Which cell service is best? - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

Sara_eve20 · 08-08-2006, 04:42 PM

Hey so I am about to move to Spain for 6 months and I looking into getting an international cell phone. Mine unfortunately does not convert to go international. I have found tons of plans, but which ones actually work when you get there and are cheap?

Any help would be awesome. So far the plans I found are $.97 a minute to call the US.

**omisan** · 08-08-2006, 05:04 PM

T-Mobile and AT&T have GSM networks and phones that will work overseas.. However, you'd still be paying $.99/minute to call from overseas under their international roaming plans.

Best thing to do is either take a tri/quad-band GSM phone with you and buy a SIM card over there for whichever carrier has the best int'l rates. OR, do that and get an international calling card. You'd be using your local minutes to using a calling card for anywhere from 4-10 cents a minute.

VP. · 08-09-2006, 12:24 AM

I wouldn't recommend using your cell phone to call back home. In my experience its easier if you have the people at home call you using a calling card, that way you don't use up your minutes. As far as I know, all the plans over here only use your minutes when you make calls, not receive them.

I think the best method for international calling is Skype. This requires at least one of you to have a high-speed internet connection. The other person needs to have a high-speed connection or a land-line phone number. You can call cell phones with Skype too, but it is expensive whereas when calling land phone lines you are only charged the local rate.

**LiveFreeorDie** · 08-09-2006, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Best thing to do is either take a tri/quad-band GSM phone with you and buy a SIM card over there for whichever carrier has the best int'l rates. OR, do that and get an international calling card. You'd be using your local minutes to using a calling card for anywhere from 4-10 cents a minute.[/b]

Just make sure that if you get the GSM phone here in the States that the service provider (Cingular, T-Mobile, whoever) will UNLOCK the phone so you can use multiple SIM cards. Many times they do not want to do this - Cingular, for example, makes you be a customer for at least 3 months before they will even consider this and even then they give you the run around. As an alternative, you could buy a cheap GSM phone once you get to Spain.

Also, many plans overseas have very cheap or free text messaging, even to international numbers. It's not the same as talking, but you could possibly use texting part of the time just to check in and let people know your okay and it would save you some cash. Sometimes texting internationally is iffy, though, especially if you send a text from a GSM phone overseas to a CDMA phone in the states (Verizon Wireless customer for example). In that case, the text may fails to come though. Just something to keep in mind. Good luck.

Sara_eve20 · 08-09-2006, 06:08 PM

Hey thanks everyone. I think I might just wait to get there and wing it. Sounds like it will be the cheapiest.