Leaving soon on a 2 week holiday from Prague to S. Poland and back. My TMO package covers data but calls are still $.25 a minute.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a good calling card I can use from the EU to US.

I will be using Skype for the business calls but just want to be covered just in case.

When I made my first trip over to Germany back in 2007, every little Tobac shop had international pre-paid calling cards. Haven't had to use one since as I just use VOIP now.

Use wifi calling from the myriad cafes and hotspots.

Or wait until you arrive and buy one or two cards at the airport(s), there's always a kiosk or store as you leave the arrivals area.

Following this thread as I will be doing the Czech, Germany, England trip this summer.

Currently, considering just buying a cheaper European, pre-paid, data-cell service phone from a local shop and be done with it.

Will be using data, primarily, for mapping purposes so the wi-fi option is not logistically viable. Need Cell data. Calling back to US is secondary, and less needed as wi-if will generally suit this need.

But, will be interested in what others have/had done for cell and data service.

quote:

Originally posted by craigcpa:
Following this thread as I will be doing the Czech, Germany, England trip this summer.

Currently, considering just buying a cheaper European, pre-paid, data-cell service phone from a local shop and be done with it.

Will be using data, primarily, for mapping purposes so the wi-fi option is not logistically viable. Need Cell data. Calling back to US is secondary, and less needed as wi-if will generally suit this need.

But, will be interested in what others have/had done for cell and data service.

I get a UK SIM card at the airport - I have one that I've used for several trips, and just reload it at the kiosk when I arrive. You can top them up anywhere, supermarkets, malls, post offices. The only issue is that you get a new (UK) phone number with the SIM. You can select combinations of minutes, texts, and data. I normally get one that gives me 15gb of data, a couple of hundred minutes and texts, and reload it once during a two week stay. Cost me about 20GBP last year each time IIRC.

YMMV.

When you dial home, if you use wifi it will be your usual number, if you use the SIM data, it will be the new number, so email people to let them know!

I just use the Verizon Travel Pass. It's $10/day and gives me the exact same plan I use at home. It kicks in automatically as soon as I turn data roaming on once I land in country. And I use Google Maps all the time when in Europe.

I use T-Mo + Google Voice + Tunnel Bear VPN.

With the VPN, the data traffic appears to be originating from within the U.S., so the Google Voice calls are billed/routed as a local call instead of the usual $0.10/minute.

I initiate the calls from within the Google Hangouts dialer, so the calls are pure VoIP. Not sure if calls originating from within the Google Voice app behave the same, or if Google uses some other magic to make those calls go through.

In any case, my combo above is free (since you should already have a VPN for connecting to public networks).

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
I just use the Verizon Travel Pass. It's $10/day and gives me the exact same plan I use at home. It kicks in automatically as soon as I turn data roaming on once I land in country. And I use Google Maps all the time when in Europe.

This is what I use and aside from the $10 it's free to make calls and texts to numbers in the country you're currently in and free to make calls/texts to the US.

For WIFI, check out whatzapp as it has a calling feature that uses data also and a lot of people are on whatzapp.

Thanks lots of info, I have TMO so under the Vet deal the data is included. I will be using a spare phone or 2 with local sims for local calls.

I will see how good the Wifi is but if so I may use that and Skype.