Calling to the US from France

[DisneyDudet]

Hey all!

You all have been very helpful in our planning this trip to Paris and DLP.

I can't anticipate anymore questions (ok, I might have some later!), but right now, we are trying to figure out how to call back to the States from France. Are there calling cards or anything? What about collect? Does that work? I am pretty sure our American cell phones won't work in Paris, so we are anticipating that.

Any help would be great. We won't have a laptop with us, so we can't communicate that way.

Thanks!!

 

[sjaakie]

Hey all!

You all have been very helpful in our planning this trip to Paris and DLP.

I can't anticipate anymore questions (ok, I might have some later!), but right now, we are trying to figure out how to call back to the States from France. Are there calling cards or anything? What about collect? Does that work? I am pretty sure our American cell phones won't work in Paris, so we are anticipating that.

Any help would be great. We won't have a laptop with us, so we can't communicate that way.

Thanks!!

I'm pretty sure your phone does work.
My phone works in the USA so why not yours in Europe?

Ask your provider.

 

[bavaria]

Generally American cel phones are not on the right band to work internationally (I don't know the technical term - sorry!). Europe works on GSM and tri band, most American cel phones do not. And the roaming fees will be high

If you are planning on making calls, you can do a few things.

Pay by credit card at a phone; this route does not always work as not all pay phones have that option.

Use internatoinal dialling through AT and T or other provider

Purchase an international phone card

Purchase an unlocked cel phone and buy a prepaid SIM card in France

I always use Skype for all of my international calling, but if you don't have a laptop that is not an option. Calling from your room will be the most expensive

 

[sjaakie]

Generally American cel phones are not on the right band to work internationally (I don't know the technical term - sorry!). Europe works on GSM and tri band, most American cel phones do not. And the roaming fees will be high

European phones work on double ore two band and American on tri band.
Most phones have both bands, you just have to set the correct bandwide on your phone.
The most Nokia phone's have this.

Roaming fees will be around 2 Euro's per minute.
Roaming with a prepaid card will be far more expensive.

 

[bavaria]

OP, you may want to read this thread on flyertalk.com

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=728620&highlight=phone

Tri band phones may or not may work well for you. Your phone may not even have that option, depending on the manufacturer. I also wouldn't to make assumptions about your type of phone, your usage, and your roaming charges.

Personally, two Euros a minute is to me high at the equivalent of almost three dollars a minute. You may be able to find a lower plan through your cel provider, but it really depends on how many calls you plan on making (and the duration of those calls)

 

[TLSnell1981]

I rent a phone in the US to take over. It's been over a year since I've been to Europe and I'm trying to find the info on the company I used. It seems like it was around a $1 a minute. My service is with Verizon and they lock their phones....can't use them over there. I use a cell phone because I drive all over. I also use calling cards. Check with you long distance carrier. They may have a plan that will save you money.

 

[DisneyDudet]

I picked up some worldwide calling cards today at Target, so we'll see how that goes. It has instructions for calling from another country, so I would assume it works.

Would the best way to do it on a pay/public phone? I would assume my hotel would charge me for making a calling card call from the room.

Anyone with experience?

 

[bavaria]

I was actually struggling with a phone call at DLRP a few weeks ago - I needed to call Lufthansa and wasn't in my room to use my laptop/Skype. Looking at my credit card statement, I paid about 4 Euros for a 5 minute call to Germany, and not much more for a call to the American LH office.

Calling from the room there MAY be an option to connect to an international operator. Usually it is some kind of program such as AT and T. If your call is short, and the hotel doesn't add surcharges, it may not cost you much. HOWEVER most hotels cannot tell you the surcharge, so you may end up with a very high bill - not what I recommend.

The public phone may still be a best option. I would ask your hotel Front Desk for the location of a phone - often they are inside the medium to larger hotels.

I have actually used a Walgreens phone card from Germany before - most likely similar to your Target card. I believe that someone gave it to me once, and it worked just fine...

 

[TLSnell1981]

Bavaria is definitely correct about the surcharge. There are specific ways to call from some hotels that will avoid the surcharges. Some only charge a small one time fee. I know things change frequently, so check before you call from your hotel.

 

[Rookinla]

OK, so here's how my cell phone worked in France. AT&T is my carrier at home. I had to call them and let them know that I was going to France. Then I had to select a carrier of choice in France (Orange or Bouyges)...I chose Orange. My phone always appeared to have service but it would go back and forth between the two carriers. I have a Blackberry so I could see it changing. Unfortunately for me it seemed to be on Bouyges much of the time. The problem...I couldn't call out until Orange showed up on my display. Thank God that it didn't switch back in the middle of my calls!!! I did call home once for 20 minutes and that cost about $36. You do have to have a Tri-Band phone for this to work. If you have a Multimedia phone that receives emails and texts...TURN THAT OFF! If you don't you will be charged a fee for every email or text received and that can really add up. We turned ours off but I don't think that it is something most people know about.

 

[long4disney]

We live in Illinois and have AT&T service which was Cingular before. We have Motorola Razor phone with the GSM. All we had to do was call AT&T and told them what dates we would be in France and they "unlocked" the phones to work over there. We only paid about $1.29 a minute. All we had to do to call home was press the + sign and the area code and phone number and we were connected like Magic!!! Very clear reception everywhere in France, at the airport, in Paris and also Disneyland. As long as your cell phone is newer and has the GSM feature, it should work fine over there. Mine was the only one to work in our group. Most of my friends did not have AT&T service and a GSM phone.

Hope this info helps!