cell phones and travel

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.
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Yeah, but you forgot to mention that you built them yourself. :D

-Rich
 
aranpura said:
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)
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Did you buy an unlocked iphone directly from Apple, or did you buy it from T-Mobile and then have it unlocked? I already have T-Mobile service.
Thanks for the info.
 
My every day phone is a Droid Maxx on Verizon Wireless which I took to Europe. For $4.99 a month, I got to use my phone. For an additional $25, I got to use all the data. We were in Amsterdam on a layover with full connectivity. And every where we went in Scotland we had connectivity.
 
bluee said:
Did you buy an unlocked iphone directly from Apple, or did you buy it from T-Mobile and then have it unlocked? I already have T-Mobile service.
Thanks for the info.
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It was unlocked when I bought it from T-Mobile, but I paid the unsubsidized price (around $580 I think). No additional unlocking needed.
 
aranpura said:
It was unlocked when I bought it from T-Mobile, but I paid the unsubsidized price (around $580 I think). No additional unlocking needed.
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I just asked T-Mobile about that. They told me that even the unsubsidized price is locked, and I would have to pay it off before they would unlock it. Or just buy it outright, instead of their $20/month pay off plan. Interestingly, the unsubsidized price is about $70 or so less than buying an unlocked iphone from Apple.
 
jsnapp said:
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.
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Well it let me use my data there. If not roaming, it was at least permissive routing of the packets back to ATTs network.
 
EdFred said:
I guess my question is, if you aren't going there for work, why the "need" to stay connected? Enjoy the silence.
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Some people want to stay connected. Why do you seem to care so much if they do? I don't think that someone going on vacation has to do it in a way that meets your approval. :dunno:
 
bluee said:
I just asked T-Mobile about that. They told me that even the unsubsidized price is locked, and I would have to pay it off before they would unlock it. Or just buy it outright, instead of their $20/month pay off plan. Interestingly, the unsubsidized price is about $70 or so less than buying an unlocked iphone from Apple.
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Ah, I should have been more clear -- I didn't use the $20/month plan, I just bought outright. It is a bit cheaper than buying through Apple, and the resale value of an unlocked iPhone is excellent.
 
aranpura said:
Ah, I should have been more clear -- I didn't use the $20/month plan, I just bought outright. It is a bit cheaper than buying through Apple, and the resale value of an unlocked iPhone is excellent.
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I never thought of that! Great idea. How do you sell it?
 
Maxmosbey said:
Some people want to stay connected. Why do you seem to care so much if they do? I don't think that someone going on vacation has to do it in a way that meets your approval. :dunno:
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Why do you care why I care? :confused:
 
Maxmosbey said:
You just seemed so judgemental. I felt like he was having to defend himself because he wanted to use his phone on vacation. Just siding with him.
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He wasn't defending himself. Mostly because he is a she.
 
EdFred said:
He wasn't defending himself. Mostly because he is a she.
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OK, whatever. He,she,it doesn't make any difference, if someone wants to stay in touch on vacation it is fine with me. I guess if you want to lecture them on it, what business is it of mine? Sorry. :dunno:
 
Some pilots at my airline use local SIM cards in a dedicated unlocked phone.

Others try to cut a deal with their cell phone carrier.

Internet gets better and better all the time in Germany, so some guys use Skype or Magicjack.

Others use a pay phone and local calling cards.
 
I found that there are plenty of places to mooch some wifi access from to receive and send emails via my blackberry. For local voice, a local gsm phone with a prepaid card is the best option. In the past, I have taken my vonage box along, works just fine if you have internet access.
 
Pirep update:

I recently returned from a month in Europe. A few months ago I purchased an unlocked iphone 5s from Apple, and have been using in on T-Moble. Their data plans are now free worldwide, and I took ample use of that. I used my new iphone for two weeks in London, then a week in Germany, and a week in the Czech Republic and Austria, and it worked great everywhere. Internet access was very helpful with traveling and finding last minute hotels a few times, also for directions. I made quite a few phone calls, and at 20 cents a minute did not have to worry about it. I am very happy with the T-Mobile service. I criss-crossed countries several times and it was great that I didn't have to change sim cards.
 
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