Traveling to Europe; whats the best way to keep in touch with the States?

[mofunk]

Great!!!

I wasnt sure if things like iMessage would work oversees. Wasnt sure, but as long as that and facetime works Im OK.

Now a question. If I have wifi in my hotel, and Im out most of the day and I get messaged to my cell #, will I get it once I connect back to wifi?

I use iMessage all the time for chatting overseas. like the person said it this thread, it's over wifi. Updating your FB status will assure them that you are alive. lol

 

[Col Ronson]

Great!!!

I wasnt sure if things like iMessage would work oversees. Wasnt sure, but as long as that and facetime works Im OK.

Now a question. If I have wifi in my hotel, and Im out most of the day and I get messaged to my cell #, will I get it once I connect back to wifi?

iMessage will continue to work as long as theres an internet connection. However, some people's iMessages will default to SMS if there is no success in delivery.

Most cell plans allow you to receive SMS while overseas for free (or deducted from your domestic bucket). When i traveled abroad before the time of unlocked phones, i used a Mifi (mobile broadband mini router/modem). A lot of local service providers will sell you for $99 and then a decent prepaid data package for slightly more.

Nowadays i just pop in a local SIM card. Your Verizon iPhone is sim unlocked, so not a big deal. but $25 for 100MB of data isn't too awful of a deal either (verizon roaming).

There are a bunch of free apps that will let you call home for free too, vonage being the one that comes to mind.

 

[dan999d999]

Prepaid card and Iphone etc

Sorry in advance for such newbie questions ....

My teenage college kid is going to London and maybe France, Ireland and Spain for one month. The rest of the family is in USA.

He has a Iphone 5S and I have a Iphone 4S. There is a sibling that has a phone but it is not a smart phone that needs to be part of this communication. We all want to keep in touch via voice and texting. I will be attempting Skype for the first time. My son will be getting a prepaid
AT & T card.

So how do we put all of this together - as you can see, this is the first time for an overseas trip and we are not sure how to keep in touch.

I see where the Whatsapp is being recommended - is that only for wifi?
What happens if there is weak or no wifi?

Can the At & T international phone card be used with the Iphone so he can dial the access number on his Iphone and then call using the prepaid card minutes?

I also read where Skype has a flat monthly charge we can pay which will allow unlimited calls to either a landline or cellphone in the US without the receiving party having Skype. Is that correct? And if so, how well does it work?

Thanks all in advance and appreciate the patience with these newbie questions.

 

[Selmir]

Sorry in advance for such newbie questions ....



My teenage college kid is going to London and maybe France, Ireland and Spain for one month. The rest of the family is in USA.



He has a Iphone 5S and I have a Iphone 4S. There is a sibling that has a phone but it is not a smart phone that needs to be part of this communication. We all want to keep in touch via voice and texting. I will be attempting Skype for the first time. My son will be getting a prepaid

AT & T card.



So how do we put all of this together - as you can see, this is the first time for an overseas trip and we are not sure how to keep in touch.



I see where the Whatsapp is being recommended - is that only for wifi?

What happens if there is weak or no wifi?



Can the At & T international phone card be used with the Iphone so he can dial the access number on his Iphone and then call using the prepaid card minutes?



I also read where Skype has a flat monthly charge we can pay which will allow unlimited calls to either a landline or cellphone in the US without the receiving party having Skype. Is that correct? And if so, how well does it work?



Thanks all in advance and appreciate the patience with these newbie questions.

Just get Viber both of you and you will have voice calls for free even without WiFi. Its probably the best voice app so far. Give it a go. And it's free.

 

[al821]

before my friend went to japan, he made a google voice account and downloaded the talkatone app. he was able to talk to family and friends back home long as he was on wifi connection

 

[Idefix]

Sorry in advance for such newbie questions ....

My teenage college kid is going to London and maybe France, Ireland and Spain for one month. The rest of the family is in USA.

He has a Iphone 5S and I have a Iphone 4S. There is a sibling that has a phone but it is not a smart phone that needs to be part of this communication. We all want to keep in touch via voice and texting. I will be attempting Skype for the first time. My son will be getting a prepaid
AT & T card.

So how do we put all of this together - as you can see, this is the first time for an overseas trip and we are not sure how to keep in touch.

I see where the Whatsapp is being recommended - is that only for wifi?
What happens if there is weak or no wifi?

Can the At & T international phone card be used with the Iphone so he can dial the access number on his Iphone and then call using the prepaid card minutes?

I also read where Skype has a flat monthly charge we can pay which will allow unlimited calls to either a landline or cellphone in the US without the receiving party having Skype. Is that correct? And if so, how well does it work?

Thanks all in advance and appreciate the patience with these newbie questions.

It's been awhile since I was in France--but at that time, pay phones were all over. Have pay phones disappeared? What I used to do was get a pre-paid pay phone card (10 euros +/- at any Bar-Tabac) and use that to call the toll-free number on an ATT calling card. This could be a backup emergence option.

If he uses his ATT 5S to call a country-specific toll-free number on the pre-paid ATT calling card, I'm guessing he will pay outrageous international rates by the minute-connected? For example, you're in France calling a French toll-free number--it's toll-free to French-originating calls, but +++ to a US mobile.

Nowadays, what my daughter does when she calls from Europe, is to call me from her mobile, and ask me to Skype her laptop (on wifi.)

Based on your financial record with ATT, you should explain the situation to customer service and ask that your son's 5S be unlocked.

Then your son can buy a local pre-paid GSM nano-sim for whatever country he's in. He'll have a local number with whatever amount of minutes and data he needs.

And be sure to alert your son to the pick-pocketing gangs in London and Paris. And the ATM shoulder surfing gangs.

 

[jcal0820]

Traveling to Europe; whats the best way to keep in touch with the States?

Dug up this old Thread to add my recent experience while roaming in Korea. I just came back to the US after a 3 week military exercise there, mainly in vic of Seoul, using my Verizon iPhone 5 on the Verizon Global Plan..
Well, roaming on this plan absolutely sucked, my iPhone could never make or hold a connection for any period of time, both phone & data. Only worked well while on WiFi. I then went to a local Olleh KT outlet in Itawon, & bought/installed a prepaid SIM. Then, my iPhone worked beautifully, getting like 20mb data speed on just a 3G connection! Bought 1GB of data and 200 min for phone calls, which was more than enough and much cheaper than the crap Verizon global plan.
Next time I go overseas again, I'm just going to get a local prepaid SIM and load it with data, with minimal phone call minutes, since data is all I really need (I have tons of VoIP & SMS apps). And since I'm on Verizon, my iPhone 5S is the true 'global' phone with CDMA & GSM bands, all unlocked by default!!