<p>long story short… H and I had our flight out of Cancun cancelled today, and we’ve had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to use our cell phones to make calls. We finally caught on that we had to dial: + then, 1 then the area code, then number. But we absolutely could not make any phone calls that involved toll free, such as 800, 866, 888 area codes. We automatically would get a message in spanish, then the call would disconnect.</p>
<p>Has anyone else had a problem trying to dial toll-free numbers from their American cell phones while in another country? We still cannot even call the airlines because all their phone numbers are toll-free. We were given a Mexican number to call, but it didn’t work from our cell phones, either. If it matters, we have AT&T.</p>
<p>Well, a very kind lurker PMed me with this information, and it worked, so I thought I’d share the answer with anyone else who might run into this problem. When you call the number as suggested below, you will get a recording, saying that the call you are making is not toll free, and that you will be charged international calling rates if you choose to continue to the call:</p>
<p>Hope you got home safe and sound. When we were in Australia recently, I had rented an international phone from Verizon. I never did figure out how to use it, although one day out of the blue it rang and I had a call from someone who does gardening for us. It never did work for outgoing calls, but luckily we just had it for emergencies.</p>
<p>Certainly it pays to know in advance if you can roam in the foreign country with your current service (more likely with AT&T & T-Mobile than CDMA carriers Verizon/Sprint) or to write down non-800 numbers emergency.</p>
<p>we could certainly roam… just couldn’t make any calls to toll-free numbers (there are several of them now, aside from 800, 866, etc.). But today H tried calling the airline (he wanted to get his frequent flyer number to put on our ‘compensation’ form we had to fill out) and substituted 880 for 866. He got a recording that it wouldn’t be a toll-free call, but if he accepted the charges, he could press a button, and the call would go through. Good thing to know for the future. I spent lots of time going through the United website and found NO non-toll free numbers for customers.</p>
<p>Many toll free numbers are not accessible from abroad. Banks/credit card companies, for instance, always give you an alternate non-800 number. I always program both in my phone/pda, just in case.</p>
<p>We had a blast, Terri. We went two and a half weeks before her program began, went to New Zealand (where my cell phone could recieve calls) and all over Australia (where the fact that they had not included a sim card for GSM precluded it’s use).</p>
<p>We spent the last few days in Sydney, saw The Magic Flute at the opera house. It was a wild production…lots of acrobats and zany costumes. The siinging was not world class, but the production value was high. And when you see opera companies all over the states closing their doors, it was nice to see a full house for an opera. </p>
<p>We got D and her friend moved in, and they are now doing their thing and having a great time. D is taking all ge classes, but has joined a chorus that is doing Mozart’s Requim. She is excited about that. And she is taking pilates and dance classes too. I have been nagging her to find a voice teacher, as her senior recital will be here before she knows it, but she has all her songs selected and thinks she can work on them on her own. We will see. One funny thing- her history professor is from Berkeley. Her friend she is there with goes to school at Cal Berkeley, so there they are miles from home and have an American prof teaching them.</p>
<p>Our son is going to Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama he is in the first of three years and we have the communicating as follows: We signed up on SKYPE which allows us to call him via the internet with video calling. We talk to him twice a week, once in the middle and then on the weekends. It allows you to leave voice mails and send instant messaging to him. It’s free, SKYPE to SKYPE and resaonable if we have to call his cell phone…oh yes, he has a local cell for the UK that he uses to stay in touch with his school mates. He is on a pay as you go plan and spends about $25 (US) a month. Since he has a laptop (with built in camera) he calls us from coffe shops, airports, dorm room,…anywhere he can get an internet connection. Check it out it has made being 5,000 miles away easier for us all.</p>
<p>tnactorsdad - in the midst of this small crisis, I was IMing with D in Boston, asking her to call the airlines and see what she could figure out. She had problems getting through to a live person, but then asked me why I didn’t Skype the call. I have the program… just have never used it because both Ds have MacBooks, so they haven’t downloaded SKYPE.</p>
<p>anothermom - glad you had such a wonderful visit. Sounds glorious, and it’s their summer down there, right?</p>