Emergency family calls whilst travelling

quinny67

Hiya
I have an old Sony Ericcson 870i (currently locked onto vf, but I'm happy to pay for unlocking) which I'm intending using as an emergency phone when on hols/travelling - purely so that my family can get me (in case of emergencies). It's 3G so no internet access and will be used mainly so I can call the UK from wherever.

My next trip is Morocco - how do I go about finding the best call charges from there to here ? What's best, SIM or calling card ? Anyone got any clue ?

quinny67
complete and utter newbie!

grumbler

quinny67 wrote: »

... It's 3G so no internet

:huh:
That said, an old phone is unlikely to cause any problems with data.

access and will be used mainly so I can call the UK from wherever.

Not all phones work everywhere in the world:

• Coverage
  
  

My next trip is Morocco - how do I go about finding the best call charges from there to here ? What's best, SIM or calling card ? Anyone got any clue ?

Usually a local card can be the best, but direct outgoing calls to UK are likely to be expensive if you don't you use some override service (local calling card). Calling from UK is likely to be cheaper if made correctly:

• Mobile Roaming
  

• International Callchecker

For a few short calls it's probably easier just to use a UK sim with enabled roaming.
On Vodafone PAYG it's £1.65/min to make a call and £1.30/min to receive.

macman

If it's only in an emergency, and the family will be calling you, then all you'd incur will be the roaming costs-so why not just use your regular UK SIM or phone?

victor2

OH goes to the Far East quite a bit. Takes an old unlocked mobile with her, buys a local SIM, quick call home to give the number then we add it to a Rebtel account so that we can dial a UK number to call her and the cost gets deducted from the Rebtel account at their (reasonable) rate. Costs her nothing to receive the call and we don't get charged unless the call gets answered, unlike many of the premium rate numbers you call for a VOIP call where you get charged as soon as you dial.
Quality is usually pretty good, but was dreadful during the Christmas period. But it was the same on various VOIP services, so I guess Santa's elves had tied up the lines.

Gillor

Have a look at Geosim Global SIM Card. For example, depending on which local network you connect to:

To receive calls in Morocco - £0.03
To call UK landline from Morocco - £0.22

Quiet_Spark

quinny67 wrote: »

It's 3G so no internet access

3G is the internet, and at an acceptable speed (when compared to 2G).