Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

cs194

Hi,

I'm going to the US for 11 days (10 nights). I will be California for 4 nights and New Jersey/New York for 6 nights.

I'm on a monthly contract with O2 but do not have a tri band phone. Upon arrival in the US I will need a phone mainly to communicate with the small group of people I'm going with as we may not be all together for the entire trip and may need to arrange to meet up again later.

What would people suggest is the best/cheapest option for getting a tri-band phone and (if appropriate) another SIM card?

Thanks.

mrcamp

This has been discussed way too many times in this thread. I'd suggest you search the thread. Bottom line, you can get a cheap phone/sim at several stores such as walmart, bestbuy, radioshack, etc.

cs194 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm going to the US for 11 days (10 nights). I will be California for 4 nights and New Jersey/New York for 6 nights.

I'm on a monthly contract with O2 but do not have a tri band phone. Upon arrival in the US I will need a phone mainly to communicate with the small group of people I'm going with as we may not be all together for the entire trip and may need to arrange to meet up again later.

What would people suggest is the best/cheapest option for getting a tri-band phone and (if appropriate) another SIM card?

Thanks.

MoneyLTC

Just phoned 02... you can buy their Simplicity Contract on a monthly basis for £10, then stick on their "MyEurope" Blot on for another £10, which gives you free incoming calls in Europe, and outgoing for 25ppm (max 1000 mins).

Basically means people at home can call a UK mobile number and you recieve the calls for nothing. Used to be an O2 customer... but changed to Tesco as they were cheaper - this seems like a really good way of still getting the benefit. £20 for cheap out going and free incoming anywhere in Europe... for as long as you want it.

redux

MoneyLTC wrote: »

Just phoned 02... you can buy their Simplicity Contract on a monthly basis for £10, then stick on their "MyEurope" Blot on for another £10, which gives you free incoming calls in Europe, and outgoing for 25ppm (max 1000 mins).

Basically means people at home can call a UK mobile number and you recieve the calls for nothing. Used to be an O2 customer... but changed to Tesco as they were cheaper - this seems like a really good way of still getting the benefit. £20 for cheap out going and free incoming anywhere in Europe... for as long as you want it.

well, if you are away for a large part of a month, the Simplicity contract may not be that useful as you won't necessarily use all the calls

My Europe Extra can also be added to Pay & Go

flossy_splodge

DD has now departed for the land of the Dane but in the way of it did not sort out her phone before she went!
She will be away a year. She is currently on monthly contract with Orange and has one of the new Nokia phones, an N95 I think which she did not get unlocked - she is about half way through an 18 month contract.
My question is, what is her best option to call back to the uk and our best for calling her?
I obviously would check on Martins call checker but if there are any other bits of info on calling her, I'd be grateful.

Captain_Starlight

Hi, all
Offspring is just about to go to Germany for 6 weeks studying. I've spent a couple of days trying to work out the simplest (ie, cheapest) way for him to call us from there (and vice-versa) and am slowly losing the will to live.
Tesco are selling a Lebara international SIM, but their roaming charges UK-Germany are 39p/minute. Landline numbers aren't an issue; we get those free with Vonage, but could anyone recommend a German option for Son to buy in Germany without having to go through the mind-numbing confusion I've been through for the last couple of days? If I understood half of it all it would help - why is it so complicated?

Ziggy_Stardust

Captain_Starlight wrote: »

Hi, all
Offspring is just about to go to Germany for 6 weeks studying. I've spent a couple of days trying to work out the simplest (ie, cheapest) way for him to call us from there (and vice-versa) and am slowly losing the will to live.
Tesco are selling a Lebara international SIM, but their roaming charges UK-Germany are 39p/minute. Landline numbers aren't an issue; we get those free with Vonage, but could anyone recommend a German option for Son to buy in Germany without having to go through the mind-numbing confusion I've been through for the last couple of days? If I understood half of it all it would help - why is it so complicated?

Who is his local provider at the moment? There are a lot of deals for Europe that can be bought as extra packages. I agree the whole thing is mind-numbingly confusing.

Captain_Starlight

Hi, Ziggy
He;s with O2, but they've quoted 30p/minute on his current package, and 25p if he buys a £10 bolt-on. Not much of a deal, really. And it would cost him 14p/minute for received calls - I can't help feeling that it would be cheaper for him to buy a German SIM card, but trying to dig through all the options and extras is like swimming through treacle. He's off at the crack of dawn on Monday, so not much time to sort things out. I looked at Go-SIM, but the card wouldn't arrive before Monday. Skype isn't an option, since he's not often sat in front of a computer unless he's working.

Ziggy_Stardust

Captain_Starlight wrote: »

Hi, Ziggy
He;s with O2, but they've quoted 30p/minute on his current package, and 25p if he buys a £10 bolt-on. Not much of a deal, really. And it would cost him 14p/minute for received calls - I can't help feeling that it would be cheaper for him to buy a German SIM card, but trying to dig through all the options and extras is like swimming through treacle. He's off at the crack of dawn on Monday, so not much time to sort things out. I looked at Go-SIM, but the card wouldn't arrive before Monday. Skype isn't an option, since he's not often sat in front of a computer unless he's working.

Is this any help?

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/germany.html

Captain_Starlight

That's brilliant, Ziggy - thank you so much! :beer: (notice the German beer theme there!)
The Fonic seems to be the best deal, so Offspring will have to leg it to Lidl or wherever when he's there. Brilliant stuff!
xx