Advice Neede

terra · 01-06-2006, 10:26

Hi, I am traveling to greece, italy and then austria, I was wandering is it better to get an international card or just buy one in each country of visit (the total time i will spend in europe is about 1 month.)

Thank you. :help:

TheMadBrewer · 01-06-2006, 14:26

I think the answer is "it depends"

(And I'm not familiar with national SIMs in those countries, so I can't help on specific -- but others here can)

Are you going to be using the phone mostly to receive calls from the US, make calls back to the US or to make or receive local calls while in a country? And what level of use in each country (light, medium, heavy)?

If people need to reach you, you'll need to know the number before you leave and an international SIM is probably best. An international SIM also means you'll only have one number for them to call, no matter where you are.

If you are mostly "phoning home" I've found the combination of United Mobile (Riiing) and Call Back World to work well, though I've no experience on how it works in Italy and Greece.

If you are going to making or receiving lots of national calls in a country, or you are going to be traveling there frequently then a national SIM might makes sense.

Another factor is how much you are going to be using the phone. If you get national SIMs for each country you are going to have to buy airtime for each. If you have to, for example, buy a minimum of ?15 in each country but only plan on making a few calls, an international SIM might be cheaper and have lest wasted airtime.

On more thing to consider is how often you'll be traveling outside the US. If you do a couple times a year, to many different countries then an international SIM makes sense. UM has to be used or topped up every 9 months (and an SMS counts as use) so its not hard to keep it alive for annual trips. And you can loan out your international SIM to friends who travel.

Sorry there aren't more specifics -- I'll leave that to the "experts" here on Italy, Greece and Austria.

snaimon · 01-06-2006, 14:51

Don't forget that calling cards (ATT, MCI, Enjoyprepaid or locals) are bound to be cheaper than cell phone calls. Most have toll free #s you can use to dial out.

Sounds as if you are the perfect candidate for an international SIM....

UM, 09, Hop, Travelsim, etc.

Look at some of the recent advice given in the Europe section.

Depends on your calling habits. If you are expecting few calls in and out, then one person decided to use the CINGY card willing to pay $1.29 / minute -- expecting few calls.

Stan

snidely · 01-06-2006, 16:22

One of point to add:
Make sure your phone is SIM unlocked (meaning it will accept any carrier's SIM) AND that it works on 900/1800 bands. I mention this only because a recent user here (or maybe another forum) went thru all this and when he got overseas couldn't figure out why his phone didn't work. Turns out it was a Nokia phone that worked only on U.S. frequencies. Nokia, i gather, uses same model number designations for "Europeon" phones as for U.S. banded phones.
Good advice in posts above.

...mike

	(#1)
terra (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 7 Join Date: 31 May 2006	01-06-2006, 10:26 Hi, I am traveling to greece, italy and then austria, I was wandering is it better to get an international card or just buy one in each country of visit (the total time i will spend in europe is about 1 month.) Thank you. :help:

	(#2)
TheMadBrewer (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Fan Posts: 127 Join Date: 01 Jun 2005 Location: Marina del Rey, CA Country:	01-06-2006, 14:26 I think the answer is "it depends" (And I'm not familiar with national SIMs in those countries, so I can't help on specific -- but others here can) Are you going to be using the phone mostly to receive calls from the US, make calls back to the US or to make or receive local calls while in a country? And what level of use in each country (light, medium, heavy)? If people need to reach you, you'll need to know the number before you leave and an international SIM is probably best. An international SIM also means you'll only have one number for them to call, no matter where you are. If you are mostly "phoning home" I've found the combination of United Mobile (Riiing) and Call Back World to work well, though I've no experience on how it works in Italy and Greece. If you are going to making or receiving lots of national calls in a country, or you are going to be traveling there frequently then a national SIM might makes sense. Another factor is how much you are going to be using the phone. If you get national SIMs for each country you are going to have to buy airtime for each. If you have to, for example, buy a minimum of ?15 in each country but only plan on making a few calls, an international SIM might be cheaper and have lest wasted airtime. On more thing to consider is how often you'll be traveling outside the US. If you do a couple times a year, to many different countries then an international SIM makes sense. UM has to be used or topped up every 9 months (and an SMS counts as use) so its not hard to keep it alive for annual trips. And you can loan out your international SIM to friends who travel. Sorry there aren't more specifics -- I'll leave that to the "experts" here on Italy, Greece and Austria. Whole bunch of SIMs, mostly dead, some still working...

	(#3)
snaimon (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 898 Join Date: 17 Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, VA USA Country:	01-06-2006, 14:51 Don't forget that calling cards (ATT, MCI, Enjoyprepaid or locals) are bound to be cheaper than cell phone calls. Most have toll free #s you can use to dial out. Sounds as if you are the perfect candidate for an international SIM.... UM, 09, Hop, Travelsim, etc. Look at some of the recent advice given in the Europe section. Depends on your calling habits. If you are expecting few calls in and out, then one person decided to use the CINGY card willing to pay $1.29 / minute -- expecting few calls. Stan Phones: DASH V3 (3) Service: US T-MO post paid (2) - US T-MO prepaid (2) - UM+ - TravelSIM DE SIMYO - DE SUNSIM T-Mobile DE Calling Cards: Onesuite Enjoyprepaid AT&T MCI Mobivox

	(#4)
snidely (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 451 Join Date: 09 May 2005 Location: Berkeley, California and Miami Country:	01-06-2006, 16:22 One of point to add: Make sure your phone is SIM unlocked (meaning it will accept any carrier's SIM) AND that it works on 900/1800 bands. I mention this only because a recent user here (or maybe another forum) went thru all this and when he got overseas couldn't figure out why his phone didn't work. Turns out it was a Nokia phone that worked only on U.S. frequencies. Nokia, i gather, uses same model number designations for "Europeon" phones as for U.S. banded phones. Good advice in posts above. ...mike Make use of T-M's UMA/wifi free calling from any place in the world with access to wifi. I use an LG G6, wife an S7) A/o Oct 20, 2013 no need for intl prepaid as T-Mobile U.S. includes voice roaming at 20¢/min (in and out)., unlimited text (in and out), and unlimited data in 140+ countries. My Plan -[6 lines] U.S. T-Mobile unlimited minutes (incoming and outgoing), unlimited text, fast data on each line. that $145/mo. total! . (In U.S. no surcharge for calling a cell.) If a line exceeds 2G of data in a month, pay $10 more for that line. [That only happens a couple times/year.