Does anyone know of an inexpensive way to use a cell phone overseas? I have Verizon and was told it wouldnt work, All i know is i dont want to pay like $2 a minute to call the kids while were vacationing. Any advice at all helps.
Thanks, Cheri

What about Skype?

Which country or countries are you interested in?

You can buy a "phone card" for a certain denomination -- €5-10 etc. There are 2 kinds, both give you calls at quite a low rate -- and you know what your call is, at the time.

One gives you a number to dial, which connects you to an overseas line. The other kind, you put right into a public phone. The former can be used in your hotel -- I would advise you to use it down in the lobby at the desk phone, in case you have a problem... the operator will be speaking Greek, and maybe the desk clerk can punch in the number and hand you the phone. The latter is the kind I always used to use.... but lately, because of the ubiquity of cell phones, the public phones on the street have largely disappeared (same as US). However, in Greece, at least, there are on almost all islands an OTE office (That's the initials of the Telephone system) -- and they have a row of phones inside.

This will enable you to make the occasional call without the constant cell-phone contact that most parents seem to have with their kids these days, even when the "kids" are fully grown, with jobs & families. It might be a good idea just to send them an e-mail every other day or so, and alert them that you will be calling at a given time, the day before you call. you can call at 3 pm greek time and it comes through at 8 am EDT.

Most phones have an option of international service and it is only about $5 a month. When we went to Russia we used our regular phone, calls were like $7 a minute but text messages were cheap, about 50 cents. We have AT&T. When you ehome cancel the international part. We have also used the phone in Australia, New Zealand & Argentina. I would ask again about an international service for my regular cell phone.

Marlib1951 -- The problem is for a cellphone service using Verizon. The OP's USA phone is on VERizon, and I believe that VErizon is the service that has no cellular Phone. co. "partner" in Greece. Also, you have to have a phone that is "quad" (that is, the internal workings operate on 4 frequencies, as do ALL phones in EU, but not all of ours), and then the phone has to be "unlocked." All of these things are complications.

Because I go to Greece every year, I just bought a cheap phone at Germanos phone store for 34€ ... others do this, and use thes phones each time they go to Europe, you just buy a cheap new "card" (SIM card whatever that means) for the country you are in... i.e., france, greece etc. Of course you also have to have an adaptor for A/C current so u can charge the phone when you are back in the USA .... or else you'll hav to get a new battery when u return to Europe (as I have to do this time).

It's not true that ALL phones sold in the EU are quadband phones. The one I purchased at Germanos is definitely NOT quadband. It works on the two main European frequencies but will not work in the USA. While you're in Europe you can use it to call the States but it will still cost you a lot to do so.

brother....perhaps you don't read my stuff. Yes it will cost a lot to call the States roaming on either AT&T or T Mobile USA if you're in England but if you are using an English sim card (available for free, sure can't beat that eh) and are on T Mobile UK or Orange UK or 3 UK, you can pay as little as 3p/minute timed to the second which is less than 5¢ USA. Wouldn't say that costs a lot, now would you?

It's my impression that Cheri is from No. America and not from the UK. My posting refers to using a Greek SIM card, in Greece, which does charge a lot for calls back to the States from Greece.

Granted...but he can pick up an English sim card for free if he visits England...that's why at the beginning of the thread I asked which countries he was visiting....the prices to call outside the eu in individual countries varies dramtically.

Verizon's website lists Greece as one of their international roaming sites. Yes, you might need a "global" phone, which is not that expensive - really it is just a newer version. They will unlock it when you pay the $5 a month fee (according to Verizon's website) and a text message is about 25 cents. When you get home you use the same cellular phone.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most Verizon phones CDMA? If that's what cstanton has, it won't work on the GSM system used in Europe. Brotherleelove is correct that many cell phones sold in Europe have only the GSM 900 and 1800 bands, and not the 850 and 1900 bands used in North America. That said, quad band is common on the more expensive cell phones.

Xyz123, the OP was interested mainly in making calls home from Greece. There is no way you can make a phone call from Greece to the USA for 3p per minute with a UK sim card. Once outside the UK, international roaming applies, even to other EU countries.

Missed the Greece part.....mea culpa./

Well,I have told you more than I know. LOL. I mainly am saying that a text message is cheaper than a regular phone call. Now I am wondering if our AT&T phone which has worked in other countries will work in Greece!

If you have international roaming on AT&T and you have a quad band phone, yes you will be able to roam on a Greek network with your AT&T phone...expensive to make and receive calls but relatively cheap text message.

Also several of the international sim cards such as e-kit should work in Greece with free reception of calls and relatively not too bad rates for calls back to North America (49¢/minute with 35¢ surcharge for each call)...others nay be cheaper.

marlib1951, texts are cheap, and that's the way my daughter and I communicate when either of us are travelling. If your phone works in other European countries, it will also work in Greece. All European countries use the GSM 900 and 1800 bands, plus 3G 2100 in some areas.

You can also buy Cosmote, Vodafone Greece, or Wind Hellas pay as you go sim cards, which work out fairly cheap. Since you pay only for outgoing calls, your friends and relatives can call you from home without eating up your top-up minutes. ;-)

While most of verizon's phone are CDMA, they do have a handful of dual CDMA/GSM phones. Most of them Blackberry.