Posted to rec.travel.europe
c/p to alt.cellular.verizon
I posted here a while ago asking about options for a cell phone to use
in Europe. We'll be traveling through UK, France, Hungary, Austria,
Germany, Italy, Spain and on two cruises. My regular carrier is Verizon,
a CDMA system.
I did not want to get to the UK and start looking to buy a phone. We are
doing very little independent traveling and I don't want the hassle of
phone shopping. I also didn't want to worry about purchasing sim cards
in each country.
I checked with several rental companies and they were all way
overpriced, had huge deposits, plus the charges were even higher for a
US number and none were willing to assist me in figuring out how to
forward my US cell phone to their numbers.
I did check with AT&T and T-Mobil this weekend and they would have me
buy a phone from $125 to $250, pay for the sim card and the per call
charges were much higher. I would also have had to sign a minimum of a 1
year contract. Definitely not an option! Most of my friends and family
are on Verizon and the mobile to mobile calls don't use minutes or money.
Verizon has a really great plan for infrequent travelers who will be
abroad less than 21 days. Not good for us. We'll be gone 49.
Verizon offered me a plan through Vodafone that was $21 to ship the
phone both ways, a $50 deposit then the cost of calls incoming and
outgoing. They would transfer my US number to this phone for me. It was
also $3.99 per day!
This seemed outrageous. I went around a few times with the rep and she
finally told me that if I "upgraded" my current contract, I could
purchase a new global phone for $99.99. I would keep my same calling
plan. I would keep my same phone number. The phone is a Motorola MOTO
Z6c global phone (CDMA and GSM) I have to add an extra year to my
contract (2 year contract, but I have a year to go on the current one
anyway) I could also keep my current LG phone, though it would be
deactivated.
Checking e-bay, the MOTO Z6c was selling for $149.99 so after I come
home from Europe, I could deactivate it, reactivate my old LG phone and
sell the global phone.
This seemed to me to be the best deal. If I don't make or receive any
calls, it costs me nothing. If I do make any calls, all I pay are the
fees of $1.29/minute.
BTW, I've been with Verizon for over 8 years and this will be my fifth
phone and the first time I have ever paid for a phone.
I'm sure that many of you will have other and probably cheaper
suggestions, but I did try some of the suggestions given when I first
posted and none of them worked for us.
I just thought I'd share what I learned.
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
In article <48d07097$0$12412$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>, Janet Wilder
<kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I did not want to get to the UK and start looking to buy a phone. We are
> doing very little independent traveling and I don't want the hassle of
> phone shopping. I also didn't want to worry about purchasing sim cards
> in each country.
I was in the UK this past June. It was no hassle at all getting a
phone. Walked into Carphone Warehouse and bought a Motorola for the $50
which included a $20 prepaid sim card.
Charles wrote:
> In article <48d07097$0$12412$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>, Janet Wilder
> <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> I did not want to get to the UK and start looking to buy a phone. We are
>> doing very little independent traveling and I don't want the hassle of
>> phone shopping. I also didn't want to worry about purchasing sim cards
>> in each country.
>
> I was in the UK this past June. It was no hassle at all getting a
> phone. Walked into Carphone Warehouse and bought a Motorola for the $50
> which included a $20 prepaid sim card.
>
Thanks, Charles, but I wouldn't have a clue as to where to even find a
Carphone Warehouse.
My DH has mobility issues and walking around looking for phone stores
just wasn't an option for us.
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
Janet Wilder <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote in news:48d07097$0$12412
$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com:
> I just thought I'd share what I learned.
> --
> Janet Wilder
>
Janet, are you living in a tent or better accomodations in Europe? Even
in a tent, you can save a ton of sellphone waste by setting up your
stateside contacts with Skype on their computers, which is FREE and FREE
to use to talk to them from any free wifi you can find all over Europe.
All they do is leave their Skype running on their computer waiting for
your call. Make a daily timeslot schedule. You can even use a Skype
conference with all of them at once to tell friends and family how you
are doing....instead of repeating the same information over and over on
a sellphone, one at a time.
Buy a Nokia N800 internet tablet off Ebay. Nokia upgrades it for free
to the very latest version of Maemo Linux with a very simple PC program.
You just plug the tablet into the PCs USB port and run the program to
completely reprogram the tablet to the latest operating system. The
N800 has a native Skype program that self-installs for free. Setup your
Skype account for free from your home computer now. Get everyone to do
the same. You all lose nothing....except the sellphone ripoffs.
There's free wifi all over Europe at cafes, hotels, etc. Chat with
friends over dinner. You don't have to pay through the nose to call the
States.
Now, if you buy stateside Skype Unlimited Skype out for $24/year, last
time I looked, you can use it anywhere in US and Canada to call any
phones US/Canada. You can also buy SKYPE IN phone numbers for about $28
each in about 28 countries. Your Skype supports up to 10 numbers from
any of those places. I have a number in Charleston, SC and one in
London, England for my English friends to call. Both work great and I
THINK, but am not positive, that THEY can call YOU on any Skype number
you already have while you're on the internet anywhere! If YOU call
from Europe, you'll be charged the princely sum of 2.1c/minute as you
are out of the country. That's STILL lots better than $1.49/minute!
Take a look. Works fantastic. I just got off Skype with a friend in
Siberia! We talk for hours PC to PC with full color video, but the
tablet won't do video mobile on Skype. You can send/receive voicemail,
messages, swap files, though.
Check it out.....(c;
Do you REALLY need a phone online ALL THE WHILE in Europe? I doubt it.
> My DH has mobility issues and walking around looking for phone stores
> just wasn't an option for us.
$1.29/minute isn't too bad, but for calls from Europe to the U.S. I'd
definitely set up a OneSuite account before I left. There are toll-free
access numbers in UK, France, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany, and
Spain, and it's 9.9¢ per minute to the U.S.. Enter your frequently
called numbers into their speed dialing system in advance. Their system
works really well. When my daughter went to Taiwan earlier this year she
used it to call home.
It sounds like your biggest concern is keeping your Verizon phone
number, and the only way to do it is to get the Verizon global phone,
though technically this isn't true. An easy way to keep the Verizon
number working is to simply forward it, before you leave, to something
like a MaxRoam SIM which has a U.S. phone number. The MaxRoam SIM can be
used in an unlocked GSM phone. I bought a quad-band prepaid T-Mobile
phone for $30 and had it unlocked for $15.
I doubt if you'll be able to get much for that Verizon phone when you
get back. Most tourists to Europe use prepaid SIM cards, whether or not
they have a U.S. GSM carrier. Business types either already have a dual
system phone, or use GSM.
In article <f80Ak.547$x%.447@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com>,
SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> $1.29/minute isn't too bad, but for calls from Europe to the U.S. I'd
> definitely set up a OneSuite account before I left. There are toll-free
> access numbers in UK, France, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany, and
> Spain, and it's 9.9¢ per minute to the U.S.. Enter your frequently
> called numbers into their speed dialing system in advance. Their system
> works really well. When my daughter went to Taiwan earlier this year she
> used it to call home.
Are the numbers toll free when dialed from a cell phone, especially a
prepaid which may be using an MVNO?
poldy wrote:
> In article <f80Ak.547$x%.447@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> $1.29/minute isn't too bad, but for calls from Europe to the U.S. I'd
>> definitely set up a OneSuite account before I left. There are toll-free
>> access numbers in UK, France, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany, and
>> Spain, and it's 9.9¢ per minute to the U.S.. Enter your frequently
>> called numbers into their speed dialing system in advance. Their system
>> works really well. When my daughter went to Taiwan earlier this year she
>> used it to call home.
>
> Are the numbers toll free when dialed from a cell phone, especially a
> prepaid which may be using an MVNO?
No. Calls to the OneSuite network can be made from hotel phones or pay
phones.
If it were me, and I wanted to minimize costs, this is what I'd do:
1. Buy a GeoSIM card which allows free incoming calls in much of Europe.
"http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk".
2. Open a MyGlobalTalk Account "447924003627" and forward the
MyGlobalTalk number to the SIM card phone number.
3. Before leaving the U.S. forward the Verizon phone to the MyGlobalTalk
number.
It sounds complex, but it's actually quite straightforward.
On 2008-09-17, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> If it were me, and I wanted to minimize costs, this is what I'd do:
>
> 1. Buy a GeoSIM card which allows free incoming calls in much of Europe.
> "http://www.globalsimcard.co.uk".
> 2. Open a MyGlobalTalk Account "447924003627" and forward the
> MyGlobalTalk number to the SIM card phone number.
> 3. Before leaving the U.S. forward the Verizon phone to the MyGlobalTalk
> number.
That works, but I don't think it is all that cheap. I believe
GeoSim uses numbers from a Manx or Channel Islands mobile operator,
and that MyGlobalTalk charges 38 cents/minute to forward calls
to those, so the fact that you aren't charged by the mobile
company doesn't help so much. I believe it also costs a $20-something
per year maintenance fee to keep the GeoSIM alive.
A Celtrek SIM comes with a US inbound number, charges between 29
and 39 cents/minute for incoming calls in Europe, depending on the
country, has somewhat lower rates than GeoSIM for outbound calls to
the US, and they don't charge a maintenance fee if you want to keep
the SIM for future trips.
On 2008-09-17, Larry <noone@home.com> wrote:
> There's free wifi all over Europe at cafes, hotels, etc. Chat with
> friends over dinner. You don't have to pay through the nose to call the
> States.
Skype is also my first choice for travel but my experience in Europe
is that, while there's lots of WiFi, much less of it is free compared
to the US. I don't think I've yet managed to stay in a hotel there which
didn't charge for Internet service, and they aren't embarrassed to
ask $30 or $40 a day for the service in your room.
I have had much better luck, and felt much less ripped off, using 3G
Internet service in the UK with local prepaid SIMs. T-Mobile charges
£1/day while Three charges (I think) £2.50/week. This doesn't help much
if you are doing a multi-country tour, however.
Also, Skype doesn't really replace a mobile phone if what you want
to do is receive calls from people who phone you and you don't want
to sit around with your computer waiting for them to call. Skype is
very fine if you want to phone and have a long chat, however.
> That works, but I don't think it is all that cheap. I believe
> GeoSim uses numbers from a Manx or Channel Islands mobile operator,
> and that MyGlobalTalk charges 38 cents/minute to forward calls
> to those, so the fact that you aren't charged by the mobile
> company doesn't help so much. I believe it also costs a $20-something
> per year maintenance fee to keep the GeoSIM alive.
Yes, 37.9¢ per minute. But it's $1.29 per minute roaming on Verizon,
more than 3x as much. Calling mobile phones in Europe is always a bit
costly because of the insane way the mobile operators are allowed to
bill over there with "caller pays."
> A Celtrek SIM comes with a US inbound number, charges between 29
> and 39 cents/minute for incoming calls in Europe, depending on the
> country, has somewhat lower rates than GeoSIM for outbound calls to
> the US, and they don't charge a maintenance fee if you want to keep
> the SIM for future trips.
Yes, CelTrak and MaxRoam have the advantage of a local number.
Personally, I try to minimize cell use when traveling, using it mainly
to meet up with people in the country I'm visiting. For calls back home
I use OneSuite from a pay phone or the hotel phone.
On 2008-09-17, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
> Dennis Ferguson wrote:
>
>> That works, but I don't think it is all that cheap. I believe
>> GeoSim uses numbers from a Manx or Channel Islands mobile operator,
>> and that MyGlobalTalk charges 38 cents/minute to forward calls
>> to those, so the fact that you aren't charged by the mobile
>> company doesn't help so much. I believe it also costs a $20-something
>> per year maintenance fee to keep the GeoSIM alive.
>
> Yes, 37.9? per minute. But it's $1.29 per minute roaming on Verizon,
> more than 3x as much. Calling mobile phones in Europe is always a bit
> costly because of the insane way the mobile operators are allowed to
> bill over there with "caller pays."
This is true, though in the UK they seem to use those high
incoming termination charges to subsidize the outgoing call
rates so you can find some fairly good deals for calling
out with local SIMs. I can make outbound calls with my
UK prepaid SIM to local mobiles or landlines for 6.3 cents/minute,
so with Rebtel I can make or receive overseas calls for the
same 6.3 cents/minute (and there's no additional charge for
roaming on sister networks in Ireland, Italy & Austria). If
you don't like the dialthrough I've seen at least one UK MVNO
(IDT) which will let you dial US numbers direct from the mobile
for 7.2 cents/minute.
Those Isle of Man mobiles are in fact extra pricy to call even
by European standards, though. MyGlobalTalk only charges between
10 and 20 cents/minute to call normal UK mobiles, and my UK
prepaid SIM treats them as not-local-UK numbers. I also noticed
Verizon Wireless won't deliver calls to them even if you are
willing to pay Verizon's rates, which made me suspect it might
be hard to get calls direct to the number from people at work.
>> A Celtrek SIM comes with a US inbound number, charges between 29
>> and 39 cents/minute for incoming calls in Europe, depending on the
>> country, has somewhat lower rates than GeoSIM for outbound calls to
>> the US, and they don't charge a maintenance fee if you want to keep
>> the SIM for future trips.
>
> Yes, CelTrak and MaxRoam have the advantage of a local number.
>
> Personally, I try to minimize cell use when traveling, using it mainly
> to meet up with people in the country I'm visiting. For calls back home
> I use OneSuite from a pay phone or the hotel phone.
Yes, that's my last resort fallback too, if I can't find either cheap
cellphone service or a cheap Internet connection. I use Rebtel for
that instead, though, since they also let you do the arbitrage of
incoming versus outgoing call rates when you have a reasonably priced
mobile and I expect will eventually support forwarding of your
regular numbers overseas as well.
In article <48d074fb$0$1537$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>, Janet Wilder
<kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Charles, but I wouldn't have a clue as to where to even find a
> Carphone Warehouse.
>
> My DH has mobility issues and walking around looking for phone stores
> just wasn't an option for us.
They are all over. I saw a few when I wasn't even looking. I think they
have over 2000 stores in Europe. There is a store locator on their web
site.
Larry wrote:
> Janet Wilder <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote in news:48d07097$0$12412
> $c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com:
>
>> I just thought I'd share what I learned.
>> --
>> Janet Wilder
>>
>
> Janet, are you living in a tent or better accomodations in Europe? Even
> in a tent, you can save a ton of sellphone waste by setting up your
> stateside contacts with Skype on their computers, which is FREE and FREE
> to use to talk to them from any free wifi you can find all over Europe.
> All they do is leave their Skype running on their computer waiting for
> your call. Make a daily timeslot schedule. You can even use a Skype
> conference with all of them at once to tell friends and family how you
> are doing....instead of repeating the same information over and over on
> a sellphone, one at a time.
>
> Buy a Nokia N800 internet tablet off Ebay. Nokia upgrades it for free
> to the very latest version of Maemo Linux with a very simple PC program.
> You just plug the tablet into the PCs USB port and run the program to
> completely reprogram the tablet to the latest operating system. The
> N800 has a native Skype program that self-installs for free. Setup your
> Skype account for free from your home computer now. Get everyone to do
> the same. You all lose nothing....except the sellphone ripoffs.
>
> There's free wifi all over Europe at cafes, hotels, etc. Chat with
> friends over dinner. You don't have to pay through the nose to call the
> States.
>
> Now, if you buy stateside Skype Unlimited Skype out for $24/year, last
> time I looked, you can use it anywhere in US and Canada to call any
> phones US/Canada. You can also buy SKYPE IN phone numbers for about $28
> each in about 28 countries. Your Skype supports up to 10 numbers from
> any of those places. I have a number in Charleston, SC and one in
> London, England for my English friends to call. Both work great and I
> THINK, but am not positive, that THEY can call YOU on any Skype number
> you already have while you're on the internet anywhere! If YOU call
> from Europe, you'll be charged the princely sum of 2.1c/minute as you
> are out of the country. That's STILL lots better than $1.49/minute!
>
> http://www.skype.com/
>
> Take a look. Works fantastic. I just got off Skype with a friend in
> Siberia! We talk for hours PC to PC with full color video, but the
> tablet won't do video mobile on Skype. You can send/receive voicemail,
> messages, swap files, though.
>
> Check it out.....(c;
>
> Do you REALLY need a phone online ALL THE WHILE in Europe? I doubt it.
Yes. I really need a phone. I have a DH with some significant medical
issues. His doctors have given him their blessings for travel, but we
never know when a situation could arise when we will need to contact one
of the doctors. I don't know how they are by you, but most of our
doctors don't answer their own phones. One is required to leave a
message with the gatekeeper and the doctor calls back later. Ig it's an
emergent matter, the doctor calls back sooner than later. The doctors do
not want to call an European phone number. I cannot always be certain I
will have a WiFi hot spot. Part of our trip will be on a river barge
cruise where the hot spots are in town. They have fee-based computers
for guests, but no WiFi.
I have an Asus Eee PC that comes with Skype and a video camera and I
have a Skype account, however I don't want to talk to anyone that is not
necessary to talk to while we are away.
The phone is for emergencies. I'm really not that stupid.
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
SMS wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> My DH has mobility issues and walking around looking for phone stores
>> just wasn't an option for us.
>
> $1.29/minute isn't too bad, but for calls from Europe to the U.S. I'd
> definitely set up a OneSuite account before I left. There are toll-free
> access numbers in UK, France, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany, and
> Spain, and it's 9.9¢ per minute to the U.S.. Enter your frequently
> called numbers into their speed dialing system in advance. Their system
> works really well. When my daughter went to Taiwan earlier this year she
> used it to call home.
>
> It sounds like your biggest concern is keeping your Verizon phone
> number, and the only way to do it is to get the Verizon global phone,
> though technically this isn't true. An easy way to keep the Verizon
> number working is to simply forward it, before you leave, to something
> like a MaxRoam SIM which has a U.S. phone number. The MaxRoam SIM can be
> used in an unlocked GSM phone. I bought a quad-band prepaid T-Mobile
> phone for $30 and had it unlocked for $15.
I tried that with T-Mobile. They want a one year contract.
>
> I doubt if you'll be able to get much for that Verizon phone when you
> get back. Most tourists to Europe use prepaid SIM cards, whether or not
> they have a U.S. GSM carrier. Business types either already have a dual
> system phone, or use GSM.
There were 2 of them on e-bay yesterday. One was selling for $199.99 and
the other for $159.99. My son travels for business in the Toronto,
Ontario area. He had a company AT&T phone and the company just replaced
it with the Verizon global Blackberry model. I think there are buyers
out there.
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
Janet Wilder wrote:
>
> Yes. I really need a phone. I have a DH with some significant medical
> issues. His doctors have given him their blessings for travel, but we
> never know when a situation could arise when we will need to contact one
> of the doctors. I don't know how they are by you, but most of our
> doctors don't answer their own phones. One is required to leave a
> message with the gatekeeper and the doctor calls back later. Ig it's an
> emergent matter, the doctor calls back sooner than later. The doctors do
> not want to call an European phone number. I cannot always be certain I
> will have a WiFi hot spot. Part of our trip will be on a river barge
> cruise where the hot spots are in town. They have fee-based computers
> for guests, but no WiFi.
>
> I have an Asus Eee PC that comes with Skype and a video camera and I
> have a Skype account, however I don't want to talk to anyone that is not
> necessary to talk to while we are away.
>
> The phone is for emergencies. I'm really not that stupid.
>
I'm glad you've found a solution which fits your needs, and have been
good enough to share it. My solution is a different one, but then, my
needs are different.
S Viemeister wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>>
>> Yes. I really need a phone. I have a DH with some significant medical
>> issues. His doctors have given him their blessings for travel, but we
>> never know when a situation could arise when we will need to contact
>> one of the doctors. I don't know how they are by you, but most of our
>> doctors don't answer their own phones. One is required to leave a
>> message with the gatekeeper and the doctor calls back later. Ig it's
>> an emergent matter, the doctor calls back sooner than later. The
>> doctors do not want to call an European phone number. I cannot always
>> be certain I will have a WiFi hot spot. Part of our trip will be on a
>> river barge cruise where the hot spots are in town. They have
>> fee-based computers for guests, but no WiFi.
>>
>> I have an Asus Eee PC that comes with Skype and a video camera and I
>> have a Skype account, however I don't want to talk to anyone that is
>> not necessary to talk to while we are away.
>>
>> The phone is for emergencies. I'm really not that stupid.
>>
> I'm glad you've found a solution which fits your needs, and have been
> good enough to share it. My solution is a different one, but then, my
> needs are different.
Thank you. I did expect the "why didn't yous" and thought I'd provided
for it in my post, but Usente will be Usenet. <vbg>
Janet a Usenet junkie since 1995
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
Janet Wilder <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote in news:48d19ec4$0$9672$c3e8da3
@news.astraweb.com:
> Yes. I really need a phone. I have a DH with some significant medical
> issues. His doctors have given him their blessings for travel, but we
> never know when a situation could arise when we will need to contact one
> of the doctors. I don't know how they are by you, but most of our
> doctors don't answer their own phones. One is required to leave a
> message with the gatekeeper and the doctor calls back later. Ig it's an
> emergent matter, the doctor calls back sooner than later. The doctors do
> not want to call an European phone number. I cannot always be certain I
> will have a WiFi hot spot. Part of our trip will be on a river barge
> cruise where the hot spots are in town. They have fee-based computers
> for guests, but no WiFi.
>
>
Research the countries you are visiting. That doctor wants you to call him
so he can bill you or insurance. If you are in Europe, there are socialist
doctors all over the place that won't cost you a dime. I don't want to
wait until the American has time to come in from the golf course. There
are doctors waiting 24/7 in most of Europe that are better doctors and NOT
interested in just money like ours are.
Charles wrote:
> In article <48d074fb$0$1537$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>, Janet Wilder
> <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks, Charles, but I wouldn't have a clue as to where to even find a
>> Carphone Warehouse.
>>
>> My DH has mobility issues and walking around looking for phone stores
>> just wasn't an option for us.
>
> They are all over. I saw a few when I wasn't even looking. I think they
> have over 2000 stores in Europe. There is a store locator on their web
> site.
>
I appreciate your assistance, but I'm not wasting my precious time
hunting down a phone store. We travel differently than you do, I suppose.
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
> > They are all over. I saw a few when I wasn't even looking. I think they
> > have over 2000 stores in Europe. There is a store locator on their web
> > site.
> >
>
> I appreciate your assistance, but I'm not wasting my precious time
hunting down a phone store. We travel differently than you do, I suppose.
Shame on you for not wasting a few hours on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to
shop for a cell phone! ;-)
Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 17 Sep 2008 19:49:06 -0500 Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>>> They are all over. I saw a few when I wasn't even looking. I think they
>>> have over 2000 stores in Europe. There is a store locator on their web
>>> site.
>>>
>> I appreciate your assistance, but I'm not wasting my precious time
> hunting down a phone store. We travel differently than you do, I suppose.
>
>
> Shame on you for not wasting a few hours on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to
> shop for a cell phone! ;-)
>
> Enjoy the trip!
>
>
>
Thank you, Todd. I intend to.
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
Larry wrote:
> Janet Wilder <kelliepoodle@yahoo.com> wrote in news:48d19ec4$0$9672$c3e8da3
> @news.astraweb.com:
>
>> Yes. I really need a phone. I have a DH with some significant medical
>> issues. His doctors have given him their blessings for travel, but we
>> never know when a situation could arise when we will need to contact one
>> of the doctors. I don't know how they are by you, but most of our
>> doctors don't answer their own phones. One is required to leave a
>> message with the gatekeeper and the doctor calls back later. Ig it's an
>> emergent matter, the doctor calls back sooner than later. The doctors do
>> not want to call an European phone number. I cannot always be certain I
>> will have a WiFi hot spot. Part of our trip will be on a river barge
>> cruise where the hot spots are in town. They have fee-based computers
>> for guests, but no WiFi.
>>
>>
>
> Research the countries you are visiting. That doctor wants you to call him
> so he can bill you or insurance. If you are in Europe, there are socialist
> doctors all over the place that won't cost you a dime. I don't want to
> wait until the American has time to come in from the golf course. There
> are doctors waiting 24/7 in most of Europe that are better doctors and NOT
> interested in just money like ours are.
None of his doctors bill for a phone call. A strange European Socialist
doctor will not have his history available. We are talking adjusting
meds or the settings on an insulin pump.
Of course if we have a real emergent situation, we'll find the nearest
facility. We have insurance.
>
> They even get paid to make people WELL!
If I could find a doctor who could make DH well, I'd pay anything. We
just pray that he doesn't get sicker. <g>
--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life
In article <gasdrs$leg$1@aioe.org>, Todd Allcock
<elecconnec@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
>
> Shame on you for not wasting a few hours on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to
> shop for a cell phone! ;-)
Those shops are all over London. You don't have to waste hours looking
for them. I didn't even spend a minute looking for one last June. It
is really easy to do. I can understand though that people who don't
travel would not do it or want to do it. I mention the option not
particularly for Janet, but as info for other readers of these
newsgroups who might want to consider this option.
Ian F. wrote:
> "Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns9B1CD43B414D7noonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
>
>> If you are in Europe, there are socialist
>> doctors all over the place
>
> What difference does it make what their politics are?
>
> Ian
I don't think it's their politics being discussed. It's "socialized
medicine" i.e. the government pays the doctors, hospitals, etc. It
means that everyone gets some sort of health care. It can mean that you
might have to wait two or three years to get non-emergency (elective)
surgery. It can also mean that the government decides whether you live
or die.
Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
>
> I don't think it's their politics being discussed. It's "socialized
> medicine" i.e. the government pays the doctors, hospitals, etc. It
> means that everyone gets some sort of health care. It can mean that you
> might have to wait two or three years to get non-emergency (elective)
> surgery. It can also mean that the government decides whether you live
> or die.
>
Update on cell phone in Europe (cross-posted) 
Linear Mode
