Best cell phone service when traveling?
Our daughter Shannon was offered a job with Disney Cruises based out of Toronto. She's there for 2 months training then will fly to Orlando pick up a ship, sail through the Caribbean over to the Mediterranean and eventually wind up in Barcelona. We have AT&T service for the cell phones and I can see this will get expensive quick. For those of you with experience with this sort of thing (I don't) who's the best provider for international travel? Should she pick up a cheap phone for calls and leave the I-phone for when she has wifi? She'll be playing one of the roles from Frozen as well as doing stunts in some of the other performances. Following her dreams, doing what it takes. Thanks all for any advice.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
Our daughter has traveled overseas quite a bit and you can use the Viber app if you're on the cheap and have wifi access. I never liked the fact that it accesses your contact list, though. AT&T and others offer international packages by the day, week and month or as you suggest, purchase a by the minute disposalable phone. Perhaps start by calling AT&T and telling them about her travels and see where it leads you.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
You might check out Google's Project Fi, the phone selection is limited, but it's very attractive to have one usable number while traveling internationally. And it works on wifi with the same number.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
T-Mobile offers a plan where you get data and I think text in most countries. With apps like whatsapp and Facebook messenger you can communicate well and don’t need to pay for phone calls. I haven’t used it in Europe but it works great in South America and Mexico. I think they advertise 3G data but I’ve had LTE whenever it was available. As soon as my flight lands and I turn on my phone it connects and I get a message that covers what service I have there. I think the price is good considering I have unlimited data here in the US as well. There are some other benefits regarding calling Canada and Mexico from the states also but I’m not familiar with them because I don’t use them.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
I have been using Project Fi and traveled to Europe, New Zealand and Australia. I land, turn on my phone, get a message from Fi saying welcome to whatever country I am in then start using the phone. Data prices remain the same everywhere but voice calls are charged at different rates. Fi has a really straight forward pricing plan and website. Other options are buying SIMs in different regions. I've done that and it works well but here phone number would keep changing. I'm sure there are plenty of apps that allow voice/video calls over data connections.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
Project Fi, hands down the best I've used. Straightforward, reasonable pricing and it works in many countries.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
I've used the Tmobile international plan while traveling in Europe. No additional cost and 3G service. Worked great.
Re: Best cell phone service when traveling?
If she’s got an unlocked GSM iPhone - which should be the case with ATT - it’s very easy and cheap to pop in a local SIM when traveling.
Use WhatsApp or Skype whenever possible, too.
Bon voyage!