Using phones can be quite expensive and take a large bite out of your travel budget. By following these tips you can save money, avoid hassle and focus on having a great trip.
Telephony
Using pre-paid phone cards can be a way to save a lot of money. You can get them before you leave or get them locally once you are in your destination.
In some places you need to dial a digit to get an outside line (e.g. 0), then another digit for an international line (e.g. 00), the country code and your destination phone number (usually without the first 0). You may also have to dial the digits of the carrier you wish to use before dialing the phone number, check your guidebook.
If you are out of money you can place a collect call. A collect call is a call where the person calling does not have to pay for the call. The person receiving the call is billed instead. This can be quite expensive so use this with discretion.
Cell phones
There are many ways to keep in touch with people back home. One of the most convenient is to get a cell phone.
If you plan on using your SIM-card and subscription from home make sure that your operator has a roaming agreement with an operator in your destination. As an alternative you can often purchase prepaid SIM-cards locally in your destination. If you plan on getting local cards make sure that your phone accepts SIM-cards from other operators. If your cell phone cannot accept SIM-cards from other operators you can sometimes have it unlocked for a fee.
If you plan to take your cell phone you also need to make sure that it works in your destination since different countries use different communication standards, check with your phone manufacturer or operator. There are even different versions of the same communication standard, e.g. GSM 1900 present in the Americas is not supported by all European GSM cell phones.
SMS (text messages) are a cheap way to keep contact with people at home. If you are in an area where there are a lot of people using the phones (e.g. Rio de Janeiro on New Years Eve) and you cannot get through with a call you can try sending an SMS instead (which has a higher probability of going through). A simple SMS saying where you are and all is well can mean a lot to relatives at home.
By: Peter Siljerud
