what to do about mobile on round world trip?

TeaBoy_2

setting off on my jaunt this friday but confused about what i should do with regards mobile phone.

i'm travelling around asia, america and aussie with a long stay in new zealand. i want to be able to keep in touch with travel companions more than phoning home and will only be using the odd text message and emergency call.

i'm currently on three network in the middle of an 18 month contract but the fees for using it in these countries seem expensive. should i get local sim cards while travelling? if this is the case it seems my nokia 6280 is hard to unlock from 3 and my old phone is dual band rather than triband, will that make a difference.

if i do stick with 3, does anyone know if i can block incoming and outgoing calls? have a habit of losing phones and if it falls into the wrong hands i dread to think how much they could rack up in charges. ideally i'd like to be restricted to just phone calls to a handful of numbers but i guess this is asking too much?

wish i hadn't left all this to last minute, any advice much appreciated.

tb

rickyc_3

I would say for what you are wanting pick up as pay as you go sim, maybe even from 3. Dual band Triband issue means that if it is not triband if wont work in the states. ring three and ask if they can stop the contract until you come back or transfer to the minum tariff.
A local sim is good but only if spending time in one country for a long period of time.
Not sure about the blocking of calls sorry.

Sid_Harper

Look at something like sim4travel or 0044.co.uk which give you free incoming calls in a lot of countries. I think sim4travel uses a Liechstenstein number so for your mates to call you they need to dial an international number, but the other one is an 07 number but Jersey/Isle of Man so may get charged by some as more than a standard UK 07 mobile.

rickyc_3

but in his post he said he did not want to sat in touch with home.

Sid_Harper

rickyc wrote: »

but in his post he said he did not want to sat in touch with home.

But it's free to *receive* calls in many countries this way and it's one SIM card/number for people to have to ring. He said he didn't want to phone home so often - not cutting off contact altogether by not receiving incoming!

Else you keep buying local SIMs, changing numbers, and losing the credit each time you go to another country. What a pain!

It's been left a bit late, though the 6280 might be unlockable by someone on the free unlock sticky thread on here. Dual band might be OK though - it's only really the US, Japan and Korea I think that are not so standard but I could be wrong.

TeaBoy_2

thanks for replies. those internaional sims would be ideal but i just dont have the time to get one and wont be stopping anywhere long enough to have it delivered.
i'll take my old phone and buy sims locally, give 3 a call and see if i can suspend my contract.

rickyc_3

also look into pay as you go mate.