Calling home from abroad

lou49

Hi all,

Not sure if this should be somewhere in the telephones forum - apologies if it should.

I need some help in working out the best way of calling home from abroad. I'm going on holiday to Spain for 11 days next week, and I'll need to call UK landlines maybe once every 2-3 days for around 20min whilst I'm there. What's the cheapest way of doing this? I have a pay monthly mobile with inclusive minutes left - is there any way of using these? Or is it cheaper to get a phonecard either here or in Spain?

In addition, there's no phone in the flat - what number could be left in an emergency - a mobile number? (I know it costs a fortune to receive international calls on a UK mobile abroad!).

I've had a look at Martin's phone related posts but it's quite confusing and they seem to concern calling abroad from the UK rather than the other way round!

Many thanks!

jaymac_2

I bought a tesco sim card with £20 of credit from their website. It only cost £10 and tesco's roaming charges are already reduced so it's 35p a minute to call home and 15p a minute to receive a call. As I'll have got the credit half price i reckon the costs will be half those quoted...and I'll know my number before I leave.

itsakidsworld

If you are going to be near shops then the best option is to find an internet cafe. These booths are grreat and better than any public telephone on the street.

Rates can vary from 8 cents per minute to 25 cents so shop around. If you are going near a town or city, look away from the tourist areas, normally just a couple of streets away and find an internet cafe in a back street.

Call_Centre_Guru

itsakidsworld is right about the cafe's however I find buying a payg sim in that country is the most convenient and cheap way to phone home

yarrum66

Im going to Israel for two weeks and plan to take a mobile and buy a sim card there. Has anyone done this recently in Israel?

bb69

Hi ya

what network are you on? I know T mobile allow you to buy bundles for travel abroad which gives you a certain number of minutes and or texts.. I am sure other network providers have a similar offer

knightstyle

We buy a prepaid card in the country we are visiting. Then tell everyone if they want us to call to ring our UK mobile, we do not answer it and look the number up as a missed call. Then go to a public call box and call using the card. Two years ago the cost was about 3p a minute from France.

Alias_Omega

You could always take your laptop, headset & microphone and use skype from many of the free internet venues.

Skype is £4.49 to call the Uk for unlimited landline calls for 1x month. You can take out another deal with less minutes, but with some to mobiles for a little bit more cash.

Not only will this work in Spain, it will work anywhere you can get internet connection, be it both airport departure lounges, hotels etc.

Alias

benjus

Simple option (assuming you have an unlocked mobile): get a Lebara mobile SIM card and call the UK for €0.08/min - http://www.lebara-mobile.es/en/index.php