http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/advice/2012/12/05/6-cheapest-ways-to-stay-in-touch-overseas/1749017/
Warning: Be sure to disable any automatic notifications from your apps as well as automatic e-mail push. If you don't, data charges can kill you.
Joanthan Cheng suggests that we all get SKYPE so that we can also make calls anywhere for free. Budget travellers all use SKYPE to call family and friends all over the world from any WIFI spot in Europe.
Use your mobile phone
This is the easiest option. As long as your cellphone uses the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)—AT&T and T-Mobile phones do—it will work overseas. (Some Verizon phones now use GSM as well.) Check with your wireless provider if you're not sure.
RICK STEVES: 8 tips to prepare for a trip to Europe
With your regular mobile phone, you can be connected almost everywhere. Wireless networks cover almost the entire developed world these days—you aren't tied down to your hotel.
But if you communicate a lot, this is the most expensive option. Even with an international roaming package, rates can be expensive. AT&T, for example, charges up to $1 per minute for calls in select European countries if you purchase an international calling package.
ARCHIVES: Cellphone roaming charges can quietly sneak up on travelers
Warning: Be sure to disable any automatic notifications from your apps as well as automatic e-mail push. If you don't, data charges can kill you.
Get app-happy
If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can make calls at extremely low costs by downloading SKYPE app. Most make calls directly over the Internet as long as you're in a Wi-Fi hotspot, and when you aren't in a hotspot, they default to the local GSM 3G network.
Calls made through Wi-Fi are either free or they only cost a few cents per minute, depending on a whole bunch of factors.
When you aren't in a hotspot, the calls go through local GSM networks, at data rather than voice rates. If you don't want to risk international data-roaming charges, you can combine this approach with a local subscriber identity module (SIM) card.
Of the many available apps, Skype is the simplest and most versatile approach. It is available for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, and BlackBerry. Register for Skype with a unique U.S. number so people can reach you at no cost while you're abroad.
So far, of the big U.S. mobile provid
ers, AT&T seems to be the only one to offer a VOIP app for outgoing calls—but you still have to pay the international roaming rates for incoming calls.
This is the easiest option. As long as your cellphone uses the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)—AT&T and T-Mobile phones do—it will work overseas. (Some Verizon phones now use GSM as well.) Check with your wireless provider if you're not sure.
RICK STEVES: 8 tips to prepare for a trip to Europe
With your regular mobile phone, you can be connected almost everywhere. Wireless networks cover almost the entire developed world these days—you aren't tied down to your hotel.
But if you communicate a lot, this is the most expensive option. Even with an international roaming package, rates can be expensive. AT&T, for example, charges up to $1 per minute for calls in select European countries if you purchase an international calling package.
ARCHIVES: Cellphone roaming charges can quietly sneak up on travelers
Warning: Be sure to disable any automatic notifications from your apps as well as automatic e-mail push. If you don't, data charges can kill you.
Get app-happy
If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can make calls at extremely low costs by downloading SKYPE app. Most make calls directly over the Internet as long as you're in a Wi-Fi hotspot, and when you aren't in a hotspot, they default to the local GSM 3G network.
Calls made through Wi-Fi are either free or they only cost a few cents per minute, depending on a whole bunch of factors.
When you aren't in a hotspot, the calls go through local GSM networks, at data rather than voice rates. If you don't want to risk international data-roaming charges, you can combine this approach with a local subscriber identity module (SIM) card.
Of the many available apps, Skype is the simplest and most versatile approach. It is available for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, and BlackBerry. Register for Skype with a unique U.S. number so people can reach you at no cost while you're abroad.
So far, of the big U.S. mobile provid
ers, AT&T seems to be the only one to offer a VOIP app for outgoing calls—but you still have to pay the international roaming rates for incoming calls.
No comments:
Post a Comment