Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

bbb_uk

Hi,

I'm looking at a cheap way of ringing back to the UK landline from the USA.

I will only be making the occasional call back to the UK and will be making it from mostly a landline in USA (most likely hotel room).

I've checked and according to our hotel, they don't charge for 'local' (USA) numbers or for toll-free numbers.

I've been looking at 0044 and they charge 3ppm using a calling card type system.

What is the calling quality like on 0044 and has anyone had problems with them?

Alternatively, if anyone could suggest a easy alternative that's cheaper that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

mrcamp

UK landlines are the cheapest to call from the US. Most calling cards/voip providers should not be more than $0.02 to call UK landlines. It's even free with some providers such as vonage. If you can get a hold of an account with voicestick, les.net, etc. It's only $0.015 to $0.02 to call Uk landlines.

cyprus_phone

I have a slightly different question from the other messages abobe. I'm going to cyprus for a few weeks and I want to know the cheapest way of calling my friends and family who are also going to cyprus.

I won't be calling the UK, as everyone who I'm likely to want to speak to will be coming to cyprus (but staying in different parts).

The default plan is we'll all take our mobiles (many on different networks) and use them as we would in the UK. But I was wondering if it would be cheaper for us each to buy a cypriot sim card. If so which one?

Any comments will be appreciated.

Many Thanks

bbb_uk

mrcamp wrote: »

UK landlines are the cheapest to call from the US. Most calling cards/voip providers should not be more than $0.02 to call UK landlines. It's even free with some providers such as vonage. If you can get a hold of an account with voicestick, les.net, etc. It's only $0.015 to $0.02 to call Uk landlines.

Arent those providers you listed, VoIP? I wont have broadband in the hotel room as there is an extra charge, but free in reception area I believe. So what I was looking for was a calling card type or indirect access provider or something that will allow me, without too much hassle, to ring back to a UK landline for as cheap as possible but providing reasonable quality calls at the very least.

Thanks again. All help appreciated.

Christa1

I have a similar question to the one above, we as a family of four are going to the US in July, we will more than likely want to split up at times and wonder the best way to keep in touch? Hubby has an Orange PAYG but DD has an orange contract and DS has an O2 contract. We used our daughter's phone last year when the two of us were in NY to call home,but not often and nearly dropped when I got a bill for £129.00 for my daughter's phone? Would love some advice please?

mrcamp

BBB_UK, Yes, those are VOIP, I mentioned those because you can forward the US number/DID tey give you to your UK, number, then call the DID using the hotel phone.

Christa1, there are several posts in this thread that mention the options for US. Bottom line: Get US sim cards at target, walmart, etc. or even ebay and you are on your way. With AT&T calls to each other are free and the rate to call the UK is not bad. OTOH, tmobile is the easiest and cheapest to get and sms (both local and international) cost only $0.10.

Christa1

thanks mrcramp, I did search before I posted but perhaps didn't put the right thing in the search- sorry. Does it make any difference if we use the contract phones- would they need to be unlocked? I thought it would be easier to use the PAYG and put the sims in those? Are the AT&T PAYG? Thanks.

mrcamp

Contract phones? Not sure what you mean. You will get payg sims and phones if you want at the stores I mentioned. Any phone can be used, even your own phone, as long as it has the US bands and it's unlocked. A lot of times the sims come with a cheap phone with the 850/1900 bands though. Just walk into one of those stores and get a prapaid kit, if it includes a phne fine. Or just order an activated tmobile payg sim on ebay. The Areacode you get should not matter since all calls within the entire US cost the same. However, you can change the areacode to one of your choice with a quick call to tmobile customer service.

Christa1 wrote: »

thanks mrcramp, I did search before I posted but perhaps didn't put the right thing in the search- sorry. Does it make any difference if we use the contract phones- would they need to be unlocked? I thought it would be easier to use the PAYG and put the sims in those? Are the AT&T PAYG? Thanks.

Christa1

My son has an O2 monthly contract, my daughter the same with Orange, we thought these phones might be locked to other sims, so my PAYG and hubbys PAYG might be the best option but I think your suggestion of buying a kit seems a better idea all round if they aren't too expensive. Is Tmobile the best one to go with?

mrcamp

Prepaid phone/sim kits are quite cheap here. You can get a tmobile sim with 10 mins and a cheap phone for about $20. I can't post links yat, but you can go to the tmobile US payg page to get ideas. I know they were offering the Moto V195 quad badn with a sim with 10 mins talk time for $30 for quite a while. Tmobile is the easiest and cheapest to get. Also, topping up both tmobile and AT&T with $100 automatically gives you 1 year expiration. And with tmobile any additional topup (even the $10) extends the sim for another year. So, you can maintain the sim by just spending $10 yearly.