A possible cheap way of using your mobile from USA?

coollittlew

I am not sure if this would work so I am looking to see if any other Money Saving Experts have done something similar to this?

After reading the useful mobile roaming guide on MSE it is pretty obvious that a lot or tricks mentioned there still cost quite a lot of money (although they will save a lot of money compared to roaming using your normal number and SIM).

In October I am going the Orlando, Florida for 2 weeks and in that time I want to stay in contact with my partner, so that would probably mean a 20 minute call every other day! I will be taking my mobile so ideally I would like to use this rather than searching for pay phones etc.

I have been on the lookout for a local SIM and have found new AT&T ones for £3.50 delivered on eBay and I can activate and top up before I go... Great I thought that is just what I need! - Then I looked at the pay as you go international call rates

So next, I thought about getting a pre paid international calling card. I found a Word access card where it cost 1.5 cents per minute to call from the USA to UK landlines and provides local rate/toll free access numbers world wide (I am not allowed to post links but google "world access numbers" and its the 4th link down).

So my question is, would I be able to buy the at&t sim and the calling card. Top up the sim and then use my mobile to call the calling card Orlando, Florida local access number. So, for the cost of a local call. I would be able to call a UK landline for potentially about 11.5 cents a minute? (about 10 cents for the mobile call to a local number + 1.5 cents on the calling card to the UK).

Has anyone tried this method? Does it work?

It appears this method could potentially be cheaper that using a world roaming sim, plus you would have the calling card to use on landlines and pay phones. The only reason I can think that it would not work is if AT&T block these calling card numbers to force you to use their service?

I know this way may seem a little fiddly but it seems strange to me that this method has not been mentioned so I am wondering if you guys/gals have any thoughts?

pipsi_2

I think it would be much easier and less hassle for you to find a pay phone, although how easy it is to find one all depends on where you are staying, if it's a hotel there are likely to be pay phones in reception, if you're in a villa it might be a little harder. Get one of the international calling cards while you're there and use this from a payphone to keep the cost down. Alternatively your partner could call you from the UK. If you're staying in a hotel again this is easy as he/she can call the hotel and ask to get put through to your room, if you're in a villa there will most likely be a landline there so you can find out this number and get your partner to call on that. BT or whatever land line your partner has will have some sort of thing to sign up to to make international calls cheaper, it may be something he/she can sign up to for one month to cover the period that you'll be away.

Also it should be possible to buy pre paid international calling cards so these could be used from your hotel room or your villa phone

slugger09

Skype Be an option?

coollittlew

slugger09 wrote: »

Skype Be an option?

Thanks for your reply's

With skype I have the same problem of finding free wifi hotspots.

I don't mind buying calling cards, hence why I thought about this. Just wondered if there was a cheap way of using a calling card with a mobile. I will be in a villa, so not sure about the telephone situation, and would probably have to drive to find payphones.

slugger09

coollittlew wrote: »

Thanks for your reply's

With skype I have the same problem of finding free wifi hotspots.

I don't mind buying calling cards, hence why I thought about this. Just wondered if there was a cheap way of using a calling card with a mobile. I will be in a villa, so not sure about the telephone situation, and would probably have to drive to find payphones.

You'll find in the US alot leave there wifi open for whatever reason, they are not as security conscious as in the Uk, I don't think there is going to be a cheap option where a mobile is involved to be honest.

coollittlew

Thanks, I will install skype before I go, just in case.

Carolr

I have returned from USA with a massive bill, however i have managed to successfully negotiate a discount with T mobile. Have you tried contacting your network provider to tell them you are visiting, give them the dates as they are able to adjust or set up your phone for going abroad to reduce data roaming and phone call usage to make it more affordable tempararily? I only found out this after I got home, der....

Chorlie

I used Truphone when I was in the states the other week, you need a smartphone and a wifi link but was costing me 3p a min, it's now been reduced to 1.3p per min.

The advantage over Skype out is the Skype credit expires after a period of time while truphone doesn't, plus now the rates have been reduced IMHO it's better than Skype.