If you are going to travel to the Philippines and want to be able to connect to the internet from your own mobile phone at “all times”, you’re in luck. In this guide we’ll explain which companies you can choose from, where and how to buy a Philippine SIM card, and much more info that will be very helpful so you can have internet in the Philippines in the cheapest and simplest way.
Airalo, Holafly or a Philippine SIM card
We’ve been traveling around the Philippines for over a decade and always using a local SIM. We were aware of companies like Airalo and HolaFly, which we actually use regularly in other destinations such as Japan or the United States, but we never ended up using them in the Philippines. After receiving hundreds of emails from you in which you insist that for many it’s a very practical solution, we’ve decided to include them in our guide to internet in the Philippines, with their respective discounts. That said, we want to remain honest and make a few important points clear.
- They’re a very good solution for those who want to land in the Philippines and have internet available already on the plane. This helps many travelers who, upon landing, take another flight straight to another destination in the country and can’t go buy the Philippine SIM. It also helps those who arrive at dawn and want to go straight to their hotel without wasting time, and even those who don’t feel confident in English and don’t want to “argue” so they won’t be sold the tourist plan.
- These companies offer unlimited data plans, which can be very useful for those planning to use the connection a lot.
- They are eSIMs, so your phone must be compatible.
- You keep your national WhatsApp number.
On the other hand, keep in mind that the price is a bit higher and you won’t be able to send SMS or make voice calls. As for calling, since you’ll have unlimited data you can do it with Skype, although it’s not our favorite solution. SMS, although they’re used less and less now that WhatsApp is finally becoming widespread, are still useful in some cases.
Having said all that, from here you can get them and take advantage of the discount.
Airalo in the Philippines
Airalo has slightly lower prices than HolaFly—that’s its strong point. But, on the other hand, it still doesn’t offer unlimited data plans. Aside from that, it works exactly the same. You install the eSIM, activate it on arrival, and you’re online. In addition, unlike some other companies, this one does allow you to do tethering, that is, share your data with a laptop or another person.
You can get it by clicking this button, but don’t forget to activate your discount with the code FILIPINAS15 before paying—you’ll get a 15% discount!
HolaFly in the Philippines
HolaFly is a much better-known company and super useful in destinations where internet is so expensive, like Japan or the United States. Its big strong point is that they now offer unlimited data, which will spare you the worry of whether the gigabytes you buy will be enough. Clicking here applies the code VIAJARPORFILIPINAS directly, giving you the famous discount.
Also, if you’re going to travel through other Asian countries, you might be interested in THIS OTHER CARD. With it you’ll be able to get online in the Philippines, Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Macau, and Laos. Therefore, it’s a good idea if you plan to stop over in China because it also includes a VPN and you’ll be able to use WhatsApp and all social networks.
Why buy a Philippine SIM card to have internet in the Philippines
Sure, you may have been waiting all year for your trip to the Philippines and imagined yourself a thousand times on a paradise beach, enjoying the sand and disconnecting from everything. We totally agree with you and we look for the same! But believe us, having internet in the Philippines can make your trip much more comfortable. These are some examples:
- If you get a SIM card in the Philippines, you’ll be able to use GPS in real time and always know exactly where you are and how to reach your destination. Although you’ll often find signs, at other times the roads can be a maze. For us, for example, GPS helped us a lot to reach the Can-umantad waterfalls in Bohol.
- It’s likely that on more than one occasion you’ll need to make calls and send SMS messages to Filipinos to arrange a pickup with a driver, book a hotel room, or meet to organize an island hopping tour. With a Philippine prepaid card you’ll have your own phone number and will be able to use it in the cheapest way.
- In cities like Manila or Cebu it’s very likely that you’ll use Grab to move from one place to another. Although there is wifi in the Philippines and you can request a taxi from your hotel, if you need it while you’re out on the street you won’t have a way to use it unless you’re connected.
- Another reason we always get a SIM to have internet in the Philippines is the price. They’re really inexpensive compared to many countries. If you’re thinking about getting a portable wifi for traveling in the Philippines, forget it—it’s a waste of money.
- And of course, in the age of social networks, who doesn’t like to share their trip to the Philippines from time to time? You’ll be able to send a WhatsApp to your mum, reply to emails from your friends and, for example, upload your travel photos to Instagram.
Which Philippine mobile company is better: Globe vs Smart vs Sun
Although there are three medium‑sized companies you can use to get internet in the Philippines, we’re going to rule out Sun because, as of today, it’s not at the level of Globe or Smart.
Speed and coverage of Globe and Smart
The race is actually quite close between Globe and Smart. Neither is 100% infallible throughout the country, and whichever you choose, we’re sure you’ll find yourself without coverage in some places at some point. In each area of the Philippines one of the two tends to stand out a little more. In terms of internet speed in the Philippines, Smart has a bit of an edge over Globe in some areas. The opposite happens with coverage, where Globe usually delivers better results.
We always used Globe and were very happy. But now we each travel with a different Philippine SIM to check the differences. The conclusion is that both are very similar. Depending on the island you’re on—or even where you are on the island—sometimes one has more coverage than the other. On the route we’re doing now while updating this article, it seems Smart is working a little better for us, but the difference is small.
vía GlobalSignal
Where to buy the SIM card in the Philippines
The most convenient way to buy a SIM card in the Philippines is right at the airport where you arrive in the country. Both at Manila Airport and Cebu Airport, after picking up your luggage and exiting, you’ll easily find the Globe and Smart sales points right next to each other. There they’ll help you choose the plan and set up your phone so that you walk out sending a WhatsApp that says “Mum, we’ve arrived in paradise.” The stalls are open 24 hours.
Note, it’s important to keep in mind that in recent months these airport stalls have gone from selling “normal” SIM cards and top‑ups to offering only tourist plans that are around 1,200 pesos (or quite a bit more) for a month.
We recommend taking a look at the suggested plans in the following section (at those stalls they’ll tell you directly that they don’t exist and that they can’t sell you a SIM card on its own). From our point of view they’re much better and cheaper. If you’re not interested in those tourist plans, forget the official stalls and go directly to buy your SIM at any minimarket such as 7‑ELEVEN or Uncle Jhon) or a sari sari.
At Manila Airport Terminal 3, if you go up to the upper floor you can buy the SIM and the top‑ups you need at Uncle Jhon (formerly called Ministop), which we show you in the following image. Travelers also tell us that Lawson on the lower floor sells them too.
Pros and cons: if you do it at the official stalls, they take care of activating it but it’s much more expensive. If you do it on your own it’s much cheaper, but you’ll have to activate it yourself. That said, as you’ll see below, it’s extremely easy.
Prices and data plans to have calls and internet in the Philippines
From time to time Globe and Smart offer new plans and prices. As you’ll see below, each plan offers a gift bonus that, depending on the plan chosen, translates into free messages, calls, or megabytes for specific apps.
A very simple way to activate your preferred data plan is to top up using prepaid cards you can buy in many places (we’ll tell you about it in the next section) and then select your plan from the Globe app or the Smart app.
The first time we made this Philippine SIM guide to get internet, we showed here a myriad of different plans from both Globe and Smart. Over the years, with new data plans appearing, we’ve been seeing what you’re really interested in and, therefore, we’ve removed many of them and left the ones we consider most practical for you based on our experience and your feedback.
The keys are as follows:
- Plans with a minimum validity of 7 days. Trips to the Philippines usually last an average of 2/3 weeks. We’ve removed the 3‑day plans. A 7‑day plan is perfect to have a first week using the plan you think will work best. After that week, if you had a lot of data left over or you ran short (you can see consumption in the app), you can adjust the number of gigabytes up or down.
- SMS: Although more and more Filipinos have WhatsApp, it’s very common to use SMS to contact guides, hotels, or restaurants.
- Price: Obviously, we want you to spend as little as possible.
At the moment, these are the ones available:
Globe Philippines prices and plans
Once you have the Globe SIM in your phone, you’ll need to top it up to start using it. We recommend activating a data + SMS plan and topping up enough to have a balance in case you need to make calls or activate a new data plan in a few days. For example, if you’re going to choose the GOPLUS129 plan (one of our favorites), it’s a good idea to top up 300 pesos. That way, it covers two weeks with that plan (129 x 2 = 258) and you’ll have 40 pesos left in case you need to make a call to a Smart number.
These are the three Globe options we recommend:
As you can see, these plans include (in addition to 8, 10 and 11 GB) 8 extra GB as a Freebie. This means you’ll have 8 extra GB that you can choose to allocate exclusively to social networks, games, or apps like Netflix. Our recommendation is to choose the GoShare freebie, the social‑media one. That way you’ll have 8 GB for social networks (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch) and 8/10/11 for everything else.
Activating any of these plans, once you have balance, is super easy:
- From the GlobeOne app you’ll easily find them under “Globe Recommends”.
- Using the activation code shown in the table.
- Dialing *143# and following the menu steps: 1) Go+, 2) Go+129… etc.
Smart Philippines prices and plans
As you’ll see, the prices and offers are quite similar in both cases. If you opt for Smart for your Philippine prepaid card, we’ll tell you the same as with Globe: get a data plan and always keep some extra pesos for calls or SMS, or simply get a plan that offers everything at once.
These are the four most commonly used plans, but there are also these interesting options:
- GIGA STORIES: This plan lets you use 1/2 GB per day for 7 days (depending on what you pay) and, in addition, 2/4 GB exclusively for social networks. In the menu you’ll find GIGA Stories Plus, which also adds SMS and calls. The prices are: GigaStories 1 GB/day + 2 GB social networks 99 pesos, Giga Stories+ 2 GB/day + 4 GB social networks 149 pesos.
- Magic Data: Magic Data are gigabytes that don’t expire, but without calls or SMS. For 199 you get 6 GB and for 399 you get 24 GB; they can be an interesting option.
Activating any of these plans, once you have balance, is super easy:
- From the GigaLife app you’ll easily find them under “ALL DATA”.
- Dialing *123# and following the steps shown in the menu.
So, which SIM should I buy to have internet in the Philippines?
As we’ve told you, both are very similar in price and coverage. Depending on which island you’re visiting (and even which part of the island), one or the other will have better coverage. As a general rule, we think Globe works better, but then it depends on the island—or even the exact spot—you find yourself in.
If you’re traveling as a couple, we suggest doing what we’re doing now: each person gets a different card. One of you uses a Globe plan with the data you think you’ll need plus SMS/Calls. The other gets a SMART data‑only plan. As long as one of you can send an SMS when necessary, that’s more than enough. This way, there will always be someone with coverage who can share data with the other.
Top up your Philippine SIM card
If your data plan falls short because you’ve been going hard sending so many pretty photos, or you don’t have enough balance to call and send SMS, you might need to top up your prepaid card.
Whether you chose Globe or Smart, you can top up in the following ways:
- By going to a minimarket like 7‑ELEVEN or Uncle Jhon, where they themselves (not always) can top you up.
- By buying a scratch card with a top‑up code in minimarkets or many small neighborhood stores. We usually opt for this option and we carry one with us to top up whenever we need it. You scratch off a part that has the top‑up code hidden, follow the steps, and in a moment you’ve got balance again.
- Online. From the Globe Philippines website and the Smart Philippines website you can top up and pay by credit card. Obviously, if you don’t have internet access this option makes no sense.
Tips and useful info to have internet in the Philippines and a local prepaid card
- In each area of the country one of the two phone companies is better, but in few places is the difference huge. If you have doubts about which to choose and you’re traveling as a couple, you can each get a different card.
- You’ll notice in some places that depending on the time of day the internet is faster or slower. That’s due to the number of people using it. While we were in San Juan La Unión, the internet was very fast throughout the morning. At around 4 p.m., when the kids poured out of schools en masse, the network usually became congested.
- If you’ve never used a foreign SIM card, don’t worry—you’ll be able to have a Philippine phone number and keep using your home number for WhatsApp. Simply, when you activate the card, indicate that you don’t want to change your number in WhatsApp; you’ll keep using your old number just for that app.
- If you need to make an online purchase, you’ll likely need to receive an SMS to confirm it. In that case, you’ll need to put in your home country’s SIM. Remember to enable roaming and disable mobile data so you don’t get a huge bill from your phone company.
- To avoid any surprises and running out of data quickly, it’s very practical to turn on airplane mode when you’re not using the phone. It may sound obvious, but you wouldn’t be the first to wake up in the morning and discover you’ve run out of data because of background usage overnight.
- Most current phones allow internet sharing. Thanks to that, if you have a data plan with a Philippine SIM, you can connect from your laptop or tablet, or even share the connection with other phones.
- If your phone uses a Nano SIM, don’t worry—Philippine SIMs are compatible.
- Nowadays practically everyone has their contacts saved on the phone or in the cloud. If that’s not your case, it would be a good idea to do it before traveling to the Philippines so you don’t lose them while you have the Philippine SIM inserted.
- Depending on where you buy the SIM, its price may vary slightly. But it usually hovers around 50 pesos, and at the airport it’s free.
- Remember that in order to use a Philippine SIM you’ll need your mobile phone to be unlocked and able to accept cards from other countries.
- Finally, note that there is wifi in the Philippines in many hotels, airports, and cafés. Rest assured you’ll be able to get online even without mobile internet, although outside Manila or Cebu, wifi is usually quite inconsistent.
Which local SIM and plan we recommend to have internet in the Philippines
Depending on how long your trip to the Philippines will last and the way you plan to use the internet, we recommend a different plan.
- Long trip: if your plan is to spend a month or more traveling around the Philippines and you want to use the internet frequently, you can opt for GoPLUS149, which includes calls and data but which you’ll need to re‑activate every 7 days (it takes 1 minute); or ALLDATA99 to have 24 GB for 30 days (if you want messages and calls, choose ALLDATAPLUS).
- One‑ or two‑week trip with little internet use: in this case, GoPlus99 from Globe will fit quite well because, in addition to the 8 GB, you have 8 extra GB for social networks, for a total of 16 GB. If, for whatever reason, you prefer SMART, take a look at ALLDATA+149 or GigaStories+.
Do you have any questions about how to have internet in the Philippines? We’ll be waiting for you in the comments!
