies have joined the fray in Israel, and have already grabbed significant marketshare:

Companies:

  1. HOT Mobile (formerly MIRS, same company as HOT cable TV in Israel, with roaming available on the Pelephone network)
  2. Golan Telecom (new network as of May 2012, with roaming available on Cellcom’s network)
  3. Rami Levy (an MVNO provider using the Pelephone network)

All 3 charge ~₪40 for the SIM card. Think of it as an activation fee.

HOT Mobile is best for visiting family, as their most basic plan costs 10 Agurot (~$0.026) per outgoing minute, outgoing text, and MB of data, with no SIM card fee and no monthly fee.

Golan Telecom – I’ve been hearing some really positive things about this company, that they’ve been stealing marketshare in a matter of a few months. But also read a bit about the hassles it takes to switch to Golan (assuming you have a different Israeli phone number – if you don’t, no need to worry).

Remi Levy – 88 NIS a month for unlimited Talk, Text, and 1GB of Data

Remember to give it to someone else traveling to Israel between your trips, as enough inactivity may render the SIM inactive and cancelled.

4) Roaming in Israel with your American (or other) Phone
PROS: Super Convenient, Lazy Option
CONS: Extremely High Costs, Especially if using Data

Note: I do not recommend going this route. Any of the above options (1-3) are significantly better than taking this route unless you are super wealthy OR use a cellular device very sparingly.

If you do decide to use your phone, SPRINT has the cheapest roaming rates in Israel of the main four US carriers. (see below)

Here are the rates (as of December 2012) of the top four American carriers:

  • AT&T: TALK $2.50/min; DATA $19.97/MB; TEXT $0.50 sent $0.05 received (Intl Packages available)
  • Sprint: TALK $2.49/min; DATA $4.096/MB; TEXT $0.50 sent $0.05 received
  • T-Mobile: TALK $3.59/min; DATA $15/MB; TEXT $0.50 sent $0.20 received
  • Verizon: TALK $1.99/min; DATA $20.48/MB ; TEXT $0.50 sent $0.05 received

Thank you to Dan Jaffe and Jason Schoenbrun for helping me compile this info.

~Dani Klein

About the author

Dani Klein

Dani Klein founded YeahThatsKosher in 2008 as a global kosher restaurant & travel resource for the Jewish community.

He is passionate about traveling the world, good kosher food / restaurants, social media & the web, technology, hiking, strategy games, and spending time with his friends & family.

12 Comments

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  • whoa baby — could have used this post 2 years ago – my last trip before I moved — but this is quite extensive and awesome – great post for travelers

  • […] There are two main cell phone options for shorter term rental: rent a phone or rent a sim card and use your own (compatible!) phone. The major cell phone companies offer both, sometimes at a very similar price! Here are some of the companies: Israelphones, talknsave, ampcellular, and orange. Many of these offer shipping to the US so you can bring your phone with you. But it’s really complicated, so try reading this article to get a better idea of the options. […]

  • For those travelling to Israel. this article is very informative BUT for those who have either a relative, contact or friend in Israel, it is quite simple to get a phone (for heavy use) quite easily. If you are in Israel just for a short time every year or two, then just get an Amigo at $1.18 per day (including tax). Incoming calls are free and
    outgoing calls are, I thing around 20 cents. If you are calling the US or Canada, just have the person call you back as calls from the US are probably less than 3-4 cents. Do not wast your time with anything else. BUT if you need a phone a lot, especially DATA or internet for computer etc then you simply go online, register with Say Golan (they have an English site) and purchase a sim card. Until Dec 31, 2013, they have a monthly plan of 59 NIS for one year (no contract) which is unlimited everything (calls in Israel and US/Canada and 53 other countries) and unlimited data (slowing down after 3 Gig). Also a 9.99 NIS plan for 60 minutes and about 20 Meg of data,incoming free. I registered using an Israelis identity card, my visa and the sim cards were sent to their house for me to insert into my UNLOCKED 3G phone when I arrive next week. I will use the 59NIS with a USB for my computer or tether to my computer so that for 59 NIS I have a phone and internet for my computer. I will keep the 9.99 so that I have a number in Israel always. The 59 NIS I will either give up or keep and pass onto my friends who travel to Israel For $250 I can have two lines and be a sport with my friends. It took me a while to figure this out but once I got it straight, it took but a few minutes. The key is an Israeli # and address to ship the card (49 NIS). Why pay $10 US per Day for wireless devise of for a blackberry phone or $8 per day including VAT for a USB stick plus a phone. The US companies or so overcharging that they can afford their large staff. I would rather spend my extra money for a nice mean in Mehadrin restaurant in Jerusalem which I got at 50% off from the Groupon deals in Israel. Yes, another way to save. Buy in Israel and not through US companies who feed off of us. I bought deals in Greg’s in Mamilla mall, La Parve (289 vs 600 NIS for dinner for 4 with a bottle of wine (Machmud hecsher) and even a playgroup deal to take my granddaughters. Maybe I should start a blog….good luck and keep strong and remember: We are all Jewish brothers and sisters. Show Ahavat Yisrael to all (even when dealing with difficult Israeli business people). Love will bring out brothers and sisters back to our traditions…..shalom all yisrael….chaim…toronto

    • Update:
      Golan has extended their special until Aug 31, 2014. 59NIS per month for 1 year completely unlimited & cdn or US number. This is a no brainer. Go to their Golan telecom English site. You can have delivery to friend in israel. just give them your credit card and Voila. when the special ends, revert to the 9.99 NIS plan until you are back in Israel..Chaim S

  • So I can use an unlocked canadian phone with an Israeli purchased pre paid sim card? Can pre paid sims be purchased at the airport?

    Thanks!
    Annie

  • So you make a few mistakes above. The first one is about Verizon phones in Israel. If you have a 4GLTE Verizon phone (Galaxy S4 or S5 for example) you CAN use your phone in Israel with an Israeli SIM! The Galaxy phones are dual band. They work on the Verizon CDMA network AND can work on a GSM network. And to top it off, the GSM is unlocked by default. So you can get an Israeli SIM card from any company and it will work with your phone.

    Also, all of the American cell phone rental places now offer SIM cards with full unlimited talk and data for Israel, so you can get this if you want.

    I have been told that you can get a Golan plan with a passport and a credit card. They have no contracts and you just get a SIM card for about $10 and then a 59 NIS unlimited plan (10 GB of data). Then before you leave, you just cancel the service!

  • hi you forgot two other companies, cellular israel, had a great experience with them. and golanusa.net for those who want to save a buck and a little techy.

  • Update from December 2015: DO NOT USE AMP CELLULAR!

    Background: Please note that I very rarely write a negative review. I am a top contributor on Trip Advisor, and the vast majority of my reviews are “average” to “excellent.”

    Situation: I have been an AMP Cellular “Amp for Life” customer for about 3 years. I originally purchased the AMP phone and sim package for $40, and it worked great for my first trip. However, on subsequent trips (about once per year) I have had TERRIBLE experiences with this company.

    How bad? Well, during my last few trips I have emailed or called Amp Cellular about a week ahead of time to reactivate my phone before getting to Israel. They would ensure me that my phone would work upon arrival to Israel, however this was never actually the case. It usually took 2-3 days, and up to a week, until my phone would actually be able to place an outgoing call.

    That alone is not enough for me to write a negative review. I am now concerned this company is no longer in business, even though their website and voicemail are normal as before. I have sent three emails, the last marked “URGENT,” and have received no response. I have called both their US and Israeli offices at various times during their office hours, and the voicemail always says they are closed. I try to leave a message, and their mailbox is full. I have not been able to reach the company, and I am now in Israel without a working phone and need to spend my first day on this trip finding a new cell phone provider rather than with my family.

    Conclusion: Avoid Amp Cellular at all costs. There are so many great cell phone providers in Israel, they are not worth the hassle!

  • TalknSave: Never again. Terrible customer service. No integrity. Try calling them if you have a technical issue. You MAY get a call back in a few DAYS. I had an issue with a SIM card. Meanwhile, days pass and nothing heard. I never used the SIM card, a fact that they eventually verified, yet they refused to issue me a full refund. They knocked off a whopping 25%. Beware.

  • I want to add one company that probably wasn’t in existence when this article was written, http://www.prepaidisraelisim.com . My dealings with him, were excellent. I had two problems, neither were his fault, but I wrote him late Israeli time and he replied in each case by later that day, his time (NYC). One answer was very detailed, much more than I expected. Plus the two purchases I made worked just fine too.

    But more important than this is that since the article was written, 3G and 4G have become much more important. I bought my phone especially to go to Israel but before I started looking for the sim card. I ended up with a phone that was fine for phone calls, but barely worked for data, usually not at all, because it didn’t have the right frequencies for 3G in Israel. Fortunately when absolutely necessary I could sit outside a bank (even at 11PM, but not every bank, not even every branch of Bank Leumi) or park outside some hotels or cafes or… McDonalds (they weren’t even open yet), and use their wifi, for up to 90 minutes (Bank Leumi in Arad). To call the USA with Skype, to get maps, or to find out what time Hamat Gader opened in the morning.

    The night I was leaving, my phone broke when I was 2 miles from the airport , so now I need another phone, and I’m willing to spend up to $300 so far, but I still have the same problem, and I don’t know that spending 600 would solve it. The only phones I have found with Android 6, for adoptive memory, have either European/Israeli frequencies or USA frequencies. Except for International Phones, including Samsung, which have no warranty when bought outside the original country of sale, which is never the USA (or Canada, or afaik Israel), and which sometimes can’t be repaired at any price in the USA.

    If you use gsmarena.com note that when it says All versions, the default, it still may give different 3G or 4G frequencies when you click in USA (top grey line for some phones.) In one case, a nice phone, http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_honor_6x-8388.php” All Versions” had the Israeli but not USA frequencies for 4G and “USA” had the USA frequencies but not the only 4G freqs for Partners, Cellcom or Pelephone. So be careful.

    Right now my only hope is two friends who spend half a year in Israel and the US.

  • Dont use TalknSave!!

    I was significantly ripped off by TalknSave. There is an option to get a kosher phone but there is no option to have talk/text only. This means I was forced to pay for a data plan for a phone that can’t use it. On top of that the back of the phone kept falling off and the battery would fall out. I had to tape it together. I asked for a refund but they said they didn’t see anything wrong with the phone – I guess they didn’t see the tape holding it together. I was at significant disadvantage not being in the country and knowing how cell phones work there and I should have never used talk n’ save. The only thing I can do now is post this on as many websites as I can to prevent people from making the mistake of using this service. I can’t think of a time where I felt more cheated by a company. I hoped that since it was not run by native Israelis it would have a better culture of customer service. Unfortunately, TalknSave had worse customer service than any company in Israel or elsewhere.