Judyrem

We are renting a self catering in Bath. We need to call the owner on VRBO.
Hopefully, our sim card will work. It did not work last October.
How does one call on an American phone to a British number?
We have a T Mobile smartphone BTW.

Rastaguytoday

Have you checked with your carrier?

jamikins

You dial 0011 then the number dropping the 0 in front if there is one.

jamikins

Good point about your carrier...most carriers block international calling unless requested, and may require a deposit as it is usually quite expensive to call from a mobile...

wobbers

If your provider allows you to 'roam' then when in the UK, you will get access to a local provider (Vodaphone etc. You then WILL NOT dial 0011 etc, but use the normal UK dialing ...starting for fixed line 01, for mobile access just the number which starts with 0

jamikins

Sorry - misread - I thought you were calling FROM the US to the UK. In the UK wobbers is correct, just 0 then the number...

xyz123

If you are in the UK and you are roaming with a T Mobile US sim card, which is what I think you asked, you have to set up international roaming. Assuming you have when you turn on the phone, it will register on a UK telcom (probably T Mobile UK but it could be Orange UK or Vodafone UK or O2 UK, it doesn't really matter). At that point you have 2 ways to make the call to Bath and they will both work...you can dial + 44 city codee for Bath (I don't know) it followed by the number....(that would be the way you would call even from the USA...on gsm mobile phones the + key is a universal gsm international calling code or..

Since you are roaming on a British telcom you could dial as if you were making a British domestic call (which in effect you are doing except for the price) namely 0 (tells switching system this is a domestric call) city code followed by number. Either way weorks and either way costs you the asininely high T Mobile international roaming rates.

Might I advise you when you get to the UK to pick up a T Mobile UK sim card. They are free although require an initial top up which can be as little as 5 quid (or you can have one or two posted to your first address in the UK and then top them up). Then to make international calls from the UK, you dial 29 03 79 and you can wait for the instructions...but the instructions are to dial the international dialing prefix (00) the country code (1 for the USA) followed by the number (area code + number) followed, and this is important, the hash (#) key. The call will cost 3p/minute timed to the nearest second not raised to the next highest minute. Hard to beat that even with a calling card! (the one downer is that even if the call is not completed, the 3p/minute starts when you dial 29 03 79 so it could cost you 1p or 2p even if the call is not completed...such as the complexities of life)..I think T Mobile UK domestic rate is 15p/minute but that you would have to check (sure beats $1.29 that T Mobile US charges to move the money from its UK pocket to its USA pocket, a rip off by any name).

Judyrem

Thanks so much everyone.
I really appreciate it.
My DH said to ask on Fodors, because they know such things.
We found out last time October that T Mobile did not unlock our phone. We called again this month and asked for them to unlock it.

BTW, I will let my DH read this because I am somewhat of a technology dimwit. ;-)

Judyrem

BTW, xyz that is a wonderful explanation!!!!!!