My daughter will be traveling with us to London, but will have an extended stay there for 5 weeks. Though we plan on using Skype I want her to have a cell phone while she is in school there. She will be traveling with other US students and local British students (possibly other international students too)... what's the best way for her to communicate with phones originating in other countries as well as locally? We're very concerned about phone bills getting out of control as we won't know where all her calls will originate from and she may need to return calls to these phones also. Don't like the option of an international plan on our US phone (rates very high) ...considering virtual #, HeyWire.... advice?
Posted by
Tuscaloosa, AL
1152 posts
Amy, buy a local prepaid phone and a prepaid SIM card when you get to London ("pay as you go" may be how they are labeled). You'll always know what the costs are going to be because it is a prepaid account. Your daughter will be able to add credit to the phone as needed. She can continue to Skype you when you return before she does using wifi and a laptop or iPad or smartphone, but she can also simply call you with the prepaid U.K. SIM. The costs aren't that great even for a call back to the U.S. T-Mobile U.K., for example, charges just 5 pence a minute for calls from the U.K. to a U.S. number: International calling rates. You can get an inexpensive prepaid phone from phone stores, which may be found all over the place, or even grocery stores. Check out a Carphone Warehouse store (you can view their site online before you go to get an idea of the choices and the costs.)
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
As an example of the method mentioned above, I bought a local SIM card on a trip last year (I already had suitable phone, but she could buy one there). My SIM cost 9 euro and contained 9 euro of credit. Over a three week period, I made a few local calls, and three calls back to the States. Each call was around 10-15 minutes. I never used up the 9 euro credit.