It’s amazing how inexpensive it’s become to make international calls from home or while traveling. It shouldn’t be a surprise to me given how we all rely on (relatively) free email to connect with people across the globe. Naturally all of this communicating is going to drive the prices down.
Up until recently, I relied mostly on email to contact people abroad. But I have been slowly getting turned on to some options that don’t make me shake my fists at the phone company.
SIMple Calling USA SIM Card – Living just a couple of hours’ drive from the Canadian border, it’s not unusual for us to head north for a weekend getaway. In the past, I’ve just turned off my phone once I cross the border so that I don’t incur roaming charges. It’s not a bad thing to be cut off from my phone every once in a while but I do start to get antsy at some point, wondering if there are any questions from clients I need to answer PDQ.
A pretty good solution I’ve discovered is the SIMple Calling USA SIM Card from Telestial. You simply pop the SIM card into your unlocked phone and activate it. When calling within or to/from the U.S. or Canada, the first minute is 59 cents and subsequent minutes are just 9 cents. A bit pricey for a short call but far cheaper than the roaming charges you might incur from your cell phone provider.
A phone number is automatically assigned so don’t expect it to work with your usual number. I don’t give out this number but using this service on a spare unlocked phone allows me to call my own cell phone (or office phone) for messages and to make calls without hesitation. Great when I need to return calls or to make a dinner reservation at a restaurant that a Vancouver native has just recommended.
You can also use this in 160 countries. Calling rates are higher than if you were to purchase a local SIM card but cheaper than most roaming charges.
Upside? You don’t need an internet connection.
Downside? You need an unlocked phone but, really, these are easy enough and cheap to find these days.
MagicJack – I’ve had a few people recommend MagicJack to me in the last couple of years but I now have my very own since Ed, one of the fabulous folks on the Papua New Guinea tour, gave me one as a gift.
Basically, MagicJack allows you to call any landline or cell number for free through your computer. There are lots of options with this service, making it more flexible than many landline service providers (it will send you emails of your messages, forward to other phones, etc.). Ed used his MagicJack throughout our trip and as long as there was a strong Wifi connection, the call was as good from a landline.
Upside? Free calls once you’ve purchased the small USB unit ($40 with first year free) and $20 yearly.
Downside? You can’t receive calls unless your computer is on.
Skype – This is the obvious choice for most people with an internet connection. Simply sign up for this free service and, with an internet connection, you can call any other Skype user for free. Calls to landlines and mobile phones are at greatly reduced prices compared to if you called from a landline or cell phone.
Previously I had only used the free Skype service to schedule calls to other Skype users. Recently, however, I had 2 occasions to use it that made paying for calls well worth it. The first time was in Mexico when I had no phone service at all but I had a Wifi connection. I simply used the Skype app that I had downloaded to my iPhone. The other instance was when I had to book flights using an agency in the UK. I’m sure I saved at least $10 by using Skype on these few calls.
Upside? Super easy to use, no extra equipment needed other than your laptop or iPhone.
Downside? You need to be signed in to SKYPE to receive calls and other users need to be signed in to receive a call if you want the free service.
Travel Well!
Beth
Related links:
Using Your Cell Phone Abroad
Photo credit:
Phone booth: bluelineswinger
Personally I have found MagicJack’s quality worse than Skype and Skype has apps that allow for wifi cars from iPhones and smartphones. Personally I think that is the best option.
Definitely a good point. However, calls are free on MagicJack after that initial yearly fee so for someone doing a lot of international dialing, they might not mind the slightly inferior quality.
I’m not aware of using wifi in a car. Do tell!
Up until now, I’ve only really used Skype to make any phone calls, as I don’t make calls very often. In the future if I need to do more international calls, I’ll remember to check out MagicJack! Thanks for sharing!
Great tips! I’ve seen the commercials for MagicJack but didn’t know it could be used on the road. Very cool.
there is another one called viper for smartphones which is quite good. i use skype a lot. mainly the free service, but also the paid one occasionally.
soon i can see most of my calls going through viper since most people will have smartphones. should save some bills!
Hey Beth, nice review of this. Sadly for us in Southeast Asia, we have quite a number of services related to this. I guess it makes sense to get the local cards for local travel in this region where the internet can be a little slow at many places here.
Great tips. I use Skype, and have had good luck with bandwidth in the areas I’ve traveled in Latin America.
we also use google phone (free) and it forwards to your cell, has voice mail that emails you the text of the message, etc. but usually we use skype.
we also have a 5spot from verizon (we have our droid cell phone coverage there) for internet – we’ve made calls abroad while driving, using that, and skype on the computer. crazy! but saved $…
great list – thanks!
Have you tried Mobal? I think they cost more than Telestial for some places in Europe, but boy oh boy the call quality!
http://www.mobal.com
I haven’t tried Mobal. Thanks for the tip!