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Buy international calling card OR Smart phone with international minutes?

Buy international calling card OR Smart phone with international minutes?

Old Jun 7th, 2010, 10:50 AM
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Buy international calling card OR Smart phone with international minutes?

I'm going to Italy on vacation without my family and really want to stay in touch with my two little ones and hubby here in the US. Is it more economical to buy international phone cards OR upgrade my cell phone to a smart phone and get an international calling plan which charges 99 cents per minute??
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Old Jun 7th, 2010, 11:24 AM
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Did you ever think of "renting" an international phone? My husband and I will be spending 3 weeks in Italy this summer and that's what we're doing. Then you buy the SIMS cards for the country/ies you'll be visiting. I think it costs about $100 a month??
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Old Jun 7th, 2010, 11:29 AM
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It depends on your usage model. It is best to start by defining your model, e.g. which direction, from hotel, scheduled calls vs. ad-hoc calls, how often, how long, etc.

The options for calling home are so numerous that if you start asking what plan to buy, you get all sort of recommendations inconsistent with your usage.

For example, it can be as simple as walking up to hotel's complimentary computer and use SKYPE to call home at no cost and no gadget to take with you.
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Old Jun 7th, 2010, 04:41 PM
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Hi, Dadd: - (sounds funny to say that). While there are always questions like this popping up, they are always GOOD questions since technology changes so rapidly and the answers might not always stay the same for long.

Anyway, one of the best threads along this line was started by Stu Dudley, but updated and added to down the road by some really knowledgeable folks like xyz123 (who personally undertook intensive research on the subject). It covers more than just the question you're asking, but there might be some useful stuff in here for you: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...m#last-comment

If you need more or different info after reading it, you might try clicking on xyz132's name as I think he's responded to other similar posts, too, and he's always updating the facts. (A lot of this stuff is WAY above my head.)
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Old Jun 7th, 2010, 05:03 PM
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When traveling in Europe I take my MCI calling card. Have used it in every country I traveled in except Russia. Russia does have numbers for using the card I just didn't call from there. It has been very cheap to use. I use it too when calling Europe from the USA. On their website they have different cards that you can get. Mine is a rechargeable prepaid phone card.
http://consumer.mci.com/prepaid_cards/index.jsp
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Old Jun 7th, 2010, 05:54 PM
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If you're planning to travel internationally again sometime soon, you might want to look into getting an unlocked quad band phone. I bought one for about $50 and then just pick up a SIM card when I travel. The SIM card rates to call home are generally a lot cheaper than $1/min.

That option worked really well for me in Egypt and London because I called home a lot. The cheaper rates more than made up for buying the phone and as it's a quad band I can use it again pretty much anywhere in the world with cell service. Beyond that, I didn't have to take my normal cell phone and worry about what if I lost/broke it while traveling.

Renting a phone works well if you're not going to travel internationally again soon. You would still pick up a SIM card and get those calling rates. I haven't looked at renting a phone since 2008 so I'm not sure what the rates are, but if it costs more than around $50-75 for just the phone itself then you might as well just buy one even if you never use it again.


To get a better grasp on what option might work best for you, figure out how much you're likely to use your phone. The cheaper usage rates were best for me as I used my phone a lot. $50 + $0.25/min (example rate) vs $0 (if you use your own phone) + $0.99/min. It all depends on how much you think you might use the phone.
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Old Jun 8th, 2010, 12:59 AM
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One of the best deals is with 3 - see http://www.tre.it/public/scheda_pian...ref=6_1&type=R,

10 cents a minute towards all Italian numbers (both mobile plus fixed lines), no fixed charge made per call, 10 cents per text message. There is a one off charge of 5 euros to activate this option. In addition it is possible with 3 to pay 5 euros per month to have 3GB of data which will enable you to use Skype (I think the latest version of Skype mobile allows Skype out) as well as navigate to check train timetables, send and receive emails etc. Calls to the US cost 25 cents (Euros) a minute but of course are Skype out rates are far less. Skype works on the 3 network so you don't need to look for a wireless signal.

No-one offers a better deal than this for a top up phone card.
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Old Jun 8th, 2010, 01:11 AM
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An alternative could be a monthly subscription to Skype Unlimited world - see https://buy.skype.com/paymonthly/#Un...bscriptionsTab

For USD 16.08 you have unlimited calls to US landlines and mobiles. I am not sure whether this will work on the mobile but I do not see why not.
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Old Jun 8th, 2010, 01:20 PM
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I use SKYPE Mobile on my iphone and SKYPE on my netbook - they both make all of my trips with me and allow me to call any phone anywhere cheaply whenever I can get a wifi signal.
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Old Jun 13th, 2010, 08:16 PM
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Thanks all - I did look in to skype and it's a great option ONLY if there is WiFi available. If you have to pay for data usage it becomes super expensive.

Cell phones from the states are .99/minute.

I'd like to call home once daily or every other day on a 14 day trip. I'll take any other advice people have.
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 12:57 AM
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Dadd - No!

The 3 network allows you to use Skype on your phone over their regular GSM network. Their data package costs Euros 5 per month and allows 3GB which is more than sufficient for Skype voice calls. Ensure however that you phone is manually set to their network and does not automatically jump from one to another.

If you need to call someone back home other than by Skype the cost is Euros 0.25 per minute with an additional fixed connection charge of Euros 0.16 per call.
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 03:25 AM
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I take my Blackberry with an international SIM for emergency incoming calls. My wife buys phone cards at tabacs & calls home daily from the hotel phone. We have found that this combo works very well & is the least expensive option in any country - if you don't expect or need incoming . . .

Ian
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Old Jun 15th, 2010, 12:04 AM
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When we were in Italy in 2007, we bought a Europa phone card. You can buy then in different amounts i.e., 5, 10, 20 Euros.

To call from Italy to the US cost 3 cents per minute.

Pretty cheap. You do have to dial a number then enter the code number that you scratch off of the back of the card. But at that price it was worth it.

We bought ours at the local Tabacci.
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Old May 18th, 2011, 05:34 AM
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Take a look at http://www.callineurope.com

I have used them on 3 trips to Europe. You have your phone and your number in your hand before you leave home. Under 70 bucks. The convenience cannot be beaten. Last I looked, calls to the US were 39 cents a minute.
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Old Jul 24th, 2012, 12:42 PM
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last time when i were in Italy,I was got some calling cards that saves my lots of money.i got a call rate about .5 cent/min.
take a look www.ontariophonecards.ca
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Old Oct 25th, 2013, 08:42 PM
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when i was in France i saved a lot of money with the calling cards that i used. They have nice tagas i did a research and i found this site that may help you http://www.callingmart.com/products/...s/Default.aspx. Try it and let me know if i helped you.
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Old Oct 25th, 2013, 08:46 PM
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An unlocked phone and a French SIM card is always the best deal. Not do-able for every traveler, but always the best and cheapest deal.
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Old Nov 6th, 2013, 05:29 AM
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Hi if you need to call Italy from USA or from Italy to any country I would suggest you use EpinCall phone cards, from USA to call Italy it's 0.8 ¢/min.
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 02:39 AM
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From the time when this forum topic was created to till this moment, the rate of long distance call has decreased dramatically. Now, it is very much cheap to make international calls through calling cards. Thanks to the technology and the brand that I use. I am now very much satisfied with this company. www.otelint.com
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Old Jun 19th, 2014, 06:15 AM
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Dadd
I have the same question that you do. I apologize for hacking your post!

As someone who hasn't been to Europe since cellphones became so commonplace, I'd like some input on how easy it is to use a US smartphone in Europe. For example, we need to call the taxi company when we arrive at the airport; will it be easy to do this using a US iPhone with an international plan or is it better to have a local phone?

For what it's worth, a friend highly recommends travelcell.com to rent an international phone. Says it couldn't be simpler. I'm just not sure that we need to do that.
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