[Idyllchat] united mobile cell phone

[L B]

let this be the final word on cell phones... :)

When this discussion comes up, I invariably bring up United Mobile's SIM cards, which are the best value for anybody who plans to travel more than once in their lifetime, and who can invest in an unlocked tri-band phone (or, for T-Mobile customers, just have theirs unlocked for free by the CS). 
I've been using mine for several years, back when it was called "riiing" and gave you a Liechtenstein number, and you had to buy the starter card on eBay. They've now upgraded  to UK numbers (less expensive to call FROM the US), you can buy starter kits directly online, refill online. Their outgoing rates are great (29 eurocents to call the US from Europe, although there's a 25c connecting charge per call); incoming calls are free in 80 countries (including most of Europe, Oceania, and even Asia, but not the US), and you never need to purchase another SIM card again. They do expire in theory (after 9 or 12 months), if you don't use them--but all you have to do to prevent it from happening is to send an SMS to yourself or someone else (or refill the account), since the card works in the US as well. Even better, I lend it to all my family and friends when they travel, so I never have to worry about expiration. It works as a callback service, which is a
 little strange, if you haven't used it before, but you learn after one single phone call. Even my parents figured out how to use it on their trip to China. (It helped that I created a detailed list of instructions--which I'd be happy to share if anybody needs it).
http://www.united-mobile.com/

(another) final note:
On my last trip to Europe, my phone stopped charging after a few days. (By then, we were in Heidelberg, Germany.) It's an older model, so I couldn't find a new battery for it in any of the cell phone shops on the main drag. But one of the salespeople recommended a little shop called "Schwarzmarkt", which sold some odds and ends (anything from keychains to apparently cell phone paraphernalia). The clerk there asked me why I thought it was the battery and not the charger. I insisted that I knew better (not that I'm qualified to make such assumptions). He suggested that I leave the phone in the store, connected to his charger, for a couple of hours, and see what happens. So I left my phone there, in a foreign country, with a stranger, and went up to the castle. When I came back a couple of hours later, my phone was fully charged; I bought the charger from the man (who could have sold me a more expensive battery instead...), and was on my way. Both the phone
 and the charger are still fully operational (right now, they're in Madrid, Spain, with my sister-in-law.)  There's no lesson learned (other than the obvious "only in Germany"--and that even dual-voltage chargers can blow in a foreign outlet), but I love to tell the story.


----- Original Message ----
From: John Ruch <jruch39 at verizon.net>
To: acricchi <acricchi at comporium.net>; Idyllchat <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 12:34:04 AM
Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] Mobal cell phone


We got an old-model Nokia three years ago as reward for making a donation to The Travel Insider (a interesting online newsletter, by the eway). Use it two-four times each trip to Euope and it's been trouble-free. Mobal's online newsletter for customers is also useful. You have a permanent phone number and while per call charges are perhaps higher than those of other providers, with low use it doesn't matter, and  calls are billed to your credit card after you get home. We'd previously rented a cell phone, but owning is better and I believe you can buy a Mobal phone for as little as $49, although haven't priced 'em for six months. Have thought about getting a new one because batteries are going to be hard to find for our current Nokia when they give out.  
 
John & Shelby Ruch
 


-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

_______________________________________________
This message was sent by IdyllChat.
To reply or send a new message, email to:
IdyllChat at lists.untours.com

Visit the IdyllChat archives:
http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/idyllchat/

Search Idyllchat Archives for any subject at: http://search.dca.net/sites/untours/main.html
>
Read real Untourists' candid accounts of their Untours: 
> http://www.untours.com/triplogs.html To unsubscribe, change to digest delivery, or 
temporarily pause delivery, visit:
http://mailman.dca.net/mailman/listinfo/idyllchat


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for last minute shopping deals?  
Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.  http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/idyllchat/attachments/20080112/541841cd/attachment.htm