Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

p1an0player

hanaa90 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm going to France tomorrow and whilst I'm out there I would like to call a UK mobile which is also abroad- in Spain.

I was wandering for advice on the cheapest options??

by far the cheapest option is for you to buy a "Ticket France Europe" from a newsagent in France. It's a prepaid phone card costing 10 euros which you use in a French payphone. Calls cost 1.5p per minute + 13p connection fee per call to any landline in Europe.

hanaa90

p1an0player wrote: »

by far the cheapest option is for you to buy a "Ticket France Europe" from a newsagent in France. It's a prepaid phone card costing 10 euros which you use in a French payphone. Calls cost 1.5p per minute + 13p connection fee per call to any landline in Europe.

Thanks alot - but do you know the prices for ringing mobiles?

p1an0player

hanaa90 wrote: »

Thanks alot - but do you know the prices for ringing mobiles?

Yes. About 8p per minute + 30p connection fee per call.

However the person you're calling in Spain on a UK mobile will be paying about 19p per minute to receive the call.

TM's

I do not own a mobile phone. I am making a business trip to France and will need one for calls in France. Maybe one or two to the UK while there.

Upon returning to the UK, it will most likely go in the cupboard and not used again until I am out of the country.

What is the cheapest way to do this? I have no need for anything fancy, I can not text and do not want to learn. So the basic phone with the cheapest way to call. I am finding most of this is over my head, so input would be very much appreciated. :question:

p1an0player

TM's wrote: »

I do not own a mobile phone. I am making a business trip to France and will need one for calls in France. Maybe one or two to the UK while there.

Upon returning to the UK, it will most likely go in the cupboard and not used again until I am out of the country.

What is the cheapest way to do this? I have no need for anything fancy, I can not text and do not want to learn. So the basic phone with the cheapest way to call. I am finding most of this is over my head, so input would be very much appreciated. :question:

buy a cheap phone from Carrefour supermarket when you get to France

lou49

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.

Mrs Grey, thanks so much for your reply. I've looked into this a bit but seems more expensive in terms of initial outlay of £50 and would like to know the cost of incoming calls (and all texts). However I would be very interested to hear about your experience of using it!

Thanks again.

rbrock_2

I have a O2 contract- but is it cheaper to call uk from europe if you change to a local country provider. O2 automatically changes your network to the one they want you to use, but if you search and choose other providers manually is it cheaper?
rbrock

TM's

Hi,
I am in need of a mobile phone, mainly to call from France to other France mobiles. Otherwise it will be mostly in the cupboard and turned off, will keep with me on road trips incase the car breaksdown. Most of the information I have found, discusses calls with a UK phone in another country calling back to the UK. So, I am lost. I do not want to spend a lot of money, just something simple to use and cheap. All of the info on the moneysupermarket page has done my head in, to much info and too confusing.

Help. I am leaving soon for France

p1an0player

p1an0player wrote: »

buy a cheap phone from Carrefour supermarket when you get to France

perfect solution

TM's

Yes,
But then will what will I use in the UK, or should I just hope I never need to call for breakdown service?