<p>My D is going on her school’s AP Art History trip to Spain over Spring Break. Since I can’t ground her and go in her place (I’ve never been to Barcelona, why should she get all the fun?), we’re looking for some hints from people who have travelled there recently. Did your cell phone work, and was it astoundingly expensive? D has Cingular high tech Razr phone that seems to be implanted on her body… text messages being today’ s preferred media (a phone call or email is “too formal”!) I’m not going to finance her messages to friends, but what might it cost to allow her to message home a few times, or call in an emergency?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about your situation, but sometimes even if the cell phone companies DO say they work at certain places, they really don’t. My dad went to Mali, Africa, and we made sure that he had the right phone and card to be in Africa and make phone calls. We talked to T-mobile, and the assured us that where he was would work. He couldn’t make or accept calls while he was there. </p>
<p>Really dumb too because my parents paid extra for the international calling plan.</p>
<p>My D used her T-Mobile (GSM) phone in Scotland a couple years ago. It worked fine but before she left I checked with T-Mobile to make sure it had ‘international roaming’ enabled. Cingular’s phones are GSM as well and should work okay but make sure the account has international roaming enabled on it. </p>
<p>Since the phone was only going to be used very sparingly - just occasional short status calls, we just went with the standard cost of about 99 cents a minute. text messaging is cheaper but my D didn’t use it (I think she’s the only college student who doesn’t). If your D’s going to use her phone much she might want to by a pre-loaded SIM card once she gets there. She might also want to make sure she doesn’t take calls from her 100 closest friends while there or it can cost a fortune. You might want to lay down some ground rules if you pay her cell phone bill.</p>
<p>If she’s going to have a laptop and have an internet connection, I suggest using the laptop to chat rather than cell-text messaging and using the laptop as a phone with Windows Live Messenger or the equivalent which would make the calls free.</p>
<p>i used a motorola phone from t-mobile in holland this summer and it worked flawlessly. my sister used the motorola v3 and had no problems either.</p>
<p>my D used her T=Mobile in England and Ireland…no problems…we made sure to contact the service provider to let them know the phone was going to be used there and that her phone was activated for use over there (can’t remember all the details, had a plan that was cheap, she would call us, then we would call her with the 1-888 whatever number to charge the call one, it was like 20cents a minute, the kind where you dial ten digits, a code then the number, soooo worth it</p>
<p>if she had to call us, we figured an extra few books on a several thousand dollar trip was a drop in the bucket</p>
<p>now if we could have gotten her to quit starbucks…</p>
<p>oh yeah, the phone company called us after the first phone call from our D to be sure it was okay…which we were grateful for, same with her ATM card use</p>
<p>First of all, cell phone service in Europe should make any US citizen drool with envy. The service overseas is so much better and also cheaper. Trying to use your US number is simple heresy. </p>
<p>Allowing your phone to roam overseas can cost you a small fortune. In almost every case, trying to use your phone with your US number is a HUGE mistake as it is virtually impossible to restrict the INCOMING calls, voice mails, and text messages. I know people who were hit by charges of several hundred dollars from unrestricted voicemails when their phone was off most of the time. When they turned the phone on, all the messages were charged at horrendous rates. </p>
<p>Whatever you do make sure to spend A LOT of time with your provider and discuss all the costs before departing. If you think the ATT and Sprint of this world nickel and dime you, wait until you see the ways they can screw you when abroad.</p>
<p>Regardless of the provider promises, a much, much better option is to remove your SIM card as soon as you board the plane or never have your phone on after landing. Upon arrival, just purchase a Spanish SIM card that gives you a local number and/or a local landline calling card. The cost for the SIM is about 25 Euros and comes with a good amount of time. Movistar is excellent and has English speaking agents. El Corte Ingles is a good place to buy it, but many stores will sell you a card. It comes in a neat little package with full explanations. It is very simple to do the swap and most stores will do it for you. </p>
<p>This way you’ll make cheap local calls in Spain and Europe, won’t be charged for calls received, and should be able to call home at very reasonable rates. For extended calls to the US, the calling cards that use the local landlines is very, very cheap. Even when using a public phone the cost rarely exceeds 10 cents per minute. </p>
<p>On the way back home, simply remove the SIM and reinstall your good old US one, and count your blessings for having avoided being royally hosed by companies that exploit the ignorance and trust of their customers, not to mention the real bad advice available on public forums.</p>
<p>PS When traveling with a laptop, a good option is to buy an internet access code from the cell phone companies for a month. It is much cheaper than looking for daily rates at the hotel or seeking an internet cafe. Armed with this, using Skype becomes a great tool.</p>
<p>with our service, we don’t get charged for incoming calls…</p>
<p>we figured having a guaranteed phone that we knew worked before sending out 16 year old overseas, and spending 6000 on a trip, a couple of hundred dollars was not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, and as she was changing countries (3) having the phone was part of our budget</p>
<p>guess we were bad stupid parents, shame on us</p>
<p>Cingular won’t charge extra for text messaging overseas, so sign up for whatever plan offers the most text messaging and you should be fine. The international roaming rates will not be prohibitive for short calls – so the key is simply to avoid voice calls unless absolutely necessary – and then keep them short. You can use also use email to text messaging (the reply will come back to your email address) – so it’s pretty easy for a parent to maintain regular contact via text without going nuts keying in the text to a phone. </p>
<p>Just make sure the cell phone is a multi-band phone for international use (most of the new ones are – if you are using older equipment you might need to upgrade).</p>
<p>ps- she most often used a phone card, and put a message on her phone answering machine saying where she was and to email her…then she hung out in an internet cafe once in awhile</p>
<p>best of all worlds if you plan it well and child is cooperative, which she was</p>
<p>I had tentatively planned to just bite the bullet and use my Cingular plan for the occasional call home from Italy last summer (but then my fancy pants Razr died soon after we arrived, so didn’t matter but that’s another story). I did jump through hoops to have Cingular disconnect my voice mail so I wouldn’t get charged for any incoming calls I had no control over. A pain in the rear to disconnect and reconnect. I will say that the few text messages I sent and received before the phone died were a bargain, though. But I also keep a tight grip on my cell phone number which is not necessarily the case with the younger generation.</p>
<p>Xiggi’s plan sounds the best and is the one I had planned to explore as well while in Europe but the dead phone nixed that idea. Discuss any “locking” issues with Cingular before going; you may need to do something before the phone will accept a non Cingular sim card.</p>
<p>I just called Cingular to ask these very questions, since my son is traveling to Paris next month. I was told that calls will be billed at $1.29 per minute unless he signs up for an international plan costing $5.99 per month, in which case the calls will be billed at $0.99 per minute. Text messages will cost $0.50to send and $0.10 to receive. </p>
<p>Those rates are ok for emergency calls home, but too expensive for regular calls. He’s only going to be gone a week, so I purchased a prepaid long distance phone card that he can use. It has over an hour’s worth minutes on it so it should do the trick.</p>
<p>As far as Cingular working well in Spain, my husband is from Spain and has used his Cingular phone there often. It worked just fine. Calls to the States were as clear as if he was calling from around the corner.</p>
<p>I’ve used mine overseas and done what patsmom mentions. Turn “on” international calling plan and then just cancel that plan when you get back.</p>
<p>CGM, every individual decides what is best for his or her budget. From my vantage point, I’d think that for traveling students “a couple of hundred dollars was not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things” might not apply.
Most people I know consider that a large sum of money, especially when it can be so EASILY avoided in Europe. </p>
<p>FWIW, the biggest issue remains on how to deal with the hidden charges that may show up on your bill. In addition to the voice mail routing issue I mentioned, most phones today yield access to sophisticated tools such as internet access and large data transfer. A visit to any of the forums that discuss the potential overcharges for customers traveling abroad might make you look beyond your sole experience. </p>
<p>I maintain that your cell phone is best used with a local SIM card that accepts free incoming calls, has cheap local calling, and reasonable rates for calling the US. One great value of a cell phone is to provide help where you are as well as a sense of security. This is best accomplished through the local system without roaming. The cost of a foreign SIM card at 20 or 30 dollars is a great guarantee against unexpected roaming charges or other add-ons. </p>
<p>Again, anyone who decides to trust the US system should utterly grill their providers about any possible charges abroad. Lastly, the calling cards are typically cheaper in Europe and it makes a difference if you use a public phone or a house phone.</p>
<p>PS My posts relate to Europe only. I have no idea on what works best in the rest of the world. Also there are cases where the US extends its reach at great value. For travel to Mexico or Canada the option of signing for a North America plan is probably the best. For instance, someone on Verizon traveling to Cancun might sign up for the plan for a month and switch back when returning. The rates are viryually similar to a US plan.</p>
<p>Dragon Mom, if she is only going for a week and wants to use the phone for emergencies or to let you know via text she is alive and well, then any way would be fine. I use my european cell company when I return home in the summers: it is convenient and affordable. But then, if she is going to text/chat/whatever as normal, then heed Xiggi’s warning. Yes, sim cards are easily transferred as long as your phone is GSM and much cheaper. In fact, this is a warning, cell use in Europe is very active, has been for years, and much cheaper. So if she will be hanging around european youth, watch out. :)</p>
<p>One last thing, if you are on Verizon, unless they came up with a late miracle, you won’t be able to use your phone in most of the world. The technology is not compatible. </p>
<p>Verizon may offer a vast network in the United States, but because it’s a CDMA carrier, its coverage abroad is much less extensive than that of Cingular or T-Mobile. Using a Verizon CDMA handset, you can roam to China and Taiwan, Israel, New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, South Korea, and a few Caribbean islands, though a software upgrade may be required. Standard roaming rates are 69 cents to $4.99 per minute.</p>
<p>Check this information:</p>
<p><a href=“http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6253284-5.html[/url]”>CNET: Product reviews, advice, how-tos and the latest news;
<p>my DD spent the summer in Switzerland, then did a tour of Europe, Asia and Australia. Her verizon phone only worked in China for some odd reason.
She spent a mad hour or so checking in with us and her friends. The total cost of use was $6.35. The rest of the time she used the net to email or even IM. Every hotel seemed to have net access computer in the lobby. She had to wait in line to use it, but still a great option for her.</p>
<p>When my son was in Europe. he got his Cingular phone unlock and used the Sim card for the country he was in. Besides being cheaper, it kept his friends from sending 100 text messages and voice mails!! With a local sim card you do need to get your phone unlocked before leaving. The only person that had the international phone number was the family. Usually my son would send an email from a cafe ever other day or so, but we did talk to him a few times.</p>
<p>I really worry that these kids will rack up minutes on their phones if they leave with their own number, even if it is only from friends sending incoming.</p>
<p>When our Verizon family members traveled to Europe, we have had success with purchasing cheap pay as you go phones with European sim cards. These are then recycled (sold) to the next crop of study abroad students.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mobal.com%5B/url%5D”>www.mobal.com</a></p>
<p>I bought one of these. I travel a lot and there are no monthly fees or roaming charges. Rates per minute are a bit pricey, but for most European countries they aren’t so outrageous, and they were worth it for my mommy to be able to contact me at any time.</p>