A phone for international use?

[LuAnn]

We hardly ever use our cell phone...in fact...we use "Tracphone" so we just buy minutes for use here in the US....

 

But it doesn't work outside the US. Since we travel so much around the world I want to get a phone that will work where ever we are.

 

I have looked into Mobal International Phones...and it sounds like a great deal...you buy a phone and only buy for the minutes you use...no monthly fee...just a per minute charge..which is high..but you only pay for what you use!!

 

Anyone heard of this and/or used it? Would appreciate any help!!! LuAnn

[buddha58]

Hi LuAnn,

We recently went on a trip to Sweden to see my wife's close friend. We needed to be in contact with them in transit. We decided to purchase the Mobal phone. I like the plan as you only pay for minutes used, although they are a little on the expensive side. But for emergencies it's great. We travel to the Philippines alot so it will come in handy there as well. I very very easy to use. I highly recommend it.

[Mura]

I bought one for our Marina cruise last year (upon the recommendation of another passenger) and it's worked just fine.

 

I have a UK phone number with this phone but it DOES work in the U.S. (I bought a phone that was one level up from the basic phone -- the basic phone I THINK may not work in the U.S. although it does elsewhere.)

 

Mura

[bornfreenowexpensive]

I have it and like it for the little bit I use it. Mine doesn't work in the US.

 

Judy

[Mura]

I'm not sure it's worth paying somewhat more in order to have the phone useable in the U.S. since using it here means I'm paying for a call from London. It's easy enough to carry a home phone with us if we think we're going to need to -- say -- call a cab to pick us up at the airport.

 

And we never do that, we just go stand in line!

 

The fact is I've barely used it in Europe, but it's comforting to know it's there if I DO need it.

 

Mura

[buddha58]

I did get the upgraded phone that works in the US. I wanted to make sure it worked before traveling.

Jerry

[jeno]

The Mobal phone works great! In fact, we have three of them. Calls are somewhat expensive, but texting is much cheaper. We have three so that if we split up we can communicate. If we are meeting our adult daughters in Europe, we give them phones ahead of time so we can keep in communication for delays or missed flights or whatever. Have used them 8 years or so. Used them on a four month world cruise. Work everywhere but US, Canada and Carribean I think. Look online ahead of time to see charges for specific countries. The only problem I had was that we used one that hadn't used for a year or so and our expiration date on our credit card had changed and I forgot to update the account. But there are truly no charges unless you use it. Strongly advise you to buy one.

[sitraveler]

Thanks for starting this thread. We too use Trac as a wireless phone as needed. Just ordered the mobal. See you soon.

Lou

[Hawaiidan]

Just using the phone in your cabin? I have been traveling world wide for 30 years and never in that time ever needed a cell phone.

Infact I dont even own one as In the past 30 years I only had 2 times when it was even necessary to make a call in the US, let alone overseas.

If I need a phone that bad I can borrow one for the rare time I might ever forseeably want one.

 

Ask yourself, why would need it? Comfort? familiarity? Routine like you were at home?

 

I think there is a basic insecurity that has been fostered by the gizmo makers. I am not anti tech as I used to fly airplanes.. but appropirate tech. When I travel I dont carry a computer, use the internet,a berry thing, gps or any of that.

 

Just a map, a compass and a watch and a credit card... Its worked for 3 decades on 5 continents..

[Mura]

As for me, I'm not a big cell phone user at home. We primarily have them for emergency use -- say the car breaks down on the road and we need to call for help.

 

Likewise, we've needed them on occasion on trips: I called the daughter of friends when we were in Lyon to let her know where we were. We've been on tours where contact had to be made with a tour guide. That sort of thing.

 

I would never use the phone in my room since the costs are ludicrous, and that's not the time when I would need one anyway.

 

There are people who feel the need to call home regularly while they are away but we don't do that. (I shouldn't have said "feel the need" because very often there IS a need.)

 

So Dan, for you, phones aren't necessary. I wouldn't say that they are *necessary* for US. But they CAN be useful! And using a phone like Mobal whether you only pay when you actually use it, is a convenience.

 

And COULD be necessary in certain situations.

 

Mura

[Hawaiidan]

But I , as well as several friends of mine, all discussed the benifits of not being in contact or being contacted was more desireable to us.

 

We decided that for us, the benifits of cell phones were outweighed by the negatives they produced. Its a personal issue and I have choosen not to use them.

 

One salent fact was that in the remote places where you might need to call in an emergency, there was no cell phone service. Thus leading to false sense of security and reliance on other than yourself.

 

In other words, cell phones can in fact get you into as much or more trouble as you might think they can get you out of.;)

[Mura]

But I , as well as several friends of mine, all discussed the benefits of not being in contact or being contacted was more desirable to us. We decided that for us, the benefits of cell phones were outweighed by the negatives they produced. Its a personal issue and I have chosen not to use them.

 

 

Forgive me, Dan, but I think we are talking apples and oranges here. Or at least you and I are!

 

I'm not trying to change your position at all. We want to have a local cell phone with us when we are touring just in case. We have friends who live in Europe, and we'd like to be able to contact them when we are close.

 

We also are not interested in keeping in touch with family at home. Gee, they might tell us there's a disaster and we need to get home soonest! We certainly don't want that.

 

We ourselves never thought about having a phone on hand until our Iceland cruise where we regularly had 8-person tours and two of our compatriots had cell phones that worked in Europe. One was a Brit, one was a USA-er who worked for Verizon. Those cell phones came in handy, just in terms of contacting the tour guides. And then there was that drive in Iceland where the car said we were virtually out of gas and there weren't any gas stations ... knowing we had phones available was a relief!

 

As I said before, it costs a moderate amount to buy the Mobal phone. Beyond that you just pay for usage. I used it a few times on our Marina cruise in the Med in October 11, but while I had it with us on our Black Sea cruise in August, it was a security for us more than a necessity. I never turned it on but I was glad to have it, just in case.

 

It's certainly cheaper in the long run (if you want to have a phone on hand) than renting one ...

 

Actually, I'm glad to have it for another consideration ... we have a friend who lives in London, so I use the Mobal phone to call her when I'm in NYC since it is a London number as well!

 

Certainly, having a phone in Europe (or wherever you are traveling) usually isn't crucial ... but having one is better than not, in my opinion.

 

Not all will agree.

 

Mura

[sitraveler]

And when my taxi from Istanbul port to the airport didn't show up, I was left to the kindness of others to call him. Really cheap insurance.

[Mura]

You reminded me of what I had forgotten ... the main reason I took our phone along on the Black Sea cruise was because I was concerned that we might not make our connecting flight in Munich (we only had an hour between scheduled arrival and departure) and wanted to be able to call the service that was supposed to pick us up at the Athens Airport.

 

Fortunately there was no need ...

 

Mura

[DOJO466]

Luann,

We have been using Mobal phone for years now when we travel. It works great, although it is a little expensive but worth it for emergencies. Calls go thru London. When I bought our phone they had a special..the phone was $99 but you got $99 worth of calls. They no longer have that special. Now our calls are just charged to a registered credit card.

[seafare]

I also have had a Mobal phone for years and it has worked very well for us. Before I leave home I program the phone with all needed phone numbers to include Tour Guides, Credit card company numbers, Banks, Airline reservations etc.

 

Also give the Mobal phone number to family and Tour guides etc. so they know how to reach us if needed. A test call is made before I leave to make sure all is in working order.

 

When I return home phone and chargers are put away with other travel items for when needed for our next trip.

 

Great security to have when and if needed with no contract or calls to cell phone companies, one less thing to worry about.

 

Jill

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Reminder: Keep the phone charged, charge every few months.

 

Also, if you have a credit card on file, keep the card updated with current exp. date.

 

Or you will be like me, in Sweden, with a phone that wasn't working.....and couldn't update over the net. I did have the service number to call and that quickly took care of the problem.

[Mura]

Thanks for the suggestion! You caused me to go and check to see which credit card I have been using, and lo and behold it is a card that I just had to cancel ... someone decided to buy an HP laptop using my credit card number ... Fortunately HP was suspicious and called me.

 

At least I am now up to date with Mobal ...

 

Mura

[LuAnn]

For such a "wealth" of information...I KNEW I could count on my CC friends for great input!!!

 

Sounds like this is the way to go for us!! As I mentioned...we use Tracphone at home...we have no kids/grandkids to text...and only use it as needed for emergency...as a matter of fact..when we were in SF earlier this month and had to disembark the Century because Kenneth had blacked out...and then had a pacemaker put in place in SF...it was a god-send!!!

 

I won't use it except for calling while out of the US...I think I will buy the one that works in Canada, Mexico and the Carib....as we do sail there as well...and the Tracphone doesn't work there!!! ....and I'm thinking using it for contacting hotels, guides and CC friends who we meet up with in Europe as needed...Sounds like a great product for us!!!!

 

Thank you all for your valuable input!!!! LuAnn