All of a sudden it seems that I’ve come from a family who like to travel a lot. I’ve managed to get away twice this year, most recently to Portugal at the end of the May. My brother has just returned from there. My grandparents are just back from Poland. One cousin has just left for France for the summer while my parents are currently driving around Italy until the middle of the month.

I’ve a sneaking feeling they’ll not have brought my MAXroam sim but if they do get to catch up with the blog today, they’ll be happy to read (as will a lot of people) that the new cap on roaming charges comes into play from today including

• Receiving a call capped at 19c p/m
• Making a call capped at 43c p/m
• Sending a text capped at 11c p/m

Whatever about the call charges, I’d certainly be happy with the reduction of the text charges as (at least in Europe) I would tend to rely a lot on them for the usual light communication chit-chat (“there in a minute” etc.). That said, unless anything changes at the last minute or I take a notion, the next stint away within the EU will be Paris next May.

You can read more on The Guardian’s site, with details of pricing in UK sterling.

Check out SeaRoam.com.

Here’s a look at the roaming costs, compared to O2 (the family mobile operator – we’re all on O2 at the moment, including three businesses).

While calling numbers within the countries will likely be low on the agenda, keeping contact with the family at home is key so it’s nice to see that using the MAXroam sim will save at least 50% at peak times in calls to Ireland, but it will save up to 80% on incoming calls while in Vietnam (cheers Pat). Given there is no landline to phone in Sligo, any calls home will be made to Irish mobile phones.

MAXroam vs O2 (Vietnam)

MAXroam vs O2 (Cambodia)

MAXroam vs O2 (Thailand)

Given a lot of the trip will be spent in Vietnam, there should be a good saving on phone calls, if you compare the costs above. Savings are marginal on the Cambodia leg of the trip – though there are still savings while all is good in Thailand.

Note: O2 suggest using Viettel as their ‘preferred partner network’ in Vietnam, Cam GSM for Cambodia and AIS (as opposed to DTAC) for Thailand. Prices also correct for both parties as of March 18th 2007.

Kickoff for MAXroam looks set to be midday (12pm GMT) today and if you purchase a MAXroam sim, something I intend to do as I’ll be traveling in November this year along with trips to Toronto and possibly San Francisco in the New Year, you might win yourself an iPhone. Not only that, but the iPhone is unlocked so you’ll have no problem using your new MAXroam sim or your own Irish sim.

Mention of a blogger program too… curiosity has got me there but I’m sure most, if not all, will be revealed at 12 today.

Update: Site launched before midday, grabbed myself a sim card. For €29.99 with €5 credit, the price is great considering the savings it can create.