How to make a phone call from a pay phone in London to Germany
 

My 17 year old daughter will be flying alone from the US to Munich via London (Heathrow). What will be the easiest way for her to call us from a payphone in the Heathrow airport to our cell phone to let us know she arrived, her connecting flight is on-time etc.? She will only need to make that call and a similar call from a payphone in the Munich airport. We will be picking her up there. I don't want to get her an international phone just for two phone calls. Suggestions?

They still have pay phones?

Does it have to be by phone? Can she use the internet and email or Instant Message you?

You have ruled out the "easiest way" to call you buy not getting an international phone, so what are the options?
There are still pay phones at Heathrow: http://www.heathrowairport.com/heath...s-and-charging. I have used public phone with a calling card, but I found it frustratingly hard to use due to enormous number of digits I had to punch in without making mistakes. I think the "cash" means Pounds, which causes its own problem.
Do you know friends with unused GSM phone that with 900mhz/1800mhz capability? If that is unlocked, you can put in international capable SIM and use it. Does she now have a cellphone? Is it SIM based? I have 7 internationally capable unlocked GSM phones and 4 of them are doing nothing in my closet. I am sure many other people have such idle phones.
Also, think about the usage model. You can find about if the flight is on time from Munich. So you ask, if there is a delay? Then, would she not need to make more than two phone calls?

You should be able to buy a phonecard in the airport. It will require you to use their access codes and there will be instructions that come with it to that end. You will also need to select the language when you start. There is an international access code to exit the UK, which is 00. Probably you do need this code. You will also definitely need the country code for Germany, which is 49, and then, if your daughter's phone starts for example, with '0176' (a common code for mobile phones in Germany), you would leave off the '0' and just dial the remaining digits. I agree that buying a phone is overkill for this occasion, and you probably won't even need all of the phone card unless you prolong the conversation.

Best of luck!

Lavandula

Sorry, I have that all mixed up with who was calling who, where. But the principle remains the same. The card has access codes and you will be asked to select your language at the beginning. Your daughter would need to use 00 to exit the UK and Germany (same code), then the country code (for example, 1 for the US), then the cell phone number without '0', then the remaining digits. There should not be a problem getting phonecards in the airport - not everyone has a phone of their own (yet).

Lavandula

Heathrow is stuffed with payphones. I've no idea whether any of its zillions of shops sell phonecards: nor, I suspect, do any of the previous posters cavalierly suggesting she buy one.

The simplest way to make those phones work is to get lots of British coins: the next simplest is to use a credit card, though the cost of a 30 sec call to Germany is absurd with a card. Neither, though, is as simple as the two seconds it will take you around the time the flight is due into Heathrow to go onto the Heathrow website and check the status of the incoming and outgoing flights. Ditto around the time the connecting flight's due into Munich

There's no benefit to your daughter in making any of these calls. By giving her any indication otherwise, you're turning your self-centred over-protectiveness into a messy and time-consuming problem for her

It's your problem, and it'll take an inconsequential amount of time for you to solve it.

Despite the brutality of Flanner's remarks I have to agree. If she doesn't have access to her own device she'll need to buy £'s, maybe buy a phone card, maybe change those newly acquired pound notes to coins to use a payphone. Then depending if your cell phone is German or US call the respective international dialling code.

Ultimately to say what? That she's at the airport; well you will know that by checking their website for arrivals. Then she has to repeat the process in Munich.

Assume she will arrive safely, its really too much hassle otherwise. Maybe she'll meet someone on the plane who can text you for her. In the days before cell phone's these issues didn't occur!

For your daughter transferring at Heathrow, look up a youtube video on terminal transfers, to help her out.

What 17 year old girl doesn't have her own cellphone these days? Check to see if your daughter's cellphone will operate on European GSM frequencies (many modern smartphones, e.g. iPhone, do). If that is the case, all she will have to do is send you a couple of inexpensive text messages. :-)

Does she have a smartphone with Wifi? Just find the nearest place with Wifi (any Starbucks) and send a free message using Whatsapp, or make a free call using Viber. Or send an Email home using the smartphone.

Kids hardly ever pay for a phonecall or text message. There are so many places that have free Wifi, there's no need to pay.
My kids would be baffled if I asked them to find a payphone, and pay for a call by credit card.

If she doesn't have a smartphone, get her one. Doesn't have to be an expensive Iphone. It's invaluable while travelling. Install Whatsapp and Viber - all free.

And make sure she turns off any 3G internet on her phone to avoid charges. Just use the Wifi.

Indeed, tell her to turn off data roaming! It may not be practical to search for a wifi hotspot when all she needs to do is make a quick call or text to say she is okay. My daughter and I often use text messages when travelling, even to locate each other at the airport terminal.

>>There's no benefit to your daughter in making any of these calls. By giving her any indication otherwise, you're turning your self-centred over-protectiveness into a messy and time-consuming problem for her<<

My daughter will be in Nicaragua the first week we are in Europe with no contact from us, will fly home to the US by herself, will be home alone, then fly to Munich by herself. I am not self-centered nor am I over-protective by any stretch of the imagination. I simply thought it would be nice for her to have a way to contact us if she needed to. Especially since we will be driving across Germany that day to pick her up and won’t have internet access while we are driving.

We have an GSM phone, but hers is not and I don’t see the need to get her one just for that day.

Perhaps calling people names and making assumptions about people based on one sentence should be avoided.

Lavandula and GBbabe – thanks for your help. I will probably just tell her to buy a calling card if she needs to call, or ask someone to borrow their phone.

I can't see anyone being too pleased at a stranger making an international call on their mobile phone. A text message maybe, but not a phone call.
You did not make it clear you would be driving across Germany in your initial post, so Flanner's internet suggestion was not entirely stupid, though it could have been better put that is Flanner for you. nor that your daughter was on her way to you from Nicaragua. It was reasonable for people to think she had her own smart phone too.

I would suggest you say to your daughter that she should only call you if there is a problem at Heathrow, and if there is then she should buy a card there or use her credit card to call. No call, no problem. Once she is at Heathrow she is only a couple of hours from seeing you again, and talking all she wants for free.

If need be she could purchase 5 minutes of time on one of the computer terminals in the departure lounge/shopping mall. She could send you an e-mail.

That would be simpler than figuring out using a calling card which may haver dialing 30 or more digits between the access number, PIN, and your phone #.

<i>We have an GSM phone, but hers is not and I don’t see the need to get her one just for that day.</i>

Nor do I, but if I were to buy my daughter a phone it would be one that she could use to contact me wherever in the world we may be. It would also be a phone she would continue to use in the future. Next time she needs to upgrade that may be something to think about. ;-)

For us there's no point buying a phone for kids if it doesn't have internet. Text messages and phone calls are expensive, Whatsapp and Viber are free. It doesn't have to be the Iphone5. It's much more economical to buy a phone that has internet, than to buy a cheap phone and pay for text messages and calls.

Doesn't have to be a phone, could be an ipad or other tablet.

I believe there's 45 minutes free Wifi at LHR before you have to pay.

And you can always check online if her flights are on time.

Seriously folks, a basic GSM phone with 900/1800 bands and a UK sim card or even an international sim card with a few minutes will not cost more than $30 total. Yes, $30 or less. Believe it or not, a 2 - 3 min international call at a payphone using a credit card, can cost that much these days. I have even heard worse stories of credit card and payphones. Bottom line, the easiest and most straight forward, is for her to have her own phone. The cheapest is to try to find a calling card.

If your daughter wants to call you from Heathrow using credit card, find a BT payphone (with 'BT' logo). Swipe the card on the reader, and start dialling: 001 then your US cell phone number. There is a call set-up charge of £1, and call itself is charged at 10p for every 4 seconds in units of 20p. So if she makes a two-minute call, it will cost her £1 + 30 x 10p = £4 ($6). It's probably cheaper using an international calling card.