My DH travels a lot. he has an AT&T phone card available anywhere in the states. He got his from Walmart. He used that to phone home. His is for 1000 minutes in the US but overseas it uses up more minutes, it would be worth 100 minutes but you can add to it at anytime with a credit card in the US, not overseas. What you have to do is call AT&T for the access code to call the US from the country you are going to be in before you leavem so that you can use it to call home. You cannot use 800 numbers outside the US. Janice
Shirlee Hill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Devon ... This is the most confusing thing I have ever had to deal with. My phone does indeed sell an "overseas package" but it is for calling from here to overseas, not the other way around. I felt like I was going to have the CIA monitoring me after receiving the response I did from the phone company regarding making calls from Europe to the US! Someone has mentioned "unlocked cell phones" so I will look into that. I did have a phone card when I visited my husband in Germany two years ago & had no problems using it. However, we were staying in someone's home at the time so I used their private line & didn't have to worry about hotel or pay phones. Anyway, thank you again for your help & your thoughts. Blessings, Shirlee [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For what its worth, my phone is one from AT&T wireless and they have been more than happy to sell me European compatible phones and to reap profit from international calls. If I did not put on the international package, my phone would simply not be able to call the US, so there is no need to threaten a loss of service by my provider if I try to call from Europe. I have found that when setting up the service, it is sometimes necessary to speak to different people at AT&T since some of them may hide their ignorance by denying that what you want is possible. Also, different descriptions of the billing by different persons is not unusual. Sometimes, too, there seems to be a prejudice on the part of the persons with whom you are speaking, to the effect that they think you are trying to "rip them off", rather than legitimately buy a service, and it may take some patience to get to someone sophisticated enough on their side to set up the service. Most of the people I spoke to at AT&T admitted they had never traveled outside the country, and never considered the question before, and were quick to tell me that my phone wouldn't work there, as though the conversation could be terminated with that bit of information. But, a long patient talk with them would bring out a supervisor or someone who handled overseas communication. . I never had any trouble with the rental phone acquired in the US and designed specifically to provide service for Americans traveling abroad. Maybe there is a reason why they run it through England, unlike the Italian rental phone. As for the phone cards, I don' t know. I have never had particularly good luck with them, myself, because, even if not fraudulent, you are trying to follow instructions on a foreign phone written in another language. Typically, I come home with virtually all my minutes on the card and it is then useless. Meanwhile, I have had to have the hotel place my calls which is especially expensive. I know we used to have a telephone calling card through our home phone which allowed you to call into a particular number and then place calls that way, but this is going back about 20 years. Good luck with the phone card, hopefully someone more clever than myself can give you the answer you seek. Devon --------------------------------- Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Janice Blair Crystal Lake, 50 miles northwest of Chicago, Illinois, USA www.jblace.com http://www.lacemakersofillinois.org/ www.landoflincolnlacemakers.com Check for class spaces, many are full. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
