Local phone/sim cards for international guests?

1

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone has ever provided or being asked for help with a local phone or a local sim card from their guests?

I am doing some research and would love to chat with some hosts on how we could help you to provide another level of service with you having to do anything.

Would love to hear people’s thoughts.

thanks,
neil

2

We give guests the details of the local AT&T store which is only a few blocks away. I thought about getting a phone for guests use and putting it on a pay as you go plan. The problem is that the phones themselves are expensive.

3

I have considered having a mifi on my plan, and then renting it to international visitors. I think I would need a cash deposit for the unit however, which might be against AirBNB’s TOS. I have rented a Mifi in Spain and Turkey and just loved the convenience. Cost around 5 EURO per day.

4

Ive been providing 2 smart phones with data plan + international calls to guests for the past two years. House manuals, instructions, rules, tourist guide apps, GPS, neighborhood recommendations are all stored in the phone.

About 70% of guests really utilize these phones and the rest (Americans and out of province guests) dont. It costs me $100 a month but definitely worth the investment. Im renting entire unit so communication is really important to me.

I also tried providing prepaid SIM cards with about $10 credits but almost nobody wanted them to be inserted in their phones. It was a failed experiment.

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5

I only supplied SIM cards with data (and for calling me free of charge). Not everyone used it, but Americans/Chinese loved it.

6

They can rent phones at the airports now.

7

Is this included in the price of your rental? Have you ever had anyone go off with your phones?