Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

jemclajess

Hi,
I hope someone can help.
I am going out to Majorca for 11 days with my family on the 17th (a week Sunday) and my mum and dad will be staying out there with us but they are travelling this Sunday. I know we have left it a bit late but last year when we went to Spain we both purchased a spanish simcard (I purchased a movistar one on e-bay before going) and my mum purchased a vodafone one when we were out there and we both used our cards to telephone each other etc... when we were out there travelling in different cars, getting lost etc...:o
My question is as both of our simcards have run out and we need to purchase a new one I have been looking at the special deal through the link on here with SIM4travel which gives you £20 airtime for £14.99 and calls are 25p a minute (free to receive) and about 39p a text. I have also looked at Movistar http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/spagna/movistar.html and am confused as to which one is my best option bearing in mind that we don't have much time left before we go (I assume I can purchase the Movistar one out in Majorca?)
Can anyone help at all and advise which would be my cheapest and best option. Many many thanks in advance.

benjus

jemclajess wrote: »

Hi,
I hope someone can help.
I am going out to Majorca for 11 days with my family on the 17th (a week Sunday) and my mum and dad will be staying out there with us but they are travelling this Sunday. I know we have left it a bit late but last year when we went to Spain we both purchased a spanish simcard (I purchased a movistar one on e-bay before going) and my mum purchased a vodafone one when we were out there and we both used our cards to telephone each other etc... when we were out there travelling in different cars, getting lost etc...:o
My question is as both of our simcards have run out and we need to purchase a new one I have been looking at the special deal through the link on here with SIM4travel which gives you £20 airtime for £14.99 and calls are 25p a minute (free to receive) and about 39p a text. I have also looked at Movistar http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/spagna/movistar.html and am confused as to which one is my best option bearing in mind that we don't have much time left before we go (I assume I can purchase the Movistar one out in Majorca?)
Can anyone help at all and advise which would be my cheapest and best option. Many many thanks in advance.

To decide which option is best you need to think about how you will be using the phone.

If you are both going to have phones again and most calls will be between yourselves, Yoigo (http://www.yoigo.es/) would be a good option, as you get 1 hour a day of free calls between Yoigo phones. However, Yoigo SIM cards are not as widely available as other providers, so you would probably need to find a branch of The Phone House (http://www.phonehouse.es/) or Carrefour (http://www.carrefour.es/index.html) after you arrive.

If you're planning to mainly make calls to other numbers within Spain, use a Spanish SIM card (from any network) as this will be cheaper than the rates on SIM4Travel.

If you're planning to use it to call the UK, SIM4Travel might be a good option, although Yoigo charges about 24p/min for international calls so it's not that different. I'm not sure what other Spanish networks charge for international calls.

jemclajess

:beer: Many thanks for replying.
I have looked at the information you sent me and I really like the idea of 1 hour free calls a day to another Yoigo mobile phone as most of the time it will be my mums phone that I will call as we will be in separate cars but sharing a villa. Although I may ring my husband, eldest daughter or my dad too but I will try not to do this if I can (what rate per minute would they be (UK sims)) I shall only ring back home to the UK through a public phone.
Sorry to seem stupid but as the websites are in Spanish I can't seem to locate whether they have the Phonehouse in Majorca (maybe as close to the airport as possible). We are staying at Calle San Vicente and I am not sure that they have a Carrefour on route here.
I was also wondering if you know how much the Yoigo simcard costs and if it comes with any credit at all - and how it works out or how to activate it so that you get 1 hour free calls to another Yoigo number a day?

TIA

benjus

I just had a look at the websites. The Phone House has stores in the following locations:

Palma de Mallorca, Calle San Miguel, 46
Palma de Mallorca, C.C. Porto Pi, Loc.1503, Avda. Gabriel Roca 54
Marratxi, C.C. Festival Park, Autopista Palma-Inca Km 7.1
Inca, Antonio Fluxa ,70

Carrefour have the following:

Palma de Mallorca, Avda. Cardenal Rossel s/n
Palma de Mallorca, Avda. General Riera, 152
Palma de Mallorca, Avda. Gabriel Roca, 54
(the maps are not very good but they have a Google Maps link to get a clearer map)

You will need some ID to buy a Yoigo SIM card. The first time I bought one they were quite strict and asked for a Spanish ID number. When I bought another one about a year later the requirements were more relaxed and a passport was enough. They also asked me for a Spanish address to put on their records, although they didn't need any proof of address.

From memory, I think that the Yoigo SIM card costs €20 and includes €20 of call credit. I'm not 100% sure about that though.

jemclajess

Many thanks for all your info so far - it has been very useful

Sorry for all the questions but could I ask if you got your sim card in Majorca or was it somewhere else. If you did get it in Majorca where did you get it from - was it Carrefour or PhoneHouse and if so do you know how close they were to the airport?
If you got it somewhere else i.e. Carrefour which to me might be the closest to Palma airport where abouts do you have to go in the shop to get it - I am worried I won't know what to ask for or where to get it and as my mum will be out in Majorca before I am I will need to give her as much info as possible so she will know where to go too. We have an address for the villa we are staying in I think so I can give them that but would my mum only be able to get one for herself or do you think she could get me one too as it would save me alot of trouble when we land having to go and purchase one.
Finally (sorry about this) but will my mum or me be charged for a connection fee each time we telephone each other and when you are given an hours free call to the other Yoigo number does it have to be in one go or how ever many times you like as long as it doesn't go over the hour in total per day?
Many thanks again and sorry again for all the questions but I will be seeing my mum later and would like to know as much as I can about it before explaining it to her. All these spanish simcards always seem to come with spanish instructions that I can't understand!!!!

TIA

benjus

No, I didn't buy them in Majorca - both were on the Spanish mainland (Valencia region). I bought the first one at The Phone House in Oliva (originally The Phone House had the exclusive contract to sell Yoigo), and the second at Carrefour in Gandia.

It's a few years since I was last in Palma and I didn't go to Carrefour or The Phone House so I can't say from experience which would be most convenient from the airport.

I don't know if all Carrefour stores are the same, but there should be an area (probably near the entrance) that's dedicated to mobile phones, with separate staff working behind a counter. It can be a bit confusing because some Carrefour stores have concessions to other shops within the same building, which may include other mobile phone shops. The correct area to go to is within the Carrefour shop itself, not a concession - look for the Yoigo and Carrefour Movil (Carrefour's own mobile phone network) logos, as the concessions won't be selling these.

I can't see why they wouldn't sell her two SIM cards, but I haven't tried it myself.

You do get charged a connection fee (12 cents) for each call. You do not have to use the hour in one go - you can make as many calls as you like up to the hour.

benjus

...and the Spanish for PAYG SIM card is tarjeta prepago, which is pronounced something like tarHEYta prayPAgo

So you can ask for dos tarjetas prepagos Yoigo (2 Yoigo PAYG SIM cards)

philandstuff

My girlfriend just tried to phone Orange and get the "Try It" free £5 credit mentioned in the article but was told it doesn't exist anymore... I can't find any info on the Orange UK website but then I can't find anything on that website because it's so hard to navigate and doesn't have a search box :mad:

Anyone else have any info on this deal and whether it exists anymore?

MrsGrey

lou49 wrote: »

Hi,

I have a using my mobile in the USA query - similar to some previous posts so just want to check I've understood correctly.

I'm going to 2 different places in the States. Whilst I'm there I need a mobile to call a friend also in the US, who has a US cellphone, and to make short calls back to the UK (ideally so they then call me back using a lost-cost international calls service like Ratebusters).

I have a Nokia 6300 on Vodaphone. Is my best bet to get this unlocked (I understand that Vodaphone will do this for free) and then buy a local T-Mobile or Cingular pay-as-you-go sim card in the States?

Many thanks for any advice!

Lou49, How about using uk2abroad, as mentioned in Martin's article? Basically it is a switching system:

• Make sure yor phone is tri-band or quad band ( look up the specs online ) and that it will also divert calls.
• Get your phone unlocked
• Buy a roaming SIM card from them £25.
• Buy some minutes (£25 min.)
• When you arrive you set your phone to automaticallydivert all calls to the uk2abroad number that they have given you.
• Put the new US roaming SIM in your phone
• People calling you call your usual number ( good!) Incoming calls are diverted back to UK, and they forward them to your new SIM.
• You can call UK for 12p ( not 25p as it says in the article).
• It costs 10p to receive calls from UK
• You can call within US for 20p. All GOOD! :j

You will gather I have not done this yet, but I have ordered the SIM. It is all a bit pricey in terms of intial lay-out but calls are cheap. I guess you can retain the SIM for another trip. They say:
uk2abroad credit lasts indefinitely provided you make or receive a call at least once every 12 months, and it can be used for any destination or refunded if you no longer need it (except for the first £10).
Also:
Most SIMs need to be topped up once every 6-12 months to keep them active.
I have no info about texting and I don't know what it costs someone else to call you, from UK. They don't say, which is ominous.
I will try to re-post with info about the experience in US.

ag359

Could anyone confirm the best option for my trip to the USA, please? Details are:

* two of us travelling there for six weeks
* both have 02 pay monthly phones
* will be primarily making calls to each other, and to domestic US numbers.

I think the best option is probably the One Roam jolt sim card, but would be grateful for a second opinion. If there is a viable alternative that anyone could suggest, that would also be great (as I'm a bit concerned about the One Roam sim cards arriving on time)...

thanks in advance...