<p>Skype seems like the cheapest option for a student traveling abroad. However, can one use Skype to call a US cell phone or does the student have to get an unlocked phone?</p>
<p>I use Skype all of the time, as we have a home in another country and friends in other countries.</p>
<p>There have been other threads on Skype here in the Parent Cafe/Forum, so you can search.</p>
<p>With Skype, you can call Skype-to-Skype (computer-to-computer) totally for free, no matter where the two users are. So have your kid download Skype onto his/her computer as well as you having it on yours.</p>
<p>With Skype, you can also call landlines and cell phones (SkypeOut). But for that, there is a charge - still cheaper than most/all other options. Often by a mile. Unless it’s changed, the charge to SkypeOut to a cell is higher than to a landline. In the country I SkypeOut from, it is $.02 to call a land line, but more like $.09 to call a cell. Skype has a list of rates you can easily check by country.</p>
<p>The receiving cell phone would also have a charge if they are being charged international roaming. In the country where I live, there are no good international roaming plans; I have to pay a stiff per minute charge ($.59) even with the international plan. So I avoid using the cell phone assiduously.</p>
<p>If I were trying to communicate with my kid internationally, I would use Skype-to-Skype except for dire emergencies. Unless there are cheap cell plans in that country.</p>