Mobile Devices for Overseas
#2
Join Date: Apr 2013
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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.
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.
#4
Join Date: Apr 2013
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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.
#7
Join Date: Jul 2005
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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.
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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie
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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie
#8
Join Date: Oct 2008
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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.
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.