Help! Phone for trip to Costa Rica

[hapandpam]

My daughter will be going to Costa Rica on a college sponsored trip from EF tours. I would like to have some way to keep in touch with her, but I am very confused about phone compatibility and SIMS cards. I would appreciate any and all advice about what to do. Should I buy her an inexpensive phone and card? Her advisor told them to just purchase phone cards but I know that making calls from hotels sometimes have hidden costs. I am so technologically behind the times that I don't understand all the technical jargon.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[rock_doctor]

Once she hits the airport there have her convert some money to local money. Then she should buy a couple calling cards that can be used at the local payphones. It is super important to get the cards immediately as it will get harder and harder once she gets deeper into the trip. If she currently has a GSM cell phone that will still work when she is there but each call will cost a couple dollars per minute but is good for emergency only calls. All you really want her to do is call home every couple days and check in. The calling cards work well for that. Payphones are common around hotels, tourist areas and at the airports.

Her GSM phone (ATT and TMobile) will allow you to call her in an emergency. Some Sprint phones are both CDMA and GSM so they can be used overseas. She probably has an iPhone and if it is with ATT that will work just fine there. I don't know about verizon but since it is "ma-bell" they probably have a provision to use the phone outside the US.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Once she hits the airport there have her convert some money to local money.

No, if she needs local currency, she should just use her debit card at an ATM for local currency. Be sure and use a bank connected ATM; never use a stand alone ATM.

If she has an unlocked cell phone, she can buy a local sim card and switch it with her current sim card or she can investigate international plans for her current service. No need to buy a new phone for one trip. If your daughter is in college, she should be investigating this herself.

 

[starry_solo]

You might also want to get some local currency from a US bank. If you bank at a major one (Citi, Wells Fargo, BofA), they have currency exchange services.

Phone cards only work if there are pay phone she can use (or land lines at the hotel, but again, you don't know if there are charges). It was hard to find a pay phone when I was in Scandinavia last year

 

[GeraldineW]

I just returned from Costa Rica a few months ago. My ATT iPhone worked fine. I added International Calling and data before I left and removed the option when I returned. Worked great. My bill was about $60 more than typical and covered 7 days in Costa Rica.

My DH is with Verizon and he had to rent a phone from Verizon that would work in Costa Rica. Although calling from a hotel phone with a calling card may have hidden costs, if you don't expect DD to use her phone much and/or you have to rent a different phone, the hidden costs might be cheaper than any phone plan.

We found no local banks (we leave in a metropolitan area) where we could get Costa Rican Colonnes in advance of our trip but had absolutely no problem finding ATM's once in Costa Rica. Also, almost everyone takes US dollars and gives change in Colonnes.

 

[kkwis2]

I just travelled to Costa Rica with a student group in March. My experience was similar to Geraldine W's. My students who had iphones and such were on the phones constantly - irritatingly so to tell you the truth. They used Facetime the entire trip because free wi-fi was everywhere.

My DH and I don't have fancy phones and didn't have service in Costa Rica, so our plan was to Skype with our kids. The grandparents had a hard time setting it up, so we found a much easier way: We purchased Skype minutes through paypal and simply called our home phone from a little laptop that we borrowed from another teacher on the trip. It was super cheap! I want to say it was like 7 cents a minute from Costa Rica to the U.S. We had also purchased a phone card at one point, but that was very expensive - a $5 card gave us like 10 minutes. So if she's bringing a computer with her, that's a great way to do it.

In regards to $ exchange, do not have her exchange at the airport. It's a complete rip-off. Either exchange through a local bank before she goes, or as others have said, many places take U.S. dollars and give change in Colones. Just tell her to have smaller bills - no $50s or $100s.

 

[scrapquitler]

My daughter will be going to Costa Rica on a college sponsored trip from EF tours. I would like to have some way to keep in touch with her, but I am very confused about phone compatibility and SIMS cards. I would appreciate any and all advice about what to do. Should I buy her an inexpensive phone and card? Her advisor told them to just purchase phone cards but I know that making calls from hotels sometimes have hidden costs. I am so technologically behind the times that I don't understand all the technical jargon.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Before you do anything, contact EF tours to see if they offer some option. I know that the semester abroad program I traveled with when I was in college now offers a semester long cellphone package as part of the whole travel plan/cost package. Maybe EF has a similar thing.

It might also be smart to set her up with a Skype account, and then she can use a wifi connection to video chat with you.

 

[Bob NC]

If your daughter is in college, she should be investigating this herself.

Wait....What?

 

[hapandpam]

Thanks for all the advice. I am sure she will be fine, but like most parents, I worry and would like some way to keep in touch. She isn't big on technology and like most kids, she is way too trusting. She has spoken with her professor/leader for the trip and done research, but it never hurts to have as much information as possible, and I have found the people on the budget board to be very helpful and supportive.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to help me out.