Mobile Roaming: Cheapest Calls When You're Abroad

Firstwatch

winevaults wrote: »

i am on orange pay as you go
i will need to use phone when i am in spain to phone friends who will also be in spain but are on mobiles using irish mobile networks

how do i get cheap rate calls to and from friends while we are all away in spain ?

Hi, latching on to this old post as it seems the most relevant and in the most relevant place to my discovery - done a Keyword search so hope it's not dupe info, but it's definitely going to save me a lot of call charges in the next couple of weeks...

After a frustrating day dealing with Orange customer service, who messed up when I wanted to change my Orange PAYG "Canary" package(100 free mins to any network/landline for a month, eves and w/ends, with £10 T/U) to the "Camel" package (60 mins international calls for £10 T/U), I accidently discovered that I can call my girlfriend's T-mobile phone in Spain from my Orange "Canary" SIMS(I have two of them) and it comes of my 100 free mins, not touching my actual credit balance!!(however, she is probably still charged for receiving the calls).

Therefore I didn't need a Camel international package at all, and even from my landline it would be at least 40 pence per minute to her mobile. I can see nothing on the website about the Canary package working to phones abroad like this; I assumed it was to phones in the UK only.

I don't know if this works for all networks as I only know one person abroad at the moment, but I've got a relative going to France next week so I hope so.

Hope this is seen by someone who also wants to call UK based mobile to Europe based mobile and it works for them - pity it's an end of summer discovery!

farhan_naz

I have to work, her in doors and my children will be there when I'm sweating away back at home, I will want to call/text and receive calls when I am there.

buglawton

I would say that your phone provider does not 'know' which country any UK Mobile number is currently roaming in. So the cost is hte same as calling a UK mobile. For example, being on the basic Virgin Media landline package, I can call any Virgin mobile phone for free at weekends, even if it is in, say, France.

1_angry_bee

Dont know if anyone else has picked up on this, there is a sim designed for the yachting community (my parents sail) called gymsim, works out on average cheaper than most for most countries (depending on what you use your phone for most) e.g. go sim, sim4travel etc. Worth a look.

Bob_the_Saver

1_angry_bee wrote: »

Dont know if anyone else has picked up on this, there is a sim designed for the yachting community (my parents sail) called gymsim, works out on average cheaper than most for most countries (depending on what you use your phone for most) e.g. go sim, sim4travel etc. Worth a look.

GYMSIM say they charge 29 Euro cents to send a text from From France to the UK when I just looked :eek: its only 11p with Asda mobile.

Also add in their surcharges
http://gymsim.com/pdfs/Rates_surcharges.pdf :eek: :eek: :eek:

Ziggy_Stardust

1_angry_bee wrote: »

Dont know if anyone else has picked up on this, there is a sim designed for the yachting community (my parents sail) called gymsim, works out on average cheaper than most for most countries (depending on what you use your phone for most) e.g. go sim, sim4travel etc. Worth a look.

Hmmm your first ever post too

jaygomez

I think the cheapest way to call when abroad depends on your needs and the destination numbers. Nonetheless, VoIP seems the way to go although getting a calling card looks like the easiest way as you just dial an access number, your pin and the destination number and of you go making your first overseas call in 1 minute flat. Having said that, I use prepaid VoIP service from Onesuite and it gives me good rates to most countries. Good rates means its like cheaper than Skype or at least the same.

So know your needs and compare the rates and check its reputation over the internet. I'm pretty sure you'll get what you need.

jago25_98

Norway case study:

Found a shop called `Elkj0p`,
bought both a telenor sim and a Netcom sim (packed with a USB modem I didn't need but saved me the journey to get the sim on it's own)

...
took them both back to where I am staying... the telenor sim stopped my phone from turning on(don't know why).. and the Netcom came online but wouldn't go to any websites.

Took back to the shop and found there's lots of identification checks to do.

So, make sure you got ID with you (driving license, international driving license or passport) and try to see it working before you leave the shop.

The service in Norway was fantastic but not so easy in other countries so be prepared with a print out of what you need before hand.

The data allowance here is very low; very low on telenor, less so on the data dedicated netcom. Bear this in mind if wanting to make VoIP calls.

Another option with the local sim is using a local access number, or initiating the call online. This I do with VoIPcheap.co.uk
Finally, don't leave yourself logged into gmail or use basic http because that will suck your data allowance. Ditto for skype and other IM - keep an eye on that bottom left hand corner network activity light - shouldn't be lit if not in use.

This will save you a lot of money.

Hope this helps


-j

zhatorna65

Ziggy_Stardust wrote: »

http://www.simstogo.co.uk/index.php

Hi Ziggy, great review thanks.

How about SMS charges, did your daughter send many? I looked on the website but they only seem to quote call charges.

The prices look really good (I'm looking for something to use in India)

cheers

Ziggy_Stardust

zhatorna65 wrote: »

Hi Ziggy, great review thanks.

How about SMS charges, did your daughter send many? I looked on the website but they only seem to quote call charges.

The prices look really good (I'm looking for something to use in India)

cheers

I think they were about 35/40p, they didn't show up on the on-line statement but I was able to estimate them from the previous balance. We tended to use the phone as it was cheaper .