Best way to keep in touch with USA?

grumbler

There are 'feel at home' countries, not numbers.
Inclusive minutes can be used for calling any numbers that are included in the allowance.

redux

chrismad4rit wrote: »

hi. can someone clarify is the person who is in uk can use their inclusive minutes, whatever network they are on, to ring a "feel at home" number???

All the time, the principle of these things is that a caller is paying the cost of calling the number, irrespective of conditions at the receiver.

So if the destination phone is roaming, or diverted to a different number, it makes no difference to the caller. The extra cost falls on the receiver.

For the case that started the thread, both users might be temporarily abroad, but each is still only calling a UK number not the country where the phone happens to be.

If someone different was in Spain and wanted to call someone in USA who had actually acquired a US SIM, that would be different. Then it might be worth a UK customer having an account elsewhere allowing either calling via a UK access number, or using callback. Unless it was a SIM with cheap international calls even when roaming in certain countries. Or of course a local SIM with cheap int'l calls.

onejontwo

For the case that started the thread, both users might be temporarily abroad, but each is still only calling a UK number not the country where the phone happens to be.

I think with that statement it's finally sank in. So as far as I can gather if I acquire two three sim cards, top up by £15 each, convert both to £15 add-on, we will then have 300 minutes 3000 texts and all you can eat data to contact each other from Spain to the USA and vice-versa without incurring any extra charges as long as we stay within the allowance?
Also, sorry for sounding thick again, but when you put the countries phone prefix ie + 34 for Spain or +1 for the USA does this not become a non UK number and therefore not included in the above allowance?
Please bear with me I'll grasp this phoning from abroad eventually.

grumbler

onejontwo wrote: »

I think with that statement it's finally sank in. So as far as I can gather if I acquire two three sim cards, top up by £15 each, convert both to £15 add-on, we will then have 300 minutes 3000 texts and all you can eat data to contact each other from Spain to the USA and vice-versa without incurring any extra charges as long as we stay within the allowance?

Yes, although IIRC there is some limit for data roaming despite 'all you can eat data'.

Also, you can save money by buying only one bundle. For the person without a bundle incoming calls are still free. S/he can dial the number of the other person with a bundle, hang up and the other person can call back.

Also, sorry for sounding thick again, but when you put the countries phone prefix ie + 34 for Spain or +1 for the USA does this not become a non UK number and therefore not included in the above allowance?

When calling a UK number, whatever country it is roaming in, you use +44 prefix, not the country's one. It's just common sense really. Firstly, when calling someone you aren't supposed to know if s/he is in UK or abroad and in what country exactly. Secondly, can you not imagine that there can be exactly the same local number in this country, so if you change the prefix there would be two identical numbers?

onejontwo

Well after all the good advice on here I planned to get myself two" three" sim cards so we could stay in touch whilst one of us being in the USA and the other in Spain. However on checking with customer support at "Three" it seems that one of the sim cards has to be in the UK to work, ie. one of the "feel at home "destinations is the UK. I questioned him about this which he double checked and came back with the same answer. So the only way I can see around this is by using what gfplux said ie. skype, viber, whatsapp etc. with two £15 top-ups. (Which I also believe is going up to £20 from today!)

d123

onejontwo wrote: »

Well after all the good advice on here I planned to get myself two" three" sim cards so we could stay in touch whilst one of us being in the USA and the other in Spain. However on checking with customer support at "Three" it seems that one of the sim cards has to be in the UK to work, ie. one of the "feel at home "destinations is the UK. I questioned him about this which he double checked and came back with the same answer. So the only way I can see around this is by using what gfplux said ie. skype, viber, whatsapp etc. with two £15 top-ups. (Which I also believe is going up to £20 from today!)

He is confused, if both sims are in a Feel At Home location they will work as they should.

As long as you are in a Feel at Home location and calling a UK number it will work (it doesn't matter where the called UK phone is, just that it is a UK number).

onejontwo

d123 wrote: »

He is confused, if both sims are in a Feel At Home location they will work as they should.

As long as you are in a Feel at Home location and calling a UK number it will work (it doesn't matter where the called UK phone is, just that it is a UK number).

This is exactly the point I made to customer services but he was adamant that at least one of the locations had to be the UK. So calling say Spain to the USA would not work. He even checked with his manager to clarify this.

Tony5101

They are a bit confused lol
Using your point of one being in Spain and he other in the USA. They're both UK numbers, so essentially all you would be doing is making calls to the UK, albeit that the call maker and recipient are both roaming.

onejontwo

Tony5101 wrote: »

They are a bit confused lol
Using your point of one being in Spain and he other in the USA. They're both UK numbers, so essentially all you would be doing is making calls to the UK, albeit that the call maker and recipient are both roaming.

I get your point, but have you any experience of this whilst being abroad or shall I be the guinea pig and see if it works?

grumbler

Just do it. Read the information in this thread, on Three website and ignore what incompetent idiots in all telephone CS tell you.
In fact there is no point in asking them when all information is very clear, available online and you know what to look for.

Two facts that say it all:

1. With or without a bundle all incoming calls are free in Spain an USA.
2. With a bundle mobile data is covered by the bundle. So are the calls and texts to normal UK numbers (not to Spain, USA or other countries' numbers).

Feel free to check the facts yourself and prove me/us wrong.