The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Catbert on April 03, 2018, 11:48:00 AM
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Let's start out with the fact that I'm an idiot about technology. For past European vacations I've always just used wi-fi. Got Verizon's* overpriced roaming package as a backup ($10 a day when used) but never had to use it.
The upcoming trip will involve driving, staying at smaller hotels and the need to make restaurant reservations at places that don't have online reservations. Verizon's overpriced package won't cut it.
So...Skype on my cell phone with a $10 pre-pay seems ideal. Cost per minute is pretty cheap. I understand I'll need wifi to make a call (right?) and sometimes the sound quality can be crappy. But I should just need relatively short calls (running early/late or check-in, can I book a reservation for tomorrow).
Does this seem like the best solution or am I missing something obvious.
*Yes, I know everyone hates Verizon. We switched a few years ago from Virgin America (Sprint network) when DH had Stage 4 cancer and we had to drive 1/2 mile to main road when expecting a call from Oncologist because Sprint coverage was so spotty at our house.
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You could also try google voice through the google hangouts app.
You can also probably purchase a SIM card with data and a bit of call time for pretty cheap. I've found https://toomanyadapters.com/buying-local-sim-cards/ helpful while planning some upcoming travel (haven't tested it out yet though, so the reliability of the recommendations remains to be seen).
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If you're going to the EU, they have cross border pricing - if you buy a SIM card in Germany, you can use it in the Netherlands for the same price per minute/text/megabyte.
Data is cheap in the EU. Just buy a local SIM when you land. Assuming you have an unlocked phone, of course, that works on the right bands...
An alternative is FreedomPOP but they are a bit weird/strange to get set up without getting hit with monthly fees - you can have them totally free, if you work through it, but the call quality isn't great (it is all VOIP, so if you have bad data you have a bad call).