Five Phone Calls, Five Countries
 

HI there!

Going for our second time to Europe. We are staying in vacation rental apartments, and the apartment owners would like us to call them on the day of arrival to pinpoint exact time to meet us. Other than that, we like to disconnect (meaning no phone calls home usually). We will have my Android smartphone, I'll put it in airplane mode like I did our first visit to Europe, and only use free wifi (included in most apartment rentals).

Last year, we only had to use the phone a couple of times, so once I used a public phone in the train station (ha! what a joke! Cost me $20 US and the other person could not hear me!). We also purchased a sim card in Venice and could not get it to complete a call to the airlines (operator stupidity?).

What are your best suggestions?
I could download Skype, but from my research it looks like you must have the premium plan for use in Europe and there's still a per minute fee.

Should I buy five sim cards? Keep in mind, I'm pretty stupid when it comes to figuring out how they work (and they all seem to be slightly different!)

All help appreciated!

So sorry I tagged this as a trip report. Another case of operator stupidity!

This kind of posts often lack crucial info to provide relevant recommendation: who is your current carrier and what is the model of the phone?

"IF" we postulate that your phone actually works in Europe, a big "IF", and "IF" your usage model is as described, it would be easiest to just take your phone and use it. "IF" each of your call is less than one minute each, your total cellphone bill would be less than $10 for all five calls. You must know how to 1) enable voice call but 2) disable data roaming = big $$$ if you don't shut off data.

You will be pressed to get even one SIM for less than $10. Also you have to find stores during the business hours, and wait in a queue to be served, and wait while the stores set up your account. And of course, you should have network unlocked phone before leaving home if not already done.

Well Joan, have you considered switching to T-Mobile and eliminate all your problems? The service is hard to beat when traveling.

If not, simply download WhatsApp and inform the owners you will message them when you arrive.

Skype or Google Hangouts. If you already have a Google account, Google Hangouts is probably easier, and if you need the occasional free phone call to the states (when on WiFi) it's nice for that. Get a Google Voice number too (also free) if you want people to be able to call you or leave you voicemail while in Europe but it sounds like not.

With either Google or Microsoft (Skype), you'll need to buy some credit - in blocks of $10 USD I think? - to make calls within Europe, even though those calls will cost only a few cents a minute. But as I said, Google Hangouts gives you the advantage of free calls to/from the US. Skype works anywhere and is the same price everywhere to MAKE calls (but the per-minute rate varies by country, maybe even by calling a cell phone vs. calling a landline).

You could also just buy a local SIM card in the first country, but it sounds like you've struggled with that in the past, and the cost could be about the same or even more. You could buy a SIM card in one country and use it in the others (even if roaming, for some occasional calls the pre-paid calling credit you'd get with one SIM in one country should be enough for all of your calls). With that, you wouldn't need to worry about needing to be on WiFi, either.

You may want to learn how to make calls to European phones. It sometimes involves putting a "+" in front of the number, depending where you are and who you are calling. (If you have a French phone and you are calling someone in France, I don't think you need the + - but if you are calling someone in another country, you need the "+").

If you want to try out Google Hangouts or Skype, you can do it before you leave (and buy the credit). So you won't have to struggle once you get to Europe to figure it out. And this would give you the added advantage that you would be able to make calls to anyone in Europe now for only a few cents a minute. If you can make a call from the US to France using your Android phone and Skype or Google Hangouts, you'll be able to make it exactly the same way when you get to France.

T-Mobile simply isn't a good option for everyone, depending on where they live. I only recently dumped T-Mobile after many years - not because service was bad (it was actually quite excellent), but have found much cheaper cell service than the $50/month I was paying for their "Simple Choice" plan. The benefit of being able to use it in some (not all) European countries with their roaming plan when I go to Europe once a year wasn't enough to justify the extra cost.

Robert, yes I've considered that but of course my two year commitment is still ongoing, so cannot do that until later in the year.

I have not heard of WhatsApp so I thank you and will check that out.

Greg, I have Sprint and my phone is unlocked, HTC One. Last year I put it on airplane mode and that took care of blocking data and voice roaming. The phone will work in Europe.

Just did an online chat with Sprint and they have a $5 plan (which was only made available this May) which covers four of the five countries, voice only (which is all I wanted). Calls 99 cents per minute, text 50 cents to make, 5 cents to receive. You can activate this for just one month.

Thanks for the help!

Andrew, I thought about Skype, but doesn't the other person have to have the Skype account also? I will be calling strangers about meeting me at the rental apartments...

Skype can call phone numbers, too, but it's not free - there's a per-minute charge. You can call any phone from Skype even a landline. (You can buy a Skype phone number too, to receive calls from regular phones, but that's something even different and not something you need, sounds like.)

If the other person has a Skype account and is logged in, you can call them for free, no matter what country you are in - but that probably won't help you in calling apartment owners on their phones.

I suggest you try the Google Hangouts approach now, because if you can make it work now, it will work in Europe too:

1. Install Google Hangouts from the Google Play store (free) on your Android phone.
2. Turn on Airplane mode, then turn on WiFi and connect to a WiFi network.
3. Open the Google Hangouts app.
4. Make a call to a US phone number.

Once you get this to work, you can try calling a number in France. Google gives you 10 cents(I think) of credit to start out with - should be enough to make one test call. Random example: try calling a hotel front desk or something - +33 1 58 71 12 34 is the number of the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome where I stayed the last time I was in Paris. Call it early in the morning so you don't call them in the middle of the night there! If you hear the European dial tone you can hang up or wait for someone to answer in French, then just hang up if you want.

Then, you can buy some Google credit and call the same way when you get to France! Remember, put the "+" in front of the number when calling Europe.

(Don't forget to turn off Airplane mode after you have completed your experiment!)

Great idea! I didn't realize you could call regular numbers - I'll try it and let you know how it goes! (after I get back from my Cape Cod vacation!) Thanks so much.

WhatsApp, Skype, and Google Hangouts all require an underlining internet connection. If you have turned off the mobile data, you are relying on WiFi.

Are you counting on having a WiFi access at each time you are making calls to the apartment owners?

Bookmarking

She said she'd "only use free WiFi" so I assumed she understood that.

Greg, last trip I turned off the mobile data and used free wifi but this time I have more calls to make, and so I'm weighing the cost of voice and text minutes vs the potential hassle of trying to find wifi upon arrival or earlier in the day.

The Sprint plan sounds cheap, but figuring maybe 8 five minute calls at 99 cents a minute, that's $45 plus. With the wifi Hangouts, I checked and the rates seem much lower, mostly under 10 cents per.

How great does the wifi signal have to be for Hangouts? I intend to use only the audio or text version...The Sprint joke of a plan (the free portion covering only Germany in Europe) had data of 2G, which is pitiful. Is there free wifi in most train stations in Europe?

Thanks again, this has all been very helpful, for others too I imagine.

joan: <i>How great does the wifi signal have to be for Hangouts?</i>

Audio calls can work with surprisingly little bandwidth. Remember, all "regular" cell phone calls are digital phone calls; Skype and Google audio calls are pretty much the same thing.

But you will need a decent WiFi connection to make a call with any of these services.

My old phone had WiFi Calling (with T-Mobile), which is basically the same as Google Hangouts and Skype phone calling. I have used it a few times in Europe. I made a fairly long WiFi call from the Amsterdam airport (free WiFi) and never dropped the call and the quality was good - I was kind of surprised, because the WiFi connection didn't seem that great.

But again: you can experiment yourself with this before you get to Europe with your phone. Try using Google Hangouts on WiFi now. (The same quality of WiFi signal is required to make a call across the street as for one made across the country.) Walk further away from your WiFi router and see how well it works while you are on a call. Try it at Starbucks, etc. (Remember: put it in airplane mode, then turn on WiFi, like you will in Europe.) I will say that you may want to get in the habit of NOT walking too much while on a WiFi/Google/Skype call, the way you do while using your cell phone (at least I do). If you make a good call connection with someone on WiFi, stop walking til you are done the call. If you lose a good WiFi connection, you could see the call dropped.

I wouldn't completely give up on the idea of buying a SIM card in Europe, either, if your Android is unlocked. Sounds like that didn't work out so well the last time - but if you buy it at a mobile store, the agent can set it up for you and activate the SIM, if necessary, even show you how to make a local call. That may still be a lot cheaper than the Sprint plan.

Making a call to another country (say France calling Germany) would be the same procedure (type the + then the whole phone number) with a French SIM card as it would be using Google Hangouts with WiFi. Calling France to France would be different (you don't need the + I believe), so ask the agent in that case how to make a local call.

You would probably be able to use the SIM card in other countries, too - or at least, you can inquire about it when you buy it. (Within the EU, anyway, I believe, you'd be able to roam.) For a few phone calls to apartment owners, you should have plenty of pre-paid credit on the SIM card for a few calls in roaming, as roaming call rates are now capped in the EU.

If the site of originating phone call are train stations, your plan hinges on availability of

1) free wifi
2) at stations
3) fast enough during the duration of call to carry on voice over internet conversations.

Free wifi at stations is not given. Larger German station, which does not necessarily mean the station of your interest, offer free WiFi. But it is a chicken or an egg situation. Read how it works: http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/se..._station.shtml Note very carefully that your phone must be FUNCTIONAL enough to receive a text message to get that free Wifi access. Also they do not promise any connection speed. If you cannot obtain fast enough connection, you cannot carry on a conversation.

If you cannot make a satisfactory WiFi connection, what is your fall back plan?

The local SIM option, if you still are thinking for your usage model of calling from a station, hinges on

1) availability of a cellphone store near the station
2) that sells prepaid SIMs to those without local address
3) and you arrive there during the business hours
4) that carries the SIM card of correct size (HTC One uses micro-SIM)

And also, not all the SIMs bought in Europe roam to another country. Italian TIM SIMs were usable outside Italy. SIMs I bought in Austria did not roam outside Austria. A SIM from Blau in Germanay did not roam outside Germany, while one from a Lidl store did, but the Lidl SIM had a chicken or an egg situation. It was do-it-yourself activation and needed an internet to activate the SIM. How would you do that while you have not yet checked into your apartment and don't have a WiFi access.

Bic sells phone + SIM + 30 minutes of credit for 29 euros in the Relay newsstands.

Actually I just googled 'Bic phone' after posting that and I see that a number of other places sell them even cheaper.

Not sure if I understand the problem correctly.

If you literally only need/want to communicate with your five hosts I assume you can already give your hosts the estimated time of arrival with the trains you plan to use.

If your host in Brussels wants to know that you actually arrived at Brussels Gare Central or elsewhere, why not pick up a payphone once you got there and call him or her?
You will have euro coins in your pocket anyway, and against common believe payphones are still available and a local call won't cost you more than 20 or 50 cents.
Even an "international" call from Amsterdam to Brussels won't break your bank and will cost maybe one euro or less to relay the information that you are about to board the train.

Cawboy, it was mentioned in the OP that there was once a $20 charge for using a phone in a train station. And it is true there are private ripoff pay phones in certain locations. While they do not systematically overcharge, some of them make it very difficult to pay the correct price. So it is a legitimate concern.

Frankly, most strangers will let you use their phone these days if you ask nicely. And in a year or two (too late for this trip, I know), there will be no more roaming charges within the EU. As it is, the charges have been reduced dramatically over recent years.

"You will have euro coins in your pocket anyway, and against common believe payphones are still available and a local call won't cost you more than 20 or 50 cents."

That was not my experience in Florence. The apartment agent did not accept my "estimated" arrival but was oh-so-busy and wanted me to call upon arrival so he would have a 20 minute window. Went to a payphone which DID NOT ACCEPT COINS, credit card only. Put in my credit card and made the call. He could not hear me, but I could hear him (or was it the other way around?). Later, my credit card bill showed a $20 charge for this horrible exchange. Here in the US, most payphones also do not accept coins anymore, only credit cards.

Some of these locations are five train connections apart, so it's not going to be easy to predict my arrival time.

Even the old France Télécom pay phones had a nasty "trick" when they started accepting Visa and MasterCard. While the rates were the same for making phone calls as other payment methods, there was something like a minimum 10€ monthly charge. So it was perfectly fine for people who made a lot of phone calls and used up 10€ worth -- but not so nice for people who had made just one or two calls and didn't notice that there was a monthly minimum.

I see.
Well, you inquiry was about Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. At least in Germany you can use any pay phone also with coins. And I am also pretty sure about Belgium.
Anyway, I would not advise you to use credit cards.
But as it had been mentioned above, any connectivity that relies on public WiFi to place calls via Skype or similar will be pretty useless when you change trains somewhere at minor station in Germany or France.

The easiest workaround may be kerouc's advise to just ask someone else to use his mobile phone. Most local plans come with free national calling or very cheap rates of a few cents per minute.

But I must admit that apartment agents who make you as the customer jump through loops because they are not able to wait 15 minutes for you (but are late themselves, because oh-so-busy) are my pet peeve.

We have done this rental-in-Europe-with-no-phone about 7 times. In the one case that the owner did not accept a pre-arranged time we asked a stranger to borrow his phone and he let us. Generally it is considered quite strange to be phoneless by Europeans.

The app Voxofon may work with you as a WIFI phone in Europe with free calling (you get free credits for installing game apps, like 2 min per game) but I either got voicemail or the call did not go thru with a recording in Italian. So I had no satisfactory experience but it might work for you.

>Robert, yes I've considered that but of course my two year commitment is still ongoing, so cannot do that until later in the year<

I believe that T-Mobile will buy out you 2-year contract. Check with them to be sure.

I will admit to not having read every post. But here is what we do and I've never been sorry.

I bought a phone from mobile.com. This is not T-mobile, but a separate company.

It works in countries all over the world, but not the US. It is attached to a credit card.

The number of the phone is a UK number. I'm only charged per call.

Before I leave home, I make sure that the phone is charged, and the CC is current.

I've had it for years. I'm actually on my second phone. Somehow, no one talks about this anymore, but it's still a perfect solution for us.

I'm an idiot.

It is mobal.com

Try it.

https://www.mobal.com/international-cell-phones/


When can we please have an edit function? Please.

You would be hard put to find a public telephone in the Netherlands nowadays.

An internet based calling system such as Skype or Google Hangouts needs a good WiFi connection, which is not always easy to find. Some places actually block the use of such systems to keep them from hogging bandwidth.

Either buy a local sim card or even an entire phone in the first country you arrive in, or go the mobal route Tuscan suggests.
If you buy a local sim ask the store to install it, and make sure you can use it in other EU countries.

On the dialling of numbers in Europe if you are calling another country you use +country code number with the first zero, so +31 35 1234567 for the Netherlands for instance, if calling from France, but 035 1234567 if calling from within the Netherlands. The first, full international number will also work just fine btw. It is how I always store phone numbers in my phone.

tuscanlifeedit, do you need new SIM cards when you go from country to country using your phone? I am guessing from your name you do not live in the UK but in the US?

This sounds worth checking out.

You don't necessarily need a new SIM for every country...as long as you can roam in the new country on a partner mobile network. I have done this a few times, but it varies from country to country. Years ago I used my Italian TIM SIM card in Slovenia and Croatia to roam (but roaming rates were high then). Recently, I was unable to use my T-Mobile SIM from Montenegro in Bosnia. It varies.

hetismij2: <i>An internet based calling system such as Skype or Google Hangouts needs a good WiFi connection, which is not always easy to find. Some places actually block the use of such systems to keep them from hogging bandwidth.</i>

Yes, a good WiFi connection, but not necessarily much bandwidth for audio-only calls. Audio uses a surprisingly low amount of bandwidth (whereas video uses much more). Remember, the cell phone network is all digital now, and it is designed to maximize the number of calls that can use the same cell towers. Skype and Google calls use the same audio technology for their calls. As I said above, I made a fairly long call at Schiphol a few months ago using the free airport WiFi, so it can be done.

You don't need to do anything with the mobal.com phone but buy it. As I said, I'm on my second one.

I've had other phones to use internationally but this is by far the easiest solution. No sim cards, no wifi needed.

They send as nice instruction sheet with the phone for dialing around. Sometimes I print a little cheat sheet with dialing instructions to keep in my pocket.

The home number on my phone is a UK number, so I follow the instructions for dialing from the UK, no matter whether I am in Italy, France, the UK, Greece, etc.

I live in the US and can't use this phone here. But neither can I use my Tim Italian phone and I've had trouble with sim cards that expired for that phone.

This is just too easy. mobal.com

Of course, the simplest option for most people is just to keep their existing phone and pay (if necessary) an extra fee to use it in Europe.

I think that in a few years all of the carriers will have followed T-Mobile's lead and will offer cheap international roaming, so none of this will be an issue for travelers anymore.

Well, today I checked out Mobal, and they charge $29 for the cheapest phone, plus $10 delivery, plus $1 per minute in country, $2 per minute for other countries (which is what I'll be doing - calling the next country). So that's more than Sprint - and with Sprint I keep my familiar phone and pay only $5 for the plan.

So it's sounding like the best (simplest and least costly in the long run) is to go with my current phone.

Thanks for the dialing tips - invaluable.

And yes, maybe I'll check with T Mobile and see if they'll buy my business by picking up the fee for breaking my contract with Sprint.

Great advice from all, thanks so much.

Joan,
I was hoping you would do a simple comparison between the mobal and Sprint to realize it would be cheaper and simpler just to use your own Sprint phone. Hats off to the mobal marketing who has managed to convince who knows how many Americans to use mobal phones when many of the recent smartphones from any U.S. carriers have European frequency compatible GSM phone that can be used to lower cost than the mobal while retaining the use of their own numbers.

It does not have to be all Sprint. If you happen to walk by a phone store, just hop in to see if they would sell a prepaid SIM card that roams to other countries to those without a local address. If they don't, you used up just a few minutes. If they do, you have an upside.

Another thing about t-mobile. Those from the U.S. somehow equate using t-mobile U.S. SIM to switching the home plan. This is totally unnecessary as long a you are willing to use a different U.S. number when using the T-mobile SIM. T-mobile U.S. plan is month to month. Sign up for a month then cancel. Additional phones are cheaper to add. Remember that with t-mobile U.S. you get DATA roaming at no additional cost. TEXT is unlimited and free! While riding a train from Switzerland to Germany, the phone status changed from Swisscom 3G to Deutsche Telekom 3G followed by an assuring text message from the T-mobile U.S. that the Data roaming is included in the plan in Germany.

In order to harness the full functionality of t-mobile U.S. SIM, you need a t-mobile branded smartphone eventually. It can do WiFi calling. You can continue to call even without cell signal using your own phone number on WiFi. Everything, including voice, is unlimited in this mode. This is a godsend as MIL calls my wife all the time and all her calls are at least one hour long. Even at $0.10/min to receive, I still have to pay. If we do this at hotel on WiFi, my MIL continues to call our U.S. number as if we are still at home in the U.S. and it costs us nothing even when she talks for hours. There is no way the MIL can use Skype or use a different number bought from Skype. It has to be the one and the one number she knows dialing the same way.

There's no point in paying $50 to signup for T-Mobile for one month with a different number, when Joan only needs to make a few calls and barely use the phone the rest of the trip. It's far easier to sign up for the Sprint plan for a month, and I don't see how T-Mobile saves any money(?). Joan probably doesn't need data at all - if you read her original post, all she needs is a way to make a few phone calls to apartment landlords.

I took her original comment about only needing to use the phone on WiFi literally. In that case, something like Google Hangouts would make practical sense. But it seems she may need to use it at train stations, where free WiFi may not be available. Buying a local SIM is probably the cheapest approach in that case, but it's more complicated. I'm frugal and I do it, but I'm not intimidated by these kinds of things - some are. That's why paying more and using Sprint probably makes the most sense for her.

If Joan can get good T-Mobile service at home in the US (I do where i live but some can't), she might consider switching to T-Mobile if they will pay her contract termination fee - but it's not clear she'll even be able to use her existing phone on T-Mobile permanently. A T-Mobile store would help her figure out options.

---
(This isn't really for you, Joan, so feel free to ignore.)

As for someone at home (your MIL?) not being able to call a different phone number: an easy solution to that is to forward the number (a cell number) while you are gone to another number - a Skype number or Google number, even a European number on a local SIM (look into a service called Localphone). Most cell phone plans include the ability to forward your calls to a different phone number. I used to forward my cell calls to my Skype number when I went to Europe, before there was a "Google Hangouts" option.

You can even port your existing cell number - permanently - to Google Voice if you want (costs $20 one-time fee then use Google Voice in the US on your phone to make calls using voice minutes or Google Hangouts using data/WiFI (Hangouts works anywhere - whereas Google Voice won't work in Europe). I use my Google Voice number as my primary phone number now at home. I'm not suggesting this for Joan, though.

I used the "WiFi Calling" feature on my old T-Mobile phone the last time I was in Europe, but my new phone doesn't have WiFi Calling, and I have now dumped T-Mobile anyway. But the Google Hangouts app eliminates the need for "WiFi Calling" - any Android (or iPhone) can use it, no special "WiFi calling" feature required. Because my Google number is already my primary number, I'll use the same number in Google Hangouts, too.