Roaming in Europe + SIM Question

mlx52 · **Roaming in Europe + SIM Question -** 26-05-2007, 00:34

Sorry, for yet another question.
My other son will be traveling through Europe in a few months, and I want to make sure he gets the best solution while he is in Europe. I am letting this one take his AT&T sim card so he can have a US based number, but I want him to get a local SIM card to get down on calls back to the US, and for calling/texting his friends he is traveling with. He is ok with buying SIM cards in the local countries, but don’t think it would be economical to buy one in every country he goes to. I am thinking about United Mobile, or Travel SIM and would like everyone’s opinion on what the best solution might be. I am attaching his travel schedule, and would appreciate any help on the best option (not married to United Mobile or Travel SIM). I have seen Vodafone passport, and at this point just confused and need help.

4 Days in the UK
3 Days in Spain
5 Days in France
2 Days in Switzerland
2 Days in Czech Republic
2 Days in Germany
2 Days in the Netherlands

Thanks again.

MATHA531 · 26-05-2007, 00:41

...by the time the other son travels in a few months, the newly minted European roaming rate caps will be in effect and it is possible his best bet might be to get a sim in the UK which apparently is his first stop and then roam for the rest of the trip on the UK sim card.....so our advice at this point is just to wait and see when the EU roaming caps take effect and just how economic they will be.

United Mobile is indeed a good option and most of us using it here have had pretty positive experiences with it especially coupled with an account at callbackworld or some other callback service, however rates to Liechtenstein are going up so it might not be the best choice in the future.

snaimon · **No best soultion -** 26-05-2007, 14:04

A technicality, but there probably is no SINGLE best solution for everyone.

I would be VERY careful with the ATT SIM. I don't know what ATT's practices are, but if the SIM is active and receives a US call, you will be billed call-forwarding to Europe. If no answer, you may then be billed for the call EU to US voicemail. Could be quite expensive for a missed call.

I would agree that, for the moment, the VODA UK passport option looks very good. One # for the whole trip with decent roaming. Most (if not all) of the countries you mention have VODA providers where the passport can be used.

Make sure he has a tri- or quad-band with adapters and a good calling card for land-line / toll-free calling. He should PREFER to make outbound calls to US from the calling card...... if you can get that thru his head.

Stan

cordelli · 27-05-2007, 06:01

Yackie mobile has a prepaid sim that roams to many countries that you can get with a US number.

You could also get a toll free number from kall8 or one of the other places, forward that to the local number he ends up with (changed instantly online when necessary) for way less than what you will pay to roam with AT&T.

Bossman · 27-05-2007, 12:39

Yackie mobile has suspended all services at teh moment. Their current sim cards are dead!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cordelli

Yackie mobile has a prepaid sim that roams to many countries that you can get with a US number.

You could also get a toll free number from kall8 or one of the other places, forward that to the local number he ends up with (changed instantly online when necessary) for way less than what you will pay to roam with AT&T.

elistoughton · 27-05-2007, 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by MATHA531

...by the time the other son travels in a few months, the newly minted European roaming rate caps will be in effect and it is possible his best bet might be to get a sim in the UK which apparently is his first stop and then roam for the rest of the trip on the UK sim card.....so our advice at this point is just to wait and see when the EU roaming caps take effect and just how economic they will be.

United Mobile is indeed a good option and most of us using it here have had pretty positive experiences with it especially coupled with an account at callbackworld or some other callback service, however rates to Liechtenstein are going up so it might not be the best choice in the future.

What are the 'newly minted European roaming rate caps'? Do you have any more detail on this?

dg7feq · 27-05-2007, 21:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by elistoughton

What are the 'newly minted European roaming rate caps'? Do you have any more detail on this?

A law was established that limits the cost for outgoing calls within the EU to 49ct/min and incoming calls to 24ct/min.
It most likely will get active by the end of summer.

Chris

snaimon · **Vat? -** 28-05-2007, 00:01

Is that with or without VAT? Good ol' Mehrwertsteuer! I thought I read the rates you cited were WITHOUT, so the final prices are actually higher.

And as you wrote, it is far from clear when the new rates will actually take effect. I don't think the companies can revise their billing systems that fast.

Also unclear is if and how many provides may undercut those caps and by how much.

Stan

dg7feq · 28-05-2007, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaimon

Is that with or without VAT? Good ol' Mehrwertsteuer! I thought I read the rates you cited were WITHOUT, so the final prices are actually higher.

And as you wrote, it is far from clear when the new rates will actually take effect. I don't think the companies can revise their billing systems that fast.

Also unclear is if and how many provides may undercut those caps and by how much.

Stan

Erm, yes, without VAT. Just checked again to make sure. So for german cards the capped tariffs would be 58,31ct/min outbound and 28,56 ct/min inbound.

Got a bit confused by now as they always threw in new figures in the discussions...

Chris

Przemolog · 28-05-2007, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaimon

Is that with or without VAT? Good ol' Mehrwertsteuer! I thought I read the rates you cited were WITHOUT, so the final prices are actually higher.

And as you wrote, it is far from clear when the new rates will actually take effect. I don't think the companies can revise their billing systems that fast.

Also unclear is if and how many provides may undercut those caps and by how much.

Stan

It had to be w/o VAT since VAT rates are country dependent (15-25% depending how greedy is a specific national government

). Moreover, AFAIK there's also a currency converting rule for non-euro countries to prevent from getting extra "hidden" profits on unfair exchange rates.

I think that updating the billing system isn't a long process if identical rates were to be applied to roaming in all EU. If ops wanted to complicate things within the limits, it might be really longer....

	(#1)
mlx52 (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 25 May 2007 Location: Chicago Country:	Roaming in Europe + SIM Question - 26-05-2007, 00:34 Sorry, for yet another question. My other son will be traveling through Europe in a few months, and I want to make sure he gets the best solution while he is in Europe. I am letting this one take his AT&T sim card so he can have a US based number, but I want him to get a local SIM card to get down on calls back to the US, and for calling/texting his friends he is traveling with. He is ok with buying SIM cards in the local countries, but don’t think it would be economical to buy one in every country he goes to. I am thinking about United Mobile, or Travel SIM and would like everyone’s opinion on what the best solution might be. I am attaching his travel schedule, and would appreciate any help on the best option (not married to United Mobile or Travel SIM). I have seen Vodafone passport, and at this point just confused and need help. 4 Days in the UK 3 Days in Spain 5 Days in France 2 Days in Switzerland 2 Days in Czech Republic 2 Days in Germany 2 Days in the Netherlands Thanks again.

	(#2)
MATHA531 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 869 Join Date: 15 Oct 2004 Country:	26-05-2007, 00:41 ...by the time the other son travels in a few months, the newly minted European roaming rate caps will be in effect and it is possible his best bet might be to get a sim in the UK which apparently is his first stop and then roam for the rest of the trip on the UK sim card.....so our advice at this point is just to wait and see when the EU roaming caps take effect and just how economic they will be. United Mobile is indeed a good option and most of us using it here have had pretty positive experiences with it especially coupled with an account at callbackworld or some other callback service, however rates to Liechtenstein are going up so it might not be the best choice in the future.

	(#3)
snaimon (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 898 Join Date: 17 Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, VA USA Country:	No best soultion - 26-05-2007, 14:04 A technicality, but there probably is no SINGLE best solution for everyone. I would be VERY careful with the ATT SIM. I don't know what ATT's practices are, but if the SIM is active and receives a US call, you will be billed call-forwarding to Europe. If no answer, you may then be billed for the call EU to US voicemail. Could be quite expensive for a missed call. I would agree that, for the moment, the VODA UK passport option looks very good. One # for the whole trip with decent roaming. Most (if not all) of the countries you mention have VODA providers where the passport can be used. Make sure he has a tri- or quad-band with adapters and a good calling card for land-line / toll-free calling. He should PREFER to make outbound calls to US from the calling card...... if you can get that thru his head. Stan Phones: DASH V3 (3) Service: US T-MO post paid (2) - US T-MO prepaid (2) - UM+ - TravelSIM DE SIMYO - DE SUNSIM T-Mobile DE Calling Cards: Onesuite Enjoyprepaid AT&T MCI Mobivox

	(#4)
cordelli (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 2 Join Date: 25 May 2007 Country:	27-05-2007, 06:01 Yackie mobile has a prepaid sim that roams to many countries that you can get with a US number. You could also get a toll free number from kall8 or one of the other places, forward that to the local number he ends up with (changed instantly online when necessary) for way less than what you will pay to roam with AT&T.

	(#8)
snaimon (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 898 Join Date: 17 Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, VA USA Country:	Vat? - 28-05-2007, 00:01 Is that with or without VAT? Good ol' Mehrwertsteuer! I thought I read the rates you cited were WITHOUT, so the final prices are actually higher. And as you wrote, it is far from clear when the new rates will actually take effect. I don't think the companies can revise their billing systems that fast. Also unclear is if and how many provides may undercut those caps and by how much. Stan Phones: DASH V3 (3) Service: US T-MO post paid (2) - US T-MO prepaid (2) - UM+ - TravelSIM DE SIMYO - DE SUNSIM T-Mobile DE Calling Cards: Onesuite Enjoyprepaid AT&T MCI Mobivox