Cheaper calls home to the UK (Vodafone 'Passport')

[andym]

According to MoneySavingExpert.com. Vodafone are running a promotion from the 1 June to the 31 August offering calls home from Europe at normal UK call rates.

The deal is open to people who aren't Vodafone customers - simply get a Vodafone Pay As You Go SIM (basically - see MSE for the details).

 

[ontheroadtofrance]

Get Skype on your laptop or home computer and you can video call for free!

 

[andym]

Which is fine if you have wifi access, and you an be arsed to carry a laptop on tour.

 

[NickC]

Alternatively, simply use public landlines to call back from time to time. They're still available in most places over here in 'mainland' Europe - and they're usually quite cheap. Or is that simply too lowtech for most people nowadays?

 

[andym]

Alternatively, simply use public landlines to call back from time to time. They're still available in most places over here in 'mainland' Europe - and they're usually quite cheap. Or is that simply too lowtech for most people nowadays?

Hmm. A call from a phone box at the overseas rate versus a mobile call at the UK domestic rate. I certainly wouldn't bet on the former being cheaper.

 

[NickC]

Hmm. A call from a phone box at the overseas rate versus a mobile call at the UK domestic rate. I certainly wouldn't bet on the former being cheaper.

OK, maybe I am being a bit optimistic; I'm not, I confess, totally in touch with the cost of UK mobile phonecalls (having not lived there for quite a few years now).

Also - another confession - when I go away on tour, I go away to get away. I'm not one of the "ET phone home" bike tourers, so my mobile only gets turned on when I need it as an alarm clock. So who am I to advise people on phoning home?

So, sorry I spoke, really.

 

[andym]

Also - another confession - when I go away on tour, I go away to get away. I'm not one of the "ET phone home" bike tourers, so my mobile only gets turned on when I need it as an alarm clock. So who am I to advise people on phoning home?

So, sorry I spoke, really.

No need to apologise - you reminded me to dig out my télécarte.

 

[bigjim]

postcards?

 

[andym]

Better still - why not take a few pigeons?

 

[Riverman]

For calling phones in the country you're in, I would suggest using a service like http://www.18185.co.uk and using the 020 mobile access number.

That way you can use your free minutes to call mobiles in said country.

You would set up a direct debit with 18185 and be billed for the calls you make through the access number.

Example to call Portuguese mobiles it's currently 3p/min

 

[andym]

For calling phones in the country you're in, I would suggest using a service like http://www.18185.co.uk and using the 020 mobile access number.

That way you can use your free minutes to call mobiles in said country.

You would set up a direct debit with 18185 and be billed for the calls you make through the access number.

Example to call Portuguese mobiles it's currently 3p/min

Thanks. I looked at this. Problem is you still have to pay the cost of the call to the UK. SFAIK with most operators the cost of the call to the UK is the same as the cost of calling in country (and unless you are in something like Vodafone Passport the 'free' minutes don't apply).

But yes so far as I can see, you might well make a saving on calls to mobiles, and you might well make a saving if you are using something like Vodafone Passport to reduce the cost of the call back to the UK.

 

[Riverman]

Basically I really meant it for if say you have a vodafone contract and free minutes, in which case the calls to the UK 020 number would come out of your free minutes.

The above is basically what I've done with calling from the UK to overseas numbers on orange, o2 and three contracts over the years

 

[andym]

Cheers Riverman. I thought it best to be clear just in case someone ended up getting stuck with a nasty bill.

 

[Over The Hill]

Top tip for getting calls at half price!...........




say half as much and finish the call in half the time.




When I was a kid, phone calls were relatively expensive. Even today my parents will not "chat" on the phone. It is just a matter of making a quick call to see that someone is OK and whatever arrangements are in place. That can be done in a minute or two at minimal cost whatever the rate.

 

[CopperBrompton]

You can install Skype on your phone (if you have a Smartphone), but data charges from overseas are such that Passport rates are probably cheaper.