1. phil1995's Avatar
    Anyone been lately and purchased a sim with a blackberry plan?

    What is the cheapest way to call back to US?
    01-19-10 08:55 PM
  2. widdlewade's Avatar
    Unlock your phone first.
    Then use any local sim card while there.
    01-19-10 09:22 PM
  3. phil1995's Avatar
    Phone is already unlocked.
    01-19-10 09:44 PM
  4. grapechic's Avatar
    After several trips this is the set up I have now with Verizon as my carrier for my Storm2

    1) Call Verizon and add the international plan which costs approximately $ 20 or $ 30 (I can't remember). Voice calls are still fairly expensive (maybe $ .99 a minute) BUT it is unlimited data.

    2) Options for cheaper voice calls
    a. Call Verizon and have your phone unlocked for international travel. Buy a SIM card at Carphone Warehouse (lots of locations around London) and I recommend the brand TalkMobile. You can surf the TalkMobile site in advance to know what you want to ask for. I purchased the option for cheaper international calls to US which equates to about ten cents US per minute. You can then swap out your US SIM with the UK - I have not tried to use my data plan with the UK SIM. My first trip I used the voice aspect only but you had to keep swapping out so it was a pain.
    b. Buy a pay as you go phone in the UK
    c. Buy a cheap SIM capable phone on ebay and bring it with you. Since I travel to Europe often this is the option I chose so I can buy SIM cards for the countries I travel through.

    Hope this helps -- enjoy the travel.
    01-20-10 06:56 PM
  5. phil1995's Avatar
    After several trips this is the set up I have now with Verizon as my carrier for my Storm2

    1) Call Verizon and add the international plan which costs approximately $ 20 or $ 30 (I can't remember). Voice calls are still fairly expensive (maybe $ .99 a minute) BUT it is unlimited data.

    2) Options for cheaper voice calls
    a. Call Verizon and have your phone unlocked for international travel. Buy a SIM card at Carphone Warehouse (lots of locations around London) and I recommend the brand TalkMobile. You can surf the TalkMobile site in advance to know what you want to ask for. I purchased the option for cheaper international calls to US which equates to about ten cents US per minute. You can then swap out your US SIM with the UK - I have not tried to use my data plan with the UK SIM. My first trip I used the voice aspect only but you had to keep swapping out so it was a pain.
    b. Buy a pay as you go phone in the UK
    c. Buy a cheap SIM capable phone on ebay and bring it with you. Since I travel to Europe often this is the option I chose so I can buy SIM cards for the countries I travel through.

    Hope this helps -- enjoy the travel.
    Just curious, but would this be a better option?

    Low-cost Europe cell phones and European SIM cards

    The sim is a one time charge of $29 + $12 shipping ( I can eat this cost as I can spread it across multiple trips)

    The calling rate back to the US is $.29/ minute (free incomint) and the sms rate is $.19/sms (free incoming). You do not have to buy minutes, just pay for what you use.

    When you leave, if you call them and tell them your dates, they will activate the BIS or BES for $2.50 per day with unlimited usage (unlimited is defined at 75mb).

    What do you think about that? I would rather pay a little extra for the calling, than to keep having to switch sims and risk getting data charges on the wrong sim. I will not be making all that many voice calls, I primarily want the data.
    Last edited by phil1995; 01-20-10 at 08:37 PM.
    01-20-10 08:08 PM
  6. coolraghav's Avatar
    thanks guys, I got o2 payg
    05-24-10 08:18 AM
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