How to Avoid Expensive Roaming Charges in Malaysia

when in malaysia…

Okay guys. I’m sharing this with you because I think you can save quite a bit with this!

For someone like me who lives just across the causeway, trips to Malaysia are almost considered inevitable. In my 5 years in Singapore, I must have visited Malaysia ten or more times. In terms of duration, it can be as short as a daytrip to as long as a few days. While the transportation options to Malaysia can be as cheap as chips, sometimes I come home and find that I’ve incurred hundreds of dollars in roaming charges alone. It’s quite an annoyance considering that I don’t receive any physical good in exchange for what I pay for (yes, I am a visual person) so it’s really important for me that my mobile services are as cheap as possible!

Fortunately, I got to know about a new SIM card by Celcom that’s made specially for travelers. Called Traveller Sim, its call charges are one of the lowest in town. At RM 0.20 (SGD 0.08) per minute, it’s even lower than what I normally incur for local calls in Singapore! And that’s not all. I’m just looking primarily at Singapore since this is the originating country of my main phone line. They have very competitive rates for other countries as well including the USA, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. You can find their price guide here:

For local calls, there’s a standard charge of around USD 0.12 (MYR 0.36) per minute or per SMS / MMS. Every Traveller SIM Pack also comes with a free 1-day WIFI Access of 500MB which adds plenty of value. But for someone like me who probably spends every hour checking my mails and browsing at random websites, the mobile internet plan for just USD 1.61 (MYR 5) per day may come in handy. I can even use the mobile internet plan to access more channels of communication such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and more — allowing me to post timely Facebook or Twitter updates as I explore Malaysia rather than having to wait for a wifi connection before I could do it.

In terms of availability, this SIM is actually very easy to find. The Traveller SIM Pack is sold in the major international airports of Malaysia including KL, Penang and Langkawi, in tourist hotspots as well as major shopping malls. The SIM comes pre-loaded with RM 3 (around USD 1) worth of value but it’s easy to find places for reload. With over 10,000 retailers, even most mom-and-pop shops can do the reload for as low as RM 30 (around USD 10).

All in all, I find this SIM to have a clear and compelling proposition. It has the best international and local rates for usage while in Malaysia. The CELCOM network is also reliable and just as important, wide — I had used their network previously in my past trips to Malaysia. Add to that the extra benefits such as the free wifi service and that’s really a lot of bang for your buck.

Home is just a call away when you travel in Malaysia with CELCOM!

For more information, visit their website HERE.

***This is a sponsored post***