cell phone usage in the UK

[Luanne]

Dd and I are trying to figure out her best option for the two weeks she's in the UK. For those of you who have traveled there, what did you do? Change your plan to include international, buy a new sim card, buy a prepaid phone when there? She mostly wants to be able to get in touch with the person she's staying with, not to call us at home.

TIA

 

[dougp26364]

After being stuck in Barcelona without an international cell phone (very long story), we purchased an international phone from http://www.mobal.com/ . They sell two versions, one for $49 and another for $99. The difference is the number of countries in which they will work.

Essentially, you pay for the phone and then there are no other fee's unless you use the phone. There is a per minute fee that varies from country to country.

At the time we purchased the phone, it was cost prohibitive to to buy a phone that would accept an international sims card and pay international calling fee's. Things have since changed and the latest blackberry phone my wife has already has a sims card for international calls. I haven't looked into it but I think it's probably going to be less expensive for use to use her new Blackberry Storm than the phone we purchased from Mobal but, we'll take both phones when we are out of the country anyway.

The one time we needed the Mobal phone was in Ireland. It worked very well and was, IMO, cost effective compared to the options at the time. If this is a one time need and you daughter isn't going to spend hours on the phone during her stay, the Mobal phone may be a cost effective option for you. You'll have to check out the per minute prices on their website and check out the options offered by your current cell phone provider to determine which is the most cost effective and easiest to use for your needs.

 

[Luanne]

Thanks. Right now with AT&T it looks like her options are to add an international plan for $5.00 (not sure if that's one time or the monthly fee) that will give her a discount on the per minute price. It looks like it's still around $1.00 per minute. She's also been told she can "unlock" her existing phone and purchase a SIM card in the UK for somewhere around 10 - 15 pounds. But, don't know if there are additional charges with that.

She only wants to be able to call within the UK and possibly Belgium. We've told her we don't expect to hear from her while she's gone, unless it's an emergency.

I guess it would depend on the cost per minute in addition to the $49 phone whether that would be more cost effective than just adding the international plan to what she has now.

 

[scotlass]

We love our mobal phone and purchased the $99 one so that we can use it here in the US as well as most countries around the world. Not cheap for the calls, but we only use it when necessary. Otherwise we have an MCI phone card purchased at BJ's (Costco would have them as well). In the UK we call an access number, then make calls home. The rate is about 9 cents a minute. Great for long calls but not always available from hotel phones. We had the best luck with pay phones. Since you dial a UK equivalent of an 800 number, there is no additional charge for the call.

 

["Roger"]

The ATT fee is a monthly fee.

I would recommend the mobal phone. You never know when you might be going on another trip. Buy the $99 phone however. It includes $40 of credit towards phone calls so it really is just about the same price as the cheaper one. (When I bought, it was $50 of credit, so the two phones were really the same price after making $50 of phone calls.)

 

[djs]

I purchased a local SIM card when in Ireland and it was very resonable and convenient. This essentially gave me a local number, and then calls within Ireland were also local. Economically, this was the best deal for me. If it's important that you can still be reached on your current number then perhaps an international plan will work, but I think it will still be expensive. With the card I had, minutes to the US were still cheap; I found that checking my voicemail once or twice a day worked just fine and then I could reach anyone I had to.

 

[Luanne]

I'm still trying to figure out why the Mobel phone at a cost of $49 or $99 plus usage of around $1.25/minute (if I was reading it correctly on their website) would be better than her using her existing phone, adding the international plan for one month at $5.00 and having the usage be $0.99/minute?

Unlocking the phone and purchasing the SIM card might be cheaper, she'd just need to figure out where to purchase one after she arrives.

 

[djs]

Unlocking the phone and purchasing the SIM card might be cheaper, she'd just need to figure out where to purchase one after she arrives.

I actually purchased one on the internet before leaving which worked out fine, but when I got to Ireland I found that they can be purchased at virtually every gas station, supermarket and convenience store. One drawback to that is she wouldn't know her local number until she purchased the card over there; another one is that the numbers she currently has stored in her SIM card would not carry over to the new one. That last issue wasn't really much of an issue for me as the main purpose of getting the local card was to make calls within Ireland and not back to the US.

As far as the first point you make, I agree with your math/thinking (if those are indeed the correct numbers).

 

[bizaro86]

I know you said you weren't expecting to hear from her while she's gone, but one option for calling home from Europe is the small local businesses that work like internet cafes, but for long distance calling. I recall that the one across the road from our hotel in London was very reasonable, much less than a dollar a minute.

Michael

 

[beanb41]

First up I would ascertain if her current phone is unlocked or locked to her network. If it is locked get it unlocked. Purchase a local SIM card thus avoiding roaming charges which are the killer on international cell phones.
She can send an SMS/TXT message message home and Voila home has her new number. This way she also keeps all the addresses on her old phone.
We are fortunate in NZ as all GMS phones are unlocked.

 

["Roger"]

I'm still trying to figure out why the Mobel phone at a cost of $49 or $99 plus usage of around $1.25/minute (if I was reading it correctly on their website) would be better than her using her existing phone, adding the international plan for one month at $5.00 and having the usage be $0.99/minute?

Unlocking the phone and purchasing the SIM card might be cheaper, she'd just need to figure out where to purchase one after she arrives.

I might be wrong (call and ask), but I believe when you sign up for one of the international packages, you are committed to it for a year.

 

[Luanne]

I might be wrong (call and ask), but I believe when you sign up for one of the international packages, you are committed to it for a year.

Thanks. I think dd said she was told something like she could cancel after 3 months. But, we'll check to be sure.

 

[Luanne]

First up I would ascertain if her current phone is unlocked or locked to her network. If it is locked get it unlocked. Purchase a local SIM card thus avoiding roaming charges which are the killer on international cell phones.
She can send an SMS/TXT message message home and Voila home has her new number. This way she also keeps all the addresses on her old phone.
We are fortunate in NZ as all GMS phones are unlocked.

She was told she would need to call and get it unlocked first. Thanks.

 

[isisdave]

I got this plan. It was cheap and worked great. They'll only send the free SIM cards to a UK address, so have them send it to her friend. She'll get a UK number you can call her on if you like.

You need an unlocked GSM phone. That means, if you have a US phone, it's on AT&T or T-mobile, the only GSM carriers in the US. If it's not unlocked, you can find info to unlock many models by Googling. Some sites give info for free, others charge a few bucks.

Or you can buy a used phone on eBay if you have enough time. Search for "unlocked GSM".

There are other approaches, but for a two-week visit you can't beat this. She can leave the SIM card with her friend for the next visitor.

 

[x3 skier]

Another option is a "Pay as you Go" with either a Phone and SIM or just a SIM with an unlocked phone. Carphone Warehouse, O2, Orange and others have many plans. Just Google and you will get lots of choices.

I bought an unlocked phone on eBay and got a SIM in the UK. Cheapest way I found. Just make sure it is either GSM Quad Band. As an alternative, you can get one that covers the European Bands.

Cheers

 

[Luanne]

Thanks all. After talking to dd I think she's going to get the International plan. She feels more comfortable keeping her existing number and not having to worry about whether her phone is locked, or unlocked and getting a sim card. She plans to be responsible with using the phone so I'm not too worried about her running up the charges.

 

[x3 skier]

Thanks all. After talking to dd I think she's going to get the International plan. She feels more comfortable keeping her existing number and not having to worry about whether her phone is locked, or unlocked and getting a sim card. She plans to be responsible with using the phone so I'm not too worried about her running up the charges.

Good Luck, they can get expensive very, very fast. Just tell her to stop in any phone store and see what they offer. Its much easier in Europe to get cheap phones and service than the states since Cell phones were (and are) much easier to get and use than traditional land lines over there.

Cheers

 

[Luanne]

Good Luck, they can get expensive very, very fast. Just tell her to stop in any phone store and see what they offer. Its much easier in Europe to get cheap phones and service than the states since Cell phones were (and are) much easier to get and use than traditional land lines over there.

Cheers

I'll mention that to her. I think at this point she's still somewhat overwhelmed with the whole trip thing as it will be her first time in the UK. She will most likely talk to the friend she'll be staying with and see if she has any suggestions as well.

 

[MaryH]

Remember, you also need to check if her current cell phone charger works for 240V and also need plug adapter for UK and Europe.

I have 3-4 GSM cell phones. I puchased in NZ, another in Germany and 2 in UK. NZ was not that cheap nor was Germany but the UK ones I purchased for about GBP 20 including some air credits / SIM cards. I prefer Orange on Camel PAYE plans which have good phone set deals (not great phones but get the job done) and decent deal for calls (10p for Uk and 5P for US/Canada).

 

[Luanne]

Remember, you also need to check if her current cell phone charger works for 240V and also need plug adapter for UK and Europe.

She has an adapter. She's taking the one her dad used when he was in Europe.