Mobile Devices for Overseas

Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 09:29 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Mobile Devices for Overseas

Which are the best mobile plans if one is visiting multiple countries..concerned about roaming fees and data charges. Thank you.
spackle is offline  
Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 09:47 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 7,763
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
If you are concerned about roaming fees, get a local sim in each country. It's not that much of an inconvenience to walk into a mobile phone shop and purchase a PAYG sim. Actual plans vary from place to place so buy whatever you feel will work best for where you are and how long you will be there.

Just make sure that your phone is unlocked before you leave your home country. If you're from the U.S. and have a phone with one of those pesky CDMA carriers, you're going to need a GSM phone.
sparkchaser is offline  
Old Jun 4th, 2013, 04:36 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,607
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
You need an unlocked quad band phone. You can buy a SIM in each country, or you can buy a "universal" SIM from ekit.com or telestial.com.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Jun 4th, 2013, 04:41 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 7,763
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Before I moved to Germany, I told Sprint I needed to cancel my contract. They told me that I didn't have to do that and that I could get an international plan and buy one of their quad band phones. I told them to go pound sand.
sparkchaser is offline  
Old Jun 8th, 2013, 01:04 PM
  #5  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
thank for oyour reply--where can i get an unlocked phone
spackle is offline  
Old Jun 8th, 2013, 01:07 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,607
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
amazon or ebay
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Jan 16th, 2014, 07:21 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,360
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
If you already have a GSM triband or quadband phone and have been a loyal customer for, say, a year or more, ask your mobile company to unlock it for you. Even if you have a contract, they generally do this for loyal customers.


_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie
Orlando_Vic is offline  
Old Jan 18th, 2014, 04:23 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,525
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
When we land in a country, we buy a local SIM for cheapie phones we only use for travel overseas. For emails and stuff, most hotels now have wifi, so my husband uses his iPad and I use my US smartphone on airplane mode. No data bills--not even sneaky ones.

Your phone does not even have to be a quad band. Our cheapie GSM Nokias are merely GSM-900 and GSM-1800, which are the bands most used in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Oceania and most of Asia.

Do look for local deals, too. Over time, in France, New Zealand and Spain, we were able to pick up cheap Nokias with included airtime for 15 Euros or less. Since we mainly used our phones to text each other, frequently we never had to top off the SIM airtime during the trip.
AlessandraZoe is offline  
Old Jan 18th, 2014, 01:11 PM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,617
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I use wifi too instead of data. I rarely have to make an actual call, but I do get a cheap international plan from ATT to cover what little data or phone calls I do make.
november_moon is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
asimm
United States
8
Jul 2nd, 2016 12:46 PM
tcreath
Europe
61
Mar 21st, 2016 08:03 AM
TDudette
Europe
33
Dec 30th, 2013 04:57 AM
cantthinkofausername
Europe
11
Nov 19th, 2012 06:05 AM
s_roopra
Europe
9
Aug 18th, 2011 01:07 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -