cell phones and travel

bluee

bluee

Line Up and Wait
Joined
May 20, 2010
Messages
753
Location
VA
Display Name
Display name:
AL
We go to Europe once or twice a year to visit family, and so far have just been using a regular cell phone, but the roaming is getting expensive, and that does not include data. The last time, we used an iPad also, but wireless access was spotty to nonexistent, so it was not as helpful as we expected. I've been considering buying an unlocked iPhone and getting a local sim card in Germany. Anyone do this, or have any other ideas? Thanks.
 
just get a pre-pay phone whan you get there
 
What did people do when they went to Europe 20 and 30 years ago?
 
EdFred said:
What did people do when they went to Europe 20 and 30 years ago?
Click to expand...

I lived there twenty years ago. No cell phones, no internet, only expensive phone calls or letters that took a week to get there. It was isolating.
 
Yep, you can either get a prepaid phone, or if you have a phone that is not subject to a subsidy lock you can just swap the SIM in your phone for a prepaid one obtained in that country.

Oddly enough, a decade ago I took my smartphone to Australia. It worked just about everywhere there was something approximating a town (and we were in some very small places) for both voice and data. While I didn't make too many voice calls so I wasn't too worried about the roaming charges (probably about a buck a minute) but I did read my email a lot and worried about what that was going to bring...

NADA. I guess ATT and the Australian phone guys hadn't yet got their act together. I never saw a data roam charge.
 
JHW said:
just get a pre-pay phone whan you get there
Click to expand...

Yeah I could, but I'd like a smartphone, and I need a new one anyway, so that's why I was thinking of buying an unlocked iphone.
 
bluee said:
I lived there twenty years ago. No cell phones, no internet, only expensive phone calls or letters that took a week to get there. It was isolating.
Click to expand...

And you evidently survived the experience. Maybe it's me, but when I go on vacation I don't want people to reach me.
 
EdFred said:
And you evidently survived the experience. Maybe it's me, but when I go on vacation I don't want people to reach me.
Click to expand...

Visiting in-laws over there is not really a vacation. And they don't have computers (seriously!) and so no internet. It's like it was twenty or so years ago, or when we visited cousins in Eastern Germany, it was like a time warp. Sometimes I want a link to civilization.
 
That's the cheapest best way I used that company telestial a few times its annoying but cheap u call it hangs up rings bak u pick up and it's ringing to whoever u called but get local sims are cheaper prepaid ones. Or mainly just use wifi and make free calls or just get data local SIM card and use your phone to make calls with one of the many apps viber or whatever..
 
ScottM said:
20 Years ago I had a cellphone that worked in Europe and a european phone number. 30 years ago I had a pager that worked in Europe and the US.
Click to expand...

Fine, 40 years ago. :p

We've become too dependent on "needing" to be connected.
 
bluee said:
I lived there twenty years ago. No cell phones, no internet, only expensive phone calls or letters that took a week to get there. It was isolating.
Click to expand...

Cellular was in Europe in the 1980's several countries in Europe deployed their commercial network before the first network in the US (Chicago with Ameritech, now AT&T). 20 years ago there definitely were cellphones. There also was Internet too! You forget that the WWW was developed at CERN outside of Geneva Switzerland and was added onto the already existing text based Internet of the time. That happened in the very early 1990's.
 
Last edited:
ScottM said:
Cellular was in Europe in the 1980's. 20 years ago there definitely were cellphones. There also was Internet too! You forget that the WWW was developed at CERN outside of Geneva Switzerland and was added onto the already existing text based Internet of the time. That happened in the very early 1990's.
Click to expand...

Back in those days, CompuServe was a big dog. I used to maintain CIS long after I moved off of them in the States primarily for the fact that they had POPs pretty much everywhere I went - a local call in Europe to the PoP could be cheap or expensive, but as I recall, CIS paid for some of the charges (and had toll-free pops in places like CH).
 
As for the original question: yes, you can get local SIMs in the country you're visiting. I keep an active local SIM for Italy (I bring home top-up cards and add every 6-12 months). I've also done the local SIM thing in Spain, Turkey, and the UK. It's a LOT cheaper than roaming on a US plan.

Check out the forums on PrepaidGSM.net.

If you're just going for a couple of days, it's easier to turn on Int'l roaming data on either Verizon or ATT. While more expensive than a local SIM, it's not outrageous & gives you enough smartphone data to make it worthwhile.
 
bluee said:
Yeah I could, but I'd like a smartphone, and I need a new one anyway, so that's why I was thinking of buying an unlocked iphone.
Click to expand...

I don't know about iPhone's in particular, but ATT frequently will give you the codes to unlock your phone locked to them if you are a customer in good standing and tell them you need it for international travel.

Make sure your phone is compatible with where you're going or just buy or rent one there. My quad band GSM phone worked well in Australia and would in Europe. The newer 3G ones also have the band needed for Japan.

If you're on T-Moble or ATT you're in good shape. If you're on Verizon and have a LATER (LTE) phone you may do well. If you have a sprint phone, it's pretty much useless. Verizon at least used to make world phones which used their US stuff + had a GSM SIM for international use.
 
ScottM said:
Cellular was in Europe in the 1980's several countries in Europe deployed their commercial network before the first network in the US (Chicago with Ameritech, now AT&T). 20 years ago there definitely were cellphones. There also was Internet too! You forget that the WWW was developed at CERN outside of Geneva Switzerland and was added onto the already existing text based Internet of the time. That happened in the very early 1990's.
Click to expand...

Okay fine, maybe I should have said that twenty years ago I was a poor student and could not afford an expensive (at the time) cell phone, nor could I afford new (at the time) internet.
 
An unlocked phone and a SIM for wherever you are works well. Specifically though, an iPhone is probably not the way to go, they are much more expensive than the local smart phone products. Europe has SIM that work most everywhere. In Asia you need more "country specific" SIM cards but they are dirt cheap. A local only number and a phone card is the cheapest way but can be a hassle. Just remember to label them....
 
EdFred said:
Fine, 40 years ago. :p

We've become too dependent on "needing" to be connected.
Click to expand...

Well, 42 years ago if I needed to say something to someone in the US I sent a letter or postcard. We were too busy sightseeing around Europe to care about calling someone. :D
 
You should check out Viber - it's an app similar to Skype and other messenger programs but instead of creating a random username, you use your cell phone number, and you and whoever else is using it is automatically connected to it as long as its installed on the phone, so no forgetting to log in. It will make a phone call, number to number, using the data network or wireless connection vs. the cell network.

Where I travel, everybody uses it, and I'm almost always in a wireless hotspot unless I'm traveling, so I don't even bother getting a local phone number. And it's free. Just like Skype, I can do Viber to Viber calls to stateside numbers, or anyplace else for free as long as I have a data connection or a wireless hotspot.
 
If you go to Flyertalk, you will find a plethora of threads about using a smart phone in Europe.

I used to carry a cheap phone I bought on eBay and used a local SIM that is usually cheap.

Now I use a mifi with a data SIM purchased locally and use Skype for calls/texts to/from the States. Works fine. If you want local calling, try the first solution or just go bankrupt using your current phone with roaming. :yes:

Cheers
 
Ghery said:
Well, 42 years ago if I needed to say something to someone in the US I sent a letter or postcard. We were too busy sightseeing around Europe to care about calling someone. :D
Click to expand...
I "sightsee" in europe several times a month, but since the inside of a conference room looks pretty much the same everywhere, I'm happy to have an iphone that works there.
 
EdFred said:
What did people do when they went to Europe 20 and 30 years ago?
Click to expand...
Prepaid phone cards. They were around in Europe 30 years ago.

Either that or a big pile of coins for the pay phone. It helps that Europe has higher denomination coins than the US. DM5 was worth about $2 the first time I went there (1985), and that was a readily available coin. Dollar devaluation made those even higher value prior to the Euro.

International phone calls were expensive at the time, so you avoided them unless truly necessary. When necessary, you made them FAST.
 
Last edited:
I guess my question is, if you aren't going there for work, why the "need" to stay connected? Enjoy the silence.
 
EdFred said:
I guess my question is, if you aren't going there for work, why the "need" to stay connected? Enjoy the silence.
Click to expand...

Because I want the diversion to keep the in-laws from driving me insane. Internet, email, phone, all good things.
 
bluee said:
Because I want the diversion to keep the in-laws from driving me insane. Internet, email, phone, all good things.
Click to expand...

So are walks, hikes, a bicycle ride, and that keeps them from interrupting you.
 
flyingron said:
Yep, you can either get a prepaid phone, or if you have a phone that is not subject to a subsidy lock you can just swap the SIM in your phone for a prepaid one obtained in that country.

Oddly enough, a decade ago I took my smartphone to Australia. It worked just about everywhere there was something approximating a town (and we were in some very small places) for both voice and data. While I didn't make too many voice calls so I wasn't too worried about the roaming charges (probably about a buck a minute) but I did read my email a lot and worried about what that was going to bring...

NADA. I guess ATT and the Australian phone guys hadn't yet got their act together. I never saw a data roam charge.
Click to expand...

The voice rates are about the same as they were then. The reason you did not beta data roam charge is there was no data roaming back in 2003. Only voice roaming.

Wth an iPhone with AT&T, you can call them up and they will unlock it so you can put a prepaid sim into it from the country you are within. that is the cheapest way to make calls, sometimes data still becomes a bigger challenge. also remember the SIM cards are different with the 4 (mini Sim ) and 5 (micro sim). those sims are a bit harder to find but you can make them with a good pair of scissors.
 
EdFred said:
So are walks, hikes, a bicycle ride, and that keeps them from interrupting you.
Click to expand...

Okay, what I am saying is that every year I have to waste time and money going to a place I don't want to go to, to see people I don't want to see. I have wasted all the time I want walking around that miserable little town. I hate that place. I hate it. It is not vacation.
 
EdFred said:
Court ordered travel? :rofl:
Click to expand...

Elderly family members who of course never leave the homeland but expect others to visit them. God forbid she should ever leave her town.
 
bluee said:
Elderly family members who of course never leave the homeland but expect others to visit them. God forbid she should ever leave her town.
Click to expand...

Still don't see the issue. Send the kiddo with dad.
 
JHW said:
I "sightsee" in europe several times a month, but since the inside of a conference room looks pretty much the same everywhere, I'm happy to have an iphone that works there.
Click to expand...

Fortunately, I only go there 2 or 3 times a year. But I'm glad to have a phone that works there, too. Like you, my trips these days aren't sightseeing trips, either.
 
We are in the UK several times every year to see family. We have an older unlocked AT&T iPhone 3GS and when in Britain we use a contract-free SIM card from Virgin Mobile. We've just bought a new iPhone 5 from T-mobile that lets us do the same. Verizon and AT&T phones are locked until your contract is up, and the advantage of a contract-free, unlocked phone is why we went with T-mobile.

In the UK, you can get SIM cards just about anywhere. You could go with a prepaid card, or a contract-free month-to-month plan. We use the latter, it's much cheaper and more convenient.

(by the way, I usually get a pre-paid card for my iPad as well, both in Britain and in Germany. I have a little wallet in which I keep all the spare SIM cards, and I swap them in and out as I travel)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top