Cell phone in UK

Cindy, Before providing specific suggestions, it's important to find out which network your iPhones are with and which models they are?

My husband has a 4G and I have a 3G both through AT&T

Cindy... I do this all the time through AT&T. You just need to add the international texting... 50 texts for $10 (that is for outgoing texts..incoming are free) You can also add a temporary international plan that will lower your rate per minute on phone calls. The only thing you need to do is be sure to turn off the Data Roaming when you shut your phone off in the US before your flight and don't turn it on till you land back in the US. This has worked great for me. Just make sure your outgoing texts are long enough and not any one word answers to keep within your 50... but the additional weren't that much extra if I remember correctly. I always go right in to the AT&T office so I am sure it is done correctly. Its so easy because you still have your own phone and your own number. My friend bought one over there once and had problems using it, so it meant another trip back to the store...not convenient.

AT&T has a package called World Taveler that is $5.99 per month, you can call have it added to your phone for the period you need it. They will pro-rate it when you call to disconnect it when you get home. With this plan you get disconnected rates, and it's 50cent per text to send a text. I would suggest calling AT@T at 611 on you phone and find out all the details to see if this plan would work for you. But even with this it's .99per minute.

Your friend is only partly right. If you turn off data, you still have to worry about the cost of roaming for your voice calls and texts. Even with AT&T's international travel package, calls in Europe are $0.99 per minute - whether you initiate or receive the call, and whether the other party is across the street or across an ocean. They're $1.29 per minute without a package. That's fine for minimal use, but if you really plan to make a lot of calls, you may want to investigate getting a pay as you go phone in the UK. Some of them have very cheap plans to call the US. You can often reduce the cost even further with a special package. For instance, T-Mobile UK has a "booster," wherein you put 7.50 pounds, and get 120 minutes of calls to the US or Canada (so 6.25 pence a minute, or roughly US $0.10 per minute). Details about their "International USA Talk Booster" here: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/price-plans/pay-as-you-go/boosters/ While receiving calls in the UK on a UK mobile (as they call a cell) is free, calling a UK mobile from the US is costly (more than calling a UK landline from the US). So, what I do is have my family text me from the US (international texts from the US are 35-50 cents on most plans), then call them back on my cheap European cell plan.

Cindy, As your iPhones are both with AT&T, they should work fine in the U.K. It's quite likely that both phones are "locked" and therefore you'll be limited to using the travel roaming plans with AT&T. In addition to voice and text, I believe they offer data roaming as well. Check with AT&T for details and costs. I'd suggest switching "off" the cellular data roaming when you leave the U.S., and using ONLY Wi-Fi to access the internet (should you decide to do that). Check the settings and the usage meter periodically during your trip to ensure that you're not using any data. This will still allow you to use voice & text, at the applicable AT&T rates. As Harold mentioned, you'll also be paying for incoming calls. When one of you calls the other, the call will be directed to the U.S. and then bounced back to the U.K. You will both pay for each call (one for the outgoing, one for the incoming). It's MUCH cheaper to rely mostly on text messaging. If you travel with your iPhones, BE SURE to tell all your contacts NOT to call when you're abroad. There's nothing more annoying than being awakened at 03:00 by someone that "forgot" you were travelling and didn't bother checking the time. If the phones were "unlocked", you'd be able to use a SIM card purchased in the U.K., at local rates OR a SIM purchased here from one of the "travel phone" firms. Speak with AT&T about unlocking your phones. I'll probably be travelling with an iPhone for the first time this year, so will also be dealing with the same issues. Cheers!

Here's one way to avoid friends and others calling you at inappropriate times (due to time zone differences) when you are overseas: Get a google voice number. Your phone is set to forward calls that aren't answered to your cell carrier's voicemail number. Change that number so that instead those calls are forwarded to your google voice number. Google voice has instructions on how to do this for all U.S. carriers. Configure your google voice settings so that google voice will send you either an email or a text, or both, for all missed calls. Before you leave the U.S. change your call forwarding settings so that instead of sending calls to voicemail only if you don't answer (called conditional call forwarding), all calls will go to voicemail first, that is, your phone won't ring at all. ( Absolute or unconditional call forwarding) Now all calls go to voicemail. Google voice will transcribe the calls and send you a written version that you can check by logging into email or reading your texts. With my cell plan, incoming text messages I receive, even while overseas, are free, so I have google voice send me a text every time I get a call. I can then choose to call back, send an email or text, or ignore the call.

If you don't or can't use google voice, there are other companies that offer similar services, too.