Let's 'thrash' this out.

[Whitequeen]

Painstakingly boring it may be, but it may help those members from the UK make mobile/cell phone decisions.

OK. I buy a Pay as You Go phone from Walmart.

The questions are:
Is it going to be cheaper to phone the UK with it?
Can you text from US cell phones?
How would we find charges for International calls/text?
Where can you 'top up' your phone?

If I/we can get enough information on this and I decide to buy one would UK rs be interested in trying an ongoing swap of said phone? (certain conditions will have to apply)

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to find as much information as possible. We've had this question come up many times but only have 'snippets' of info to offer.
OK Agents of you go.....and remember......be careful out there! :wink:

[Breeze]

That's a great idea Lesley. I'll make some phone calls for you guys this afternoon to see if I can get some information right from the cell phone companies for you and let you know what I find out :thumbs:

[Keith]

Brilliant idea ! Be excellent to have some firm info on it all!

[JuniorMickey]

I have checked out virgin pre-paid for others. Domestic calls are $0.25 for the first 10 minutes of the day and then $0.10 after that. Text messages are $0.10 each. I've seen top-ups for these at Target, Virgin Megastore, Walgreens and I think Wal-Mart. Their website is here (www.virginmobileusa.com). Looking at their website, you can also top-up with a credit card from the site. Their chart for international calling is here (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/help/internationalCalling.do) and the international minutes do not get cheaper the more you talk (of course)

Hope that helps you (and some others)

[Whitequeen]

Breeze, JM thank you, :thumbs: and thank you Keith, for your enthusiasm. Wasn't sure if it would be a good idea, but at least with all the info people can make the choice.

I see on the Virgin site that you can use an international calling card. Would that be the same type as some use in public phones? If it is, that's a good idea. Yes?

[Whitequeen]

JM, Breeze...anyone in the US! :overhere:

I've had a look at the Virgin site. Can you tell me of other companies that sell PAYG (pay as you go) cell phones, please?

[JuniorMickey]

Cingular has them, tracphone (or is it tracfone) are a couple of others..... Um.... T-mobile maybe?

[Whitequeen]

Thanks JM, I'll look at those. :thumbs:

[JuniorMickey]

My former co-worker had T-mobile I think to call her boyfrend who lives in the Bahamas (where she s now)

[Keith]

I'd be interested to know which networks can text back to UK phones,.. I know not all of them can?

[Breeze]

By the time I had time to call yesterday, the cingular and T-mobile stores around here were both closed. It's on my list of things to do tomarrow, I promise :thumbs:

[tajainaz]

I have AT&T prepaid. I think they have a website. It works fine here, but I rarely use it, so I don't know what their rates are.

I've also been hearing that their cellular service has been acquired by...someone? :oops: Sorry! Can't remember!

[JuniorMickey]

AT&T and Cingular just merged

[uscwest]

I'm not sure you can call internationally with a trac-phone or not. My MIL has one and I was looking at it while she was here plus I bought some refill units for her. All it says on the card is that local calls use 1 unit per minute and roaming calls (outside of the area where you purchased your trac-phone) 2 units per minute. It didn't mention international calls.

[candyman]

i think its a good idea and virgin rates to the uk of 35 c a min make voda phone look very very expensive

also i was told that not all work well in WDW
seem to remember sprint was mentioned as being good for WDW use.
have i got that right chris?
steve

[JuniorMickey]

I have sprint and have had no problems. I think that 35 cents is plus the normal 25 cents per minute so it would be 60 cents per minute

[Whitequeen]

I'll be able to tell you about texting when I've got all websites side by side, Keith.
At the moment, because of the exchange rate, it's certainly cheaper to get one.
Can somebody explain 'Airtime' to me? I'm reading cost of call without 'Airtime'. What does that mean?

With my Orange phone I just pay for the calls and top up when I need to. No extra charges. Unless 'Airtime' is within the call cost, don't know. :confused:

[JuniorMickey]

Airtime is the cost per minute. My Sprint plan has 2000 daytime minutes. Each minute is considered "airtime:

[BevW]

I was hoping Candyman was reading this!

[Breeze]

Would you believe not one person in this town and the next one over out of all the cell phone stores knew anything about international calling and just referred me to the web sites :eek: :unsure: :sigh:

[candyman]

I was hoping Candyman was reading this!

i sure am !
steve

[Whitequeen]

Thanks JM. :thumbs:

OK, so if I'm reading this correctly the charge for international calls is airtime + international charge. :unsure:

Thanks Breeze. Don't worry, I'll keep at the websites.

You know what will happen in the end? I'll just go buy one, use it and see how much I use in 10 days. :rolleyes:

I get information overload after a while. :wacko:

[JuniorMickey]

just pick one and go for it WQ :thumbs:

[Whitequeen]

Well, after extensive research. :rolleyes:

Virgin mobile is the easiest to understand. :confused:

The only thing I can't find out is whether it will send text to the UK!!!! :(

Calls would cost 25c per minute + 35c International rate.

60c a minute, does that sound right? :unsure: Seems very cheap. :shrug:

[Whitequeen]

I'm still 'at' this!! :rolleyes:

Another question for our US friends, please.

Can you in the US use an International Calling Card on a US T-mobile cell?
If you can, how does that work?

[dcfromva]

I'm still 'at' this!! :rolleyes:

Another question for our US friends, please.

Can you in the US use an International Calling Card on a US T-mobile cell?
If you can, how does that work?
Whitequeen,
I have T-mobile. I will call them and ask. (I thought they had an option where you could add international on...do you want me to ask about that, too?)

-DC :ears:

[Whitequeen]

Thanks DC.

I'm looking at a website here in the UK that supply US T-Mobile SIM cards to go in UK phones. So I don't think they would do any add ons. It's just pay as you go, but they did mention it is cheaper if you also use an International Calling Card to call the UK.
I've used these in public phones, but know nothing about using them in cell phones.
Here's the link if it helps. (http://www.0044.co.uk/america.htm)

[dcfromva]

WQ,
I just got off the phone with T-Mobile. I don't know if this is correct info or not, but the customer service rep said it was airtime plus .29 a minute.

The Rep also said you couldn't use a calling card in conjuction with the cell phone. (I asked the rep--how did it know? She couldn't answer...)

I am in the process of changing accounts on my T-Mobile cell phone. (Long story) This time, I decided to read the manual from cover to cover on my replacement phone (it's the exact same phone, I just never read the manual before because it is 313 pages long..... :) ) and I have gotten to the part about how to make an international call on the cell phone....

It says:
"When making international calls, start by pressing * (the "star" button is just to the left of the zero key) twice quickly. The international cel character "+" appears in the display which informs the system center to select the international dialing prefix. The international call character "+" is a shortcut for the international prefix 011. After this you can enter the country or region code, area code and phone number."

But, I am wondering if you dial a 1-800 number to get to use a calling card, why couldn't you just dial as normal? (It doesn't make sense to me that you couldn't.)

I haven't made any international calls using my cell phone, so I don't know for sure how that works.

-DC :ears:

[Whitequeen]

Thank you so much for taking the time, DC.

Right, I'm going to try it!!!!! I'll be the Guinea Pig (sorry Dawn)
I'll get a calling card while I'm there and give it a go. Nothing to lose, I can use the card in a public phone.

Never let it be said I don't follow the research through! :lol:

[JuniorMickey]

Wow... Sprint PCS is $4 per month and 6 cents per minute to call the UK :) I added international calling to my plan yesterday

[Breeze]

Wow... Sprint PCS is $4 per month and 6 cents per minute to call the UK :) I added international calling to my plan yesterday


:thumbs: Now I can call Red and Dawn (after Queenie makes me drink too much and I'm under the table) so they can make fun of me :rolleyes: :wink:

Okay JM start a page in the Grand Planner Book to keep track of what I'm gonna owe in phone calls to the UK OR maybe we can figure out a way to charge them onto Red's cc :D

[Whitequeen]

Well, there's another option.
Use Breeze & JM's phones to call home! :wink:

You will be expected to follow all UKrs round WDW on all their trips and be ready with phone all the time!!
Would that suit you both? :D

[Dawn]

:thumbs: Now I can call Red and Dawn [/I]

Me?

:excited:

[Redkop]

ohhhhhhhhh i get to sing to breeze again :D

[JuniorMickey]

Yes Dawn you :) Be sure you guys both PM me your phone numbers.... May have to do a trial call before we take off in 10 days to be sure it works

[Breeze]

Me?

:excited:

Well of course we are going to call you :D Do you realize that I've never actually "talked" to you before :unsure: So is one phone call a day enough :thumbs: Am I going to have as much trouble with your accent as I have with Red's. Poor guy has to talk slow and enunciate or I have no clue what on earth he's saying :rolleyes: Except when he's singing, now that's a whole different matter :eek:

ohhhhhhhhh i get to sing to breeze again

Must You :afraid: :lol: :afraid: :lol:

[Breeze]

Well, there's another option.
Use Breeze & JM's phones to call home! :wink:

You will be expected to follow all UKrs round WDW on all their trips and be ready with phone all the time!!
Would that suit you both? :D

We won't be using my Nextel, I would have to buy a new phone since mine isn't capable of handing international calling and even if it was, it's 39 cents a minute to call overseas :eek: Everyone will just have to follow JM around and use her phone :thumbs:

[Dawn]

Do you realize that I've never actually "talked" to you before Am I going to have as much trouble with your accent

None of you over there have spoken to me. :( And I don't have an accent. :D

[Breeze]

None of you over there have spoken to me. :( And I don't have an accent. :D

Well, I'm home now if you'd like to give me a call so you can practice understanding my midwest accent :thumbs: :wink:

[Dawn]

Spent a year in Michigan - I got the accent. :thumbs:

[Breeze]

Spent a year in Michigan - I got the accent. :thumbs:


:excited: So then I can just talk normal (which will consist of lots of babbling since I'll be way over excited) :bounce:

[Dawn]

I've got most of the accents actually. Even the Deep South, though Mississippi gets me sometimes because I don't think that state has consonants. :lol:

Yep, just talk normally, I'll understand.

[Redkop]

And I don't have an accent. :D

take no notice, dawn does have a down south accent :D

[Whitequeen]

I understood you, Breeze. :thumbs:

[Breeze]

I understood you, Breeze. :thumbs:

Even when I babble :unsure: :D :lol:

Hey, you can be my official RedKop translator :thumbs: :wink:

[Whitequeen]

If anyone from the UK is interested. I've just checked out my call statement from the US Virgin Mobile I had to buy whilst in Orlando. (don't ask! :rolleyes: )

The longest call I made to the UK was to Redkop's mobile (there's a surprise :rolleyes: ) and it cost £3.57 for 15 minutes. That's about £1.20 for 5 mins. Not bad as it's usually £1 a minute. :D
As long as I top up the phone with $20 every 90 days I keep it going for the next time.

The phone cost me about £50 and it's an Audiovox 8610 and I wish it worked here. :D There was a cheaper one at about £30 depending on what rate we're getting.

I can't give any info on the US SIM card as that was in my own phone that wouldn't hold a charge. I will give it another go next time. :sorry:

[Breeze]

If anyone from the UK is interested. I've just checked out my call statement from the US Virgin Mobile I had to buy whilst in Orlando. (don't ask! :rolleyes: )

The longest call I made to the UK was to Redkop's mobile (there's a surprise :rolleyes: ) and it cost £3.57 for 15 minutes. That's about £1.20 for 5 mins. Not bad as it's usually £1 a minute. :D
As long as I top up the phone with $20 every 90 days I keep it going for the next time.

The phone cost me about £50 and it's an Audiovox 8610 and I wish it worked here. :D There was a cheaper one at about £30 depending on what rate we're getting.

I can't give any info on the US SIM card as that was in my own phone that wouldn't hold a charge. I will give it another go next time. :sorry:

So are you going to have the same phone number for your disneyland trip that you had when we were in Florida??

[Whitequeen]

Should do. I've just got to work out when to phone Red and not wake him up. :unsure: I'll be 8hrs behind him. :sleep:

[OKWTink]

Oh, that's no problem, just call him at 4:00 am YOUR time. :D :wink:

I lost your phone number. :tears:

[Breeze]

I've even still got the number in my cell phone. Hmm...wonder if my phone would notice that your phone is out of the country if I tried to call it :unsure:

[Redkop]

queenie trust me i will work the hours out for you cause i want a call from LA, funny my boss is in australia at the moment and he is 8 hrs ahead of the UK, so he calls me when he gets up.........try and sound sober on a friday night in the UK when its saturday morning in australia :lol:

[Whitequeen]

You can call me, Breeze.......but the phone won't work in other countries. :shrug:

Perhaps Mr. Branson could get his international networks to talk to each other! :rolleyes:

Red, I could call you as I'm going to bed and you're getting up! It'll be like we're on shift work. :lol: