Cheapest way of calling and texting a Dutch mobile in France from an English mobile

majogh

If you can both sign into a site like this one from work you could maybe use the private message service.

mchale

majogh wrote: »

If you can both sign into a site like this one from work you could maybe use the private message service.

I'd give up offering advice as OP doesn't seem to listen to it.

BretJemaine

mchale wrote: »

I'd give up offering advice as OP doesn't seem to listen to it.

I ignored your post as I struggled to find the details of the my europe extra add on. I apologise, I didn't realise it would offend you so much not to receive a directly reply.

But I do appreciate the advice you all are giving me, now I'm calling her for 2p a minute because of you guys, which makes me save a bundle.

I think I will go for sending her an english phone, I didn't realise a standard sim would allow for me to text out of my inclusive texts and be free for her to recieve them.

mchale

Didn't offend me, but put it in google and result is http://www.o2international.co.uk/callingfromoverseas/myeurope_extra.aspx#payandgo

Its 1p per minute

BretJemaine

Cheers man. This looks good. The only problem being I'm in the middle of a 24month contract with three with only 300 minutes a month, so I'd be wasting 700 minutes. This is still only 3.333p a minute, but I'm almost definitely going to want to call her more than 300 minutes a month.

redux

Some Lycamobile offers have free calls to Lycamobile brands in other countries.

I don't know whether such offers are transitory or permanent, depending on top-ups or fair use policy or what else, but it would be worth looking at Lycamobile UK and Lycamobile France and (Lycamobile Netherlands) to see if this would apply in both directions. Also check how long the French one stays valid, as French SIMs tend to expire credit fairly quickly without topping up.

Lyca also has an interesting brand Toggle Mobile in the Netherlands, which might be useful for roaming

If you go for this, I'd suggest carry 2 phones

BretJemaine

grumbler wrote: »

Buy two cheap unlocked phones if you don't have spares. One for you and one for her.
Buy a UK PAYG sim for her and ask her to buy a French or Dutch (her choice) PAYG sim for you.
Insert the new sims into the spare phones and use them for receiving messages.
Send messages from your main phones. Both of you will pay local rates or use inclusive texts.

Sorry to drag this up again, but is this definitely true?

I would have thought that texting another english phone that is abroad would not come out of my inclusive texts? If it does then brilliant, I'm getting the bus over this weekend and will get her a pay as you go phone.

grumbler

BretJemaine wrote: »

Sorry to drag this up again, but is this definitely true?

I would have thought that texting another english phone that is abroad would not come out of my inclusive texts?

It will. When calling you are not supposed to know where the mobile is. For the calls it is the recipient who pays for the roaming. IMHO, it makes no sense that a UK recipient abroad doesn't pay for the incoming texts, but it is fact. The same applies to a EU sim roaming in UK:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commission_roaming_regulations

Incoming SMS from any number price of 1 message — free of charge

Don't forget that you have to make a chargeable call/text sometimes to keep the sim active. Usually it is once every 90-180 days.

BretJemaine

So it would come out of my inclusive minutes to call too?

grumbler

The same as if you call/text to any UK mobile. However it will cost a lot to receive the calls. What is free in UK, is not free when roaming. The owner of the roaming sim pays the raoming charges for receiving calls.
Otherwise it would be too good to be true, wouldn't it?

Mobile Roaming: Use your phone abroad for free