Stay Connected When Overseas - Without Going Broke

When planning for a trip to Europe recently, I put a lot of thought into what was the easiest and most economical way to call home.  I decided on an international phone card that for $20.00, would give me 500 hundred minutes of talk time to the U.S. from abroad.  I brought my cell phone just in case and I checked with my cellular provider as to how much the texting and roaming feeswould be if I used it.  On my particular plan, texting from abroad would be $.50 per message and calling from Europe would incur a $1.25 per minute roaming charge PLUS any long distance charges.  I felt confident I had made the right choice with my phone card.  The card company provided me a local access number for each country I was traveling to as well as a toll free number that I could use instead of the local one.  Upon arrival, I realized very quickly that this phone card was too good to be true and I can’t even blame the phone card company for my dismay….

Unbeknown to me, the pay phones in Europe make it very difficult for you to use your phone card!  I was not able to dial the local OR international access number for my phone card.  At first I thought it was MY particular card that was at fault, but everyone accompanying me on the tour was experiencing a similar problem.  Out of desperation, I called home by using my cell phone to dial the phone card access number.  Although I didn’t incur long distance charges on my cell bill, I DID have to pay $1.25 per minute roaming.  Needless to say, my bill that month was A LOT more than I would have liked. 

If I were to do this over again, here is what I would do differently:

• Only use a phone card provider that others have tried and SUCCESSFULLY used.
• Pay phones are difficult.  Find out ahead of time, how much your hotel charges for calling local or toll free access numbers.
• Possibly consider switching my current mobile plan to an international plan for the time that I would be abroad.
• Instead purchase an international mobile phone.  These phones usually have a flat pay-per-minute rate with no recurring monthly charges.  The per minute rate is typically cheaper than what your mobile provider charges.

One of the other things that I didn’t think about was the best way to communicate with my husband who was also on the trip.  We both brought our cell phones and we did use texting to “talk” if we each went our own way during an outing.  Since texting was $.50 per message, it would cost us a dollar every time we “talked”.  Many times we were at opposite ends of a store or museum.  Next time, I will plan on taking a 2 way radio set.  These “walkie-talkie” type devices would have been perfect as most have a 5 to 10 mile range, are inexpensive to purchase, and talking is FREE!

 

Technorati Tags: international mobile, international cell phone, calling overseas, long distance phone card, 2 way radio

 

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