Anyone know how to make a call in the US on a Spanish cellphone?
When I got to Spain, on my US cellphone I had to prefix my Spanish calls with 00, then the country code and number. My cellphone got stolen during the trip so I had to replace it with a Spanish cellphone. I have several calls I'll need to make when I land in the US, before I can get to AT&T to replace my stolen cellphone. So I'm wondering if in the US, calling US numbers, I'll need to preface calls with 011 - or what?
Confused...
What kind of cell phone do you have now? A smart phone? Flip phone?
If it is a flip phone, the only way you'll be able to make calls with it is to use credit from the Spanish SIM you have in it - presumably at expensive roaming rates. You might not get many minutes out of it, though if you have enough credit that you won't use up anyway, it may work out. Add a +1 to the front of US phone numbers to call with it. So to call 212-555-1212 dial +1212-555-1212 .
(To get a + on a cell phone, hold down the 0 (zero).)
If you're using a smart phone (Android?), and you have signed into your Google account when setting up the phone, you should be able to use Google Hangouts to make free voice calls from the phone while you have a WiFi (at the airport?). Install the Google Hangouts and Hangouts Dialer apps.
Similarly, you can try a free app called "TextNow" which will let you make free calls to US phone numbers from a smart phone, as long as you have a WiFi connection.
Last resort: get some change and find a pay phone. They do still exist.
Also, you'll be roaming in the US with a Spanish phone. And the two US networks you'll be able to roam on are the two GSM networks, AT&T and T-Mobile. If your phone doesn't automatically connect to one of them, you can select one of them in settings to connect to. But this is only if you wish to use your phone itself (not on WiFi with Hangouts or TextNow) to make calls.
It is just a cellphone, not a smartphone. I got a deal with 800 minutes included so I'm sure I have at least 700 remaining.
Thanks!
As long as those are worldwide minutes at the same price, you should be good to call in the US. Just make sure the phone connects to AT&T or T-Mobile when you get to the US, then add +1 to the front of US numbers to call them.
One final note: it's POSSIBLE that a European flip phone may not have the correct frequencies to work in the US. You'll just have to find out when you turn the phone on in the US and see whether you can pick up any cellular networks or not. (If you you aren't automatically connected to AT&T or T-Mobile, go into settings and cellular networks and see if you can choose one.)
My last T-Mobile flip phone did not have the correct frequencies to work in Europe. So the converse is true too. If your phone is "quad band" it will probably work. Good luck!
Andrew,
Muchas gracias for the tips! Fingers crossed...
Upon arrival in the US, my Spanish phone connected to T-mobile and I was able to make a call using just the ordinary prefix "1" - not even with a plus sign. So that's good.
However, T-mobile doesn't have a cell tower or coverage where I actually live (in the countryside), so the phone won't work at my home. We can still use it as a pre-paid phone in the US elsewhere, though, so this is still OK.
That's great. It may also work on AT&T's network. If it doesn't connect automatically, go into settings and look for something like "cellular networks" and see if you can search for them, then try to register on AT&T if that shows up.
