Mobile phone options for travelers

Mobile phone options for travelers

When you're planning your summer trip, don't forget to decide how
you're going to keep in touch with family and friends at home, and how
they can reach you if necessary. You've never had so many
communications choices—and so much opportunity to waste money if you
make the wrong choices.

These days, most of the travelers I know stay in touch through their
mobile phones. And that's generally the best way: With a mobile phone,
you'll never again have to worry about hotel gouges on long-distance
calls billed to your room, or fussing with 14-digit codes to use a
calling card. And family and friends can always get in touch with you,
through your regular mobile number. If that's your plan, here are some
suggestions.

Domestic travel

Make sure you can answer two questions before you leave home. First,
do you have the right rate plan? Even though your current plan may
provide good value in your local area, you could face stiff roaming
charges when you stray far from home. If your current plan has high
roaming costs, check to see if you can sign up for a broader plan that
covers your vacation destination without roaming charges—maybe for
just a month, if that's all you need.

Second, will your mobile phone work where you're going? I've traveled
to a few isolated beach and mountain areas where mobile phone coverage
is weak or nonexistent. Your phone company should provide you with a
map showing areas where the system works. If you're headed for a
no-signal area, you'll have to figure out some other approach—probably
a calling card

Foreign travel

Most U.S. mobile phones can work throughout the Western Hemisphere; if
your destination is here, check with your service provider about
reception outside the U.S. But if you're headed for most of Europe,
Asia, or Africa, you must modify your phone, get another phone or use
a different phone strategy altogether.

Even if your regular mobile phone won't work, another mobile phone can
provide most of the advantages you expect—full-time availability, a
number through which others can always reach you, and freedom from
hotel gouges on outgoing calls.

If you already have a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
mobile phone and if your phone can handle the 900 mhz (ideally, also
1800 mhz) bandwidth used internationally, you can either ask your
phone service provider to enable your regular phone and number
overseas (convenient but with high calling rates), or you can unlock
your phone and buy a temporary SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card
that allows you to make and receive calls in other countries (a high
up-front cost but low rates).

If you don't have a GSM phone with 900 mhz, you can either rent a GSM
phone overseas or buy a cheap temporary GSM phone for the duration of
your trip.

Deciding the best mobile option is complex, depending on how many
different countries you visit and how heavily you use a phone. By far
the best resource I know to sort out your options is the Travel
Insider. When it comes to mobile phones overseas, David Rowell, who
runs the site, is the most knowledgeable person I know. His site has
links to places where you can buy overseas SIMs, and he runs an
operation that unlocks GSM phones.

As I read David's material, it seems that your best bets are using
your own GSM phone overseas for maximum convenience, buying a cheap
multi-country GSM phone if you're traveling around several countries
in Europe, or unlocking your GSM phone and buying a local SIM if
you're staying mostly in one country. But go to the site for the full
picture.

If you don't want to rent or buy a mobile phone, your other main
choice is a calling card. More about calling cards and callback
services in a future column.

http://www.smartertravel.com/advice/...9&u=SL4F6B4DC5


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