Calling the US from Anguilla
 

Hey All,

Leaving next week for Anguilla and have a quick question on calling back to the US from Anguilla. ATT told me their prepay phone cards do not work there. Any suggestions? Do cell phones work there, other prepay cards or should I just use the hotel phones. Thanks.

Tim

You can buy Anguillian calling cards at Cable & Wireless in the Valley or at any convenience store or gas station with a sign outside for C&W.

Returned from Anguilla last week. Our family had a fabulous time. Absolutely beautiful. Haven't had time to write my trip report...

Our cell phones are serviced by Cingular. My husband has enhanced coverage for business purposes, so his phone was functional on Anguilla. He had no problem making/receiving calls on Anguilla and St. Maarten. I only have the U.S. plan, so my phone was useless there.

Call your cell phone provider to inquire about the coverage in Anguilla. Many providers allow you to purchase enhanced coverage for a region for a specific block of time (e.g., 1 week, 1 month, etc.) and this can be set up while you're on the phone.

One word of warning, we haven't received the bill, but we'll be able to expense the calls. Make sure you know the cost ahead of time if that's an issue.

Rent a car online for the best rate. We used Avis and only paid $121 for the week. (Tip: When making the reservation, our United frequent flier number provided a $31 discount. The American frequent flier number only gave a $12 discount. Play around with the discount codes until you find the best one for you.)

Enjoy your trip!

family4travel, is that right that you only paid $121 to rent a car for the week? Wow, that's really a tremendous rate! Avis quoted us a figure of nearly double that - and that with a AAA discount.

Only had the car for 5 full days days since we got it the day after we arrived and surrendered it the day prior to departure. I should have stated this. (Sorry.)

I received a tip on this forum to rent the car online to get the best rate. The quoted rate for a 2-door Suzuki Jimny 4x4 was $152, but another vacation forum said to play around with the discount codes to get better rates. Using Google I found the Avis discount codes for American Airlines, United, Costco, and a few other groups that we belong to. The Costco discount was only $2. American was $12, but United gave me a $31 discount, which reduced the rate from $152 to $121. I made sure we carried our United mileage plus cards just in case they needed to verify them for the discount.

Not much leg room in the backseat of that Jimny, but we have 2 young children (7 yrs & 4 yrs) so we were fine.

It was our first trip to Anguilla, and we stayed at the Malliouhana. Our children absolutely loved the waterslide, the pirate ship and the stunning beach. First time we've ever rented a car in the Caribbean. No problems driving on the left, and the people are extremely helpful and friendly. Another tip I got here was to arrange the private boat transfer from St. Maarten to Anguilla. We used Gotcha Sea Tours. Expensive but worth every penny. Our children loved the ride! We're still missing those restaurants. Tasty's (Grand Marnier French Toast), The Overlook (roasted vegetable egg white omelet), Picante (Seafood Enchiladas, kids loved the Mexican chocolate pudding for dessert), Blanchard's (lobster cakes, Caribbean sampler, cracked coconut dessert), Straw Hat (Jamaican Jerk chicken), Malliouhana (loved the food, the kids loved the thin-crust pizza at Le Bistro while watching the sunset over Mead's Bay). Kids are still missing Miss Marion and everyone they met at Malli.

I must make the time to do my trip report...

Last time I checked it was about half the cost to use an Anguillian calling card as opposed to Cingular rates. But rates are changing all the time, so you may want to check directly with the providers.

since it has been two years since this question was addressed I will ask it again.

What is the best way to call the U.S. from Anguilla using my Cingular phone? I checked and it appears the roaming charges are about 1.60 per minute which is $16 for a 10 minute call. And that is with signng up for the roaming plan with ATT before leaving the US.

What is the cheapest way now?

I prefer to use my mobile phone but could use a landline from down there if nec. Thanks

Call Cingular & sign up for the International Plan which at least allows you to avoid roaming charges. I don't know what the per minute charge is.

this is what I found out from Cingular. Still an international roaming charge but assume there is no charge per minute as long as i don't go over my plan minutes. Still is $1.69 per minute for roaming unless someone has a better idea.

http://www.wireless.att.com/travelgu...D2=&STEP=5

Have you considered using Skype? We have used it successfully in Europe and South America.

The international plan does not allow you to avoid roaming chaarges, it only reduces it a little bit. from like $1.99/min to $1.69/min or so.

I am with cingular too, however I will not use my phone there. I have a couple of international sim that I use (have used it in many caribbean countries including Anguilla). Costs about $0.29 - $0.49 per min. to call the US. They also have free incoming calls. The ones I have an use depending on the island are United Mobile and Yackie mobile. You can check prepaidgsm.net for more info.

Sharkmom and Mr. Kamp. --I have heard of skype and have heard really good things about it. Don't know too much but I am going to check it out.

mrkamp-do you just change out the sim card into your current phone? I will also check that out

I wonder if there is also a sim card I could buy in Anguilla through Cable & Wireless. anyone know?

Cable & Wireless wil sell you a SIM card for about $10 US. Then you can buy any quantity of prepaid minutes. You just need an unlocked phone for it to work or a phone from C&W.

how do I know if it is unlocked? and how much is the price per minute with the C&W card?

Nonstop,
Your phone is probably locked by our service provider. Cingular used to unlock phones after 3 months if you request it. You should check with them to see if that is still the case.

ok, thanks, I will check with Cingular

Other option to check if your phone is locked or unlocked is if you know someone who has a different wireless provider - like T-Mobile. Borrow their SIM card, pop it in your phone. If it picks up service, then it's unlocked.

i wonder if there is a way on my phone to find out? I have a Palm treo smartphone--surely there must be some button that I can push to tell if my phone is unlocked.

I think your best bet is to call Cingular and tell the rep that you are traveling out of the U.S. and want to use a foreign carrier's SIM card. He/she can check if your phone is unlocked, and should be able to give you a code to unlock it if it is locked. Don't take No for an answer, they have to unlock it for you if you request it so long as you are several months into your contract.

With regards to Skype, you will need a laptop. Download the software, and don't forget to bring a headset (phone/microphone). You will need a broadband connection though to connect (ie. no dial-up). Cost is something like 2 cents per minute.

I was able to find a page on my phone that shows it is unlocked so I guess I am cleared to buy the CW sim card and use it if necessary.

Re: the skype, what little I know about it I learned from a guy that was traveling though S. America. He did not have a laptop but he had his phone somehow set up with skype and he raved about it. It was just like having a local phone. I need to investigate further. thanks for the info

nonstop, yes al I do is change out the sim card. As long as your phone is unlocked, you are good to go If it's not, tmobile and AT&T will unlock it freely. As posted in my other threads, I have unlocked several phones through AT&T without any problems. As long as your account is in good standing.

As for getting a sim in Anguilla, you should be able to easily. Just hit the C&W store down there.

I prefer the international sims if I will be in several places for a short period of time since I just keep the same number through out. However, If I will be in one place say for a week or more, I ust pick up a local sim.

mrc:

good advice. thanks

ok, I am back from Anguilla now and here is what I found out. You can buy a sim card from either Digicel or Cable & Wireless-both of them are in the Valley. The sim card is about $10 U.S. ($11.11 to be exact). You load up whatever number of minutes you want on the card.

The C&W card cost 90 cents E.C. per minute to the U.S. The Digicel is 70 cents E.C. to the U.S.

The advantage of the C&W card is that the number they assign you is good for I think 2 years. So anytime you travel there you always have the same number. With the Digicel card even though the per minute rate is a little cheaper you have to add minutes to it every 3 months to keep the number active which could be a little bit of a hassle especially since you may not be using it for long periods of time.

Digicel told me you can load up more minutes on line when you need to. Both cards can have minutes added anytime on Anguilla at almost any store on the island.

I thought my phone was unlocked because it said so on my phone's screen however C&W put in a test sim card and it showed the phone to be locked. Neither place could unlock the phone so I should have checked with ATT before I left the U.S. --I'll know to do that next time. Bottom line was that I still used my phone in Anguilla but had to pay the high ATT roaming charge from the ATT World Traveler Plan.

Hope this helps all.