JenV...Just a question...what kinds of phone calls do you need to make during a vacation that would add up to $1,0000 or even $200? Just curious. Maybe I am just not with it but during a vacation I don't want to be making or receiving calls unless they are emergencies.

I usually don't take a phone when I travel but this trip I was meeting up with people at various spots so I decided to take one for convenience. There was a situation at work that had to be delt with and a few calls home. Most of it was one multi-hour long conversation with work though. Lesson learned.

I tried checking to make sure the world phone was working in the U.S. before my daughter went to France a few years ago to head off any problems. It would not work in our small town (even though we have U.S. Cellular and Verizon wireless (back then Alltel) but it did work at the St. Louis airport before she boarded her flight. She never had any problems with it working anywhere overseas (she went to 8 different countries, including Albania). It came in really handy when she missed a flight in Scotland and wasn't sure what to do and didn't have time to muck around looking for a way to call us. Since she has been back she hasn't made any calls on it and it hasn't cost us a dime. It's a great emergency phone. Definitely not a good phone for regular chats.