Traveling overseas is all well and good until you’ve got food poisoning from a bad oyster and you just want to talk to your mom.
There’s only one problem: you don’t know how to make international calls. Your mom sits unaware, watching Jeopardy thousands of miles away, while your homesickness intensifies.
Don’t let this happen to you! Make sure to figure out how to call international before you get on the plane.
70% of international travelers say they use their smartphone abroad. Whether dialing internationally or looking up directions, you’re probably going to be among that number.
Read on to learn how to make an international call on your smartphone and otherwise so you’re prepared the minute you hit the tarmac.
Buy a Travel SIM Card
One of the easiest and fool-proof ways to assure you’ll be able to call home is to buy a travel SIM card. Here’s how they work.
Say you live in New Zealand and you’re planning a month-long Eurotrip. When you’re in France, your phone’s SIM card won’t dial out unless you’ve got an international calling plan set up with your phone service provider.
Ditch the old SIM card and purchase a NZ SIM card instead. Swap the two while you’re traveling and voila! Unlimited calls, up to the amount of data you’ve purchased on your new SIM card.
Download an International Calling App
Want to make outgoing calls from your smartphone without the hassle of purchasing anything? There are a whole slew of apps now that will allow you to do that. All you need to do is find the nearest Wi-Fi
Apps like Skype and WhatsApp allow you to create a username where you can be contacted at any time, as long as you are connected to Wi-Fi. All you have to do is enter the username of the person you’re trying to call to dial out.
It’s likely you already have an app downloaded on your phone that you can call internationally from: Facebook. As long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi, you can make both voice and video calls from Facebook to anyone on your friends list. It’s as easy as that.
Know Your Codes Before Dialing Internationally
Now you know how to dial out from your smartphone, but what about from your hotel phone? Or a public phone?
It’s not complicated, you only need to know your codes.
Add the exit code of the country you’re currently in and then the country code of the destination country before you dial the phone number you’re trying to reach. Make sure to write down all the country codes you’re going to need before you leave!
Your Next Trip
Dialing internationally can be tricky, especially when using a hotel phone. The last thing you want is to get home to an enormous cell phone bill because you didn’t plan ahead. Make sure to get on the same page as everyone in your traveling party about communication methods before you head out!
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