Am I reading correctly that I can use my Tracphone (American) in Italy without a different sim card? I have plenty of minutes, I barely use the phone so they pile up. It would seem from their website that I can call internationally, does that also mean while I am in Italy to call around Italy? I am not very up to speed about cell phones, I have the cheapest model but would upgrade if needed. Anyone know for sure?
1
phimeow
Is the Tracphone a pre-paid service? If it is I am surprised that international calling is enabled but anyway...
Whether it is a pre-paid or post paid service, you will find that the international call rates are very expensive. While overseas, you can make call from the country you are in (Italy) to numbers in Italy or back to the US but both of these call types will be at international rates. The upside is that people in the US still call you as if you were in the US (even though you are in Italy).
The cheaper way would be to have your phone unlocked from the US provider and get a SIM card when in Italy. The BIG CAVEAT here is that you have to check whether the Tracphone will operate on Italy's mobile phone frequency. sorry I can't help you with this bit as I know nothing about Tracphone.
Assuming it works in Italy, with an Italian SIM card calls within Italy will be at local cost but calls to the US will be at international rates. The downside is that you will have a different phone number if you want people from the US to call you.
Good luck.
2
pbeeee
I don't care about how much it 'costs'. I literally have a thousand minutes on this thing since I have to buy minutes every so often to keep it activated and I don't use it. The minutes are paid for and it would be nice to use them down. When we have been overseas before I had a work cell that I did not even bring but now I'm retired. I'm just thinking in terms of calling ahead for meal reservations, tickets, etc while we are there if it works and isn't a hassle. I do think there is a problem with the two systems US vs Europe but I don't completely understand that. Thanks for trying.
3
phimeow
Sorry to say but your thousand minutes will not be usable overseas. They are for domestic calls only I would wager.
I don't care about how much it 'costs'.
Will you be OK with a phone bill for hundreds of dollars?
May be worth your while to go into a Tracphone shop and talk to a real person to get all the low down.
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