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International phone plans? ATTN:Atlas Pilots

Old 07-08-2017, 01:54 PM
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Default International phone plans? ATTN:Atlas Pilots

Greetings fellow fliers,

I fly local, the hubbsters flies international with Atlas. He uses Skype to talk to me while in his various ports of call. This works-isn. But I have no way to contact him besides e-Mail. Skype isn't also the most reliable.

Anyone have any ideas for international phone plans that won't require the sale of organs or first borns (of which we have none) This Skype gets old as it requires perfect timing. Not always easy with 2 pilots.

Radial GAl
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Old 07-08-2017, 02:28 PM
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I fly internationally and nothing beats T-Mobile. Free wifi calling, free texts, free 2G and .20/min calls. 2G is good enough for FaceTime so you can pretty much call for free anytime.

I own a mortgage business on the side and not having my phone working while I'm on a trip would be a disaster.

https://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html


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Old 07-08-2017, 02:39 PM
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T-Mobil. But wait for the text message on rates before using it at a new location. Especially the crapistans.

If you get the phone from them it will have wifi calling enbled, which is great in the hotels.

Have a system so that you are not calling while he is trying to sleep. Sleep is a precious thing in this job.
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Old 07-08-2017, 03:14 PM
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Oh I often fly the back of the clock and weird hours. I would never shatter my poor dear husband's sleep. He's know's what happens if he disturbs mine!

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Old 07-08-2017, 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted by RadialGal View Post
Oh I often fly the back of the clock and weird hours. I would never shatter my poor dear husband's sleep. He's know's what happens if he disturbs mine!

RadialGal
Smart phones do have a "do not disturb" setting
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Old 07-08-2017, 05:25 PM
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I bought a T-mobile hotspot off of ebay for $25, Samsung V100T, purchased a T-Mobile Sim Card from Amazon for $5, and added a 2GB data plan for $18.02/mo (taxes included). I sometimes get 4G, but most often I get 3G. Works in every country I have travelled to in the past 2 years. If purchasing a hotspot, be sure to research if it is compatible in the countries travelled to. I can use my ATT cellphone and have WiFI calling and texting internationally. The data plan is only limited in the US, international data is UNLIMITED.
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Old 07-08-2017, 07:58 PM
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Originally Posted by RadialGal View Post

Radial GAl
Depending on where you live T-Mobile or Google-Fi. I live in Alaska so T-Mobile is a no-go...plus HORRID customer service experiences I've had with them. But Google-Fi works world wide 4G LTE and I only pay for it when I'm on the road (You can pause service when back in the states). So I only pay about $15 a month for it.

All the major carriers have an international option now though. Usually another $30 a month.

I talk with my wife via a lot of different options now. Facebook, Skype, Viber. If one is acting up any of those will work. But Facebook has been really reliable as of late even Video and Voice calls.
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Old 07-08-2017, 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 742Dash View Post
T-Mobil. But wait for the text message on rates before using it at a new location. Especially the crapistans.

If you get the phone from them it will have wifi calling enbled, which is great in the hotels.

Have a system so that you are not calling while he is trying to sleep. Sleep is a precious thing in this job.

True this. One of my buds went to Mongolia and wracked up a VERY hefty cell phone bill (well over 10K). T-mobile told him it was kosher when it wasn't...

FWIW, I use T-mobile and their customer service, while very friendly, is absolutely ATROCIOUS. I have paid hundreds of dollars in fees that I should not have been charged. Took me over a year to sort out. The international plan is pretty damn sweet though. $70 for unlimited everything...

Plus I can use my phone like normal in my Native land
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Old 07-09-2017, 05:57 AM
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I use Google Fi; it works great almost everywhere with 4G/LTE service. In the few places I've lacked data, calling and texting has been available (free texting everywhere; phone rates are variable but generally $.20/min). Wifi calling isn't advertised but you can put your phone in airplane mode and turn on wifi for the same effect. Data is $10/GB but you're refunded for any you don't use and there are no overage charges. I use about 2GB of data per month and infrequently make calls overseas without wifi; my bill runs me $45-50.

The downsides: Google uses Sprint, T Mobile, and US Cellular towers for its coverage in the US. If you can't get coverage from one of those carriers at home you'll find yourself without coverage from Google as well. I use mine as my primary phone but have to put it on wifi when I'm at the house to get decent coverage. Anchorage is also a data dead zone on Google so, as an Atlas pilot, that can be problematic (though there's plenty of wifi available downtown). Overseas, the only place I've found myself without service is Luanda, Angola though I suspect much of the rest of Africa is probably the same. Works great in just about all the other cities Atlas goes to regularly.
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Old 07-10-2017, 04:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Crazy Canuck View Post
...
FWIW, I use T-mobile and their customer service, while very friendly, is absolutely ATROCIOUS. I have paid hundreds of dollars in fees that I should not have been charged. Took me over a year to sort out. The international plan is pretty damn sweet though. $70 for unlimited everything...
Surprised to hear that. Several of my crashpad roomies and also some of our mutual friends all switched to T-mobile in a span of 6 months or so. If there's one thing we all agree on it'd be the fact T-mobile's customer service has been absolutely fantastic. Not just their friendliness but also them fixing all the issues we're dealing with. So we seem to be having different perspectives on this..

Overall I love T-mobile but their coverage still isn't as good as AT&T's.. it's getting better for sure but I'm not sure it'll ever be as good as AT&T's.
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