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How to Use Your Phone Internationally- Without Breaking the Bank

M

MULTIZ321

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We just purchased two new IPHONE SE 3's from Walmart on the Straight Talk plan and they do not have international roaming or anything that allows you to make calls when overseas. We plan to rely on wifi when in Italy and also bring our MOBAL flip phone that is specifically for making calls in foreign countries just on case. I have to activate it as we get close to the trip since haven;t used it for many years.

I am always thinking how did people used to travel all over the globe before cell phones? Somehow they survived.
 
We use wifi calling most of the time. Also have the $10/day Verizon option for data and phone. I activate the plan on days where we need gps. Not for calls.
 
Most T-mobile plans have free text and data when in foreign countries. My plan is $30/mo. and it has worked great; in the past year we have visited about 10 different countries and it worked everywhere. Phone calls are $0.25/min if you need it, but who needs to make phone calls back home when traveling? Text is all we needed, but I suppose we could have used whatsapp or something similar if we really needed.

Kurt
 
WinniWoman said:
We plan to rely on wifi when in Italy and also bring our MOBAL flip phone that is specifically for making calls in foreign countries just on case. I have to activate it as we get close to the trip since haven;t used it for many years.
Click to expand...
My other half had to get a new flip phone as Verizon was retiring the 3G system last year. Hope your mobal flip phone will work still
 
Tia said:
My other half had to get a new flip phone as Verizon was retiring the 3G system last year. Hope your mobal flip phone will work still
Click to expand...
If not we will just have to depend on wi fi. At least we will be with a tour group most of the time.
 
We switched to T-Mobile from Verizon about a year ago and are so glad we did. Our phones now work seamlessly overseas. We both have phones we got through Verizon and before this, we were going through the hassle of getting SIM cards when overseas. Although this can be done relatively cheaply ($20 SIM cards for 30 days of limited data), we were constantly running into issues with multi-country itineraries. Even though we have "unlocked" phones, when we purchased a SIM card that was supposed to work throughout the EU, we were finding that once we went to the second country, the SIM card would stop working. We'd end up spending vacation time trying to trouble shoot the problem (you could not edit the Access Point Name under Mobile Networks, which the overseas carriers said was a Verizon issue). Inevitably, we'd need to purchase a new SIM card in the next country, which turned out to be problematic if you were driving (GPS would stop working) or taking the train (SIM cards not as readily available).

Verizon's international plan is a joke. Even though we were pretty happy with their domestic plan, we finally said "enough" and switched to T-Mobile. Have not regretted it. It is even cheaper than what we were paying for Verizon, and we get international coverage and unlimited data. We used to have to manage the data among 5 family members with Verizon.
 
I used WiFi Calling in Europe when needed. No problem or extra charges that I've noticed.

ATT considers Mexico and Canada the same as the USA for calling, text and data.
 
I have AT&T, so on my last trip I just used them for messaging when needed. I notified them in advance, but their $10/day plan (free after ten days) would have kicked in anyway upon first use overseas. It was seamless and it worked everywhere. For $100 over a 3.5-week trip, the convenience was worth it for me.
 
I have Xfinity and activated the $5/day international travel pass for Mexico for a recent trip. Somehow that didn't work out the way I wanted it and now have $125 of roaming charges. Good times.
 
We've had T-Mobile. Very happy and relatively seamless international travel for text and data.

If you call using a hotel wifi, does that cost money the T-mobile plan?
 
CalGalTraveler said:
We've had T-Mobile. Very happy and relatively seamless international travel for text and data.

If you call using a hotel wifi, does that cost money the T-mobile plan?
Click to expand...
If you use WhatsApp or something similar, there would be no charge. I believe T-mobile treats cell or wifi calling the same (since the call is being routed through the T-mobile service) so it would be $0.25/min.

Kurt
 
Thanks @PigsDad. So sounds like I should use skype or ??? with wifi to avoid fees. Never used WhatsApp. Does that call landlines for free?
 
Having done both wifi-only calling and having an interntational data/phone plan, I found the latter significantly more convenient. Yes it costs a few bucks, but those are easy dollars for me to spend.
 
Oh, it’s October so it must be time for another one of these threads.


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WinniWoman said:
We just purchased two new IPHONE SE 3's from Walmart on the Straight Talk plan and they do not have international roaming or anything that allows you to make calls when overseas. We plan to rely on wifi when in Italy and also bring our MOBAL flip phone that is specifically for making calls in foreign countries just on case. I have to activate it as we get close to the trip since haven;t used it for many years.

I am always thinking how did people used to travel all over the globe before cell phones? Somehow they survived.
Click to expand...
Didn’t MOBAL either go out of business or stop using the old flip phone? I got info from them quite a while ago and tossed the flip phone. I really liked that plan too.
 
regatta333 said:
We switched to T-Mobile from Verizon about a year ago and are so glad we did. Our phones now work seamlessly overseas. We both have phones we got through Verizon and before this, we were going through the hassle of getting SIM cards when overseas. Although this can be done relatively cheaply ($20 SIM cards for 30 days of limited data), we were constantly running into issues with multi-country itineraries. Even though we have "unlocked" phones, when we purchased a SIM card that was supposed to work throughout the EU, we were finding that once we went to the second country, the SIM card would stop working. We'd end up spending vacation time trying to trouble shoot the problem (you could not edit the Access Point Name under Mobile Networks, which the overseas carriers said was a Verizon issue). Inevitably, we'd need to purchase a new SIM card in the next country, which turned out to be problematic if you were driving (GPS would stop working) or taking the train (SIM cards not as readily available).

Verizon's international plan is a joke. Even though we were pretty happy with their domestic plan, we finally said "enough" and switched to T-Mobile. Have not regretted it. It is even cheaper than what we were paying for Verizon, and we get international coverage and unlimited data. We used to have to manage the data among 5 family members with Verizon.
Click to expand...
I should do the same thing too.
 
JudyH said:
Didn’t MOBAL either go out of business or stop using the old flip phone? I got info from them quite a while ago and tossed the flip phone. I really liked that plan too.
Click to expand...
Actually I just took it out to charge it. It’s not a flip phone- my midruse- just a tiny phone with keys. I have no idea if they are in business or not. Last I heard they deactivated phones not in use but you can call reactivate when you need to. I’ve been charging this thing every 3 months for years but we haven’t travelled internationally. lol!
 
JudyH said:
I should do the same thing too.
Click to expand...
We made the switch last year before the holidays. They were running a great promotion. Each one of the five of us got a $200 incentive to make the switch.
 
Still saving lots of $$ with Mint Mobile in the US ($180 per year for 5GB/mth) and a Western Europe eSIM for data, good for lifetime use with annual top up as little as $3. So happy I left t-mobile a few years ago, pay ~$2/GB for Europe data and no per day fees, and my US mobile number is always available wherever I am since it works over the European eSIM connection.

If you visit Europe more than once a year, as I do, it’s worth finding a solution that’s less expensive, more flexible, and easy to manage. I just spent 26 days in Europe and used ~12GB so it only cost me ~$24 for 5G speeds. Doesn’t get much cheaper, easier, or better.


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One thing to think about when considering signing up with one of those mobile companies that advertise that they use one of big national company's networks (such as Verizon, T-mobile, etc.) is that often you do not get the same data speed vs. being a direct customer of those companies. For example, while Mint uses T-mobile, Mint customers connections are prioritized lower than T-mobile's customers. Often Mint may be getting 4G speeds while a T-mobile customer standing right next to them will get 5G speeds (but both will report a 5G connection).

This may not be an issue for many people, but if you often rely on the higher-speeds or are in marginal reception areas, it can make a big difference. The tradeoff is, of course, a smaller monthly bill, but you should realize what you are giving up for that smaller bill -- it never comes "free".

Kurt
 
PigsDad said:
One thing to think about when considering signing up with one of those mobile companies that advertise that they use one of big national company's networks (such as Verizon, T-mobile, etc.) is that often you do not get the same data speed vs. being a direct customer of those companies. For example, while Mint uses T-mobile, Mint customers connections are prioritized lower than T-mobile's customers. Often Mint may be getting 4G speeds while a T-mobile customer standing right next to them will get 5G speeds (but both will report a 5G connection).

This may not be an issue for many people, but if you often rely on the higher-speeds or are in marginal reception areas, it can make a big difference. The tradeoff is, of course, a smaller monthly bill, but you should realize what you are giving up for that smaller bill -- it never comes "free".

Kurt
Click to expand...

Yes this is correct. However, all my friends and associates and I have never experienced lower priority.


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