HELP! Need a cheap phone ASAP that will work for texting within EU and from EU to US

[Corraleno]

DS will be in Germany and the UK next week, and then will have another trip to Tbilisi, Georgia, 10 days after that. His current phone is an old Moto G5, which doesn't even do calls anymore since they turned off 3G, but he only ever texts anyway. But the plan he has with ATT is a prepaid plan and he can't add international texting to it. He has a very complicated itinerary, with multiple flights and plus multiple trains, he's never travelled alone in Europe before, and he also needs to coordinate with teammates who are coming in on different flights to different cities. He really needs to be able to at least text, if not call a cab and things like that.

And this needs to be sorted out in like the next 2 days because he graduates on Sunday and flies out on Monday.

Any suggestions???

[MEmama]

Can he download Signal? That’s what we use to text with DS, who is studying in Ireland. There are no charges.

[KSera]

All international texting we do is always via an app rather than actual SMS texting. Would that work? If so, the cheapest smart phone will do.

[mum]

What'sApp is the app through which we communicate with people while travelling. I have direct experience that it works from US to UK, Asia and Africa. There's always the option to buy a burner phone in the country he's in-probably at a newsagents or some such place in the UK

https://www.tripsavvy.com/pay-as-you-go-cell-phones-1583353

[Corraleno]

6 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Can he download Signal? That’s what we use to text with DS, who is studying in Ireland. There are no charges.

5 minutes ago, KSera said:

All international texting we do is always via an app rather than actual SMS texting. Would that work? If so, the cheapest smart phone will do.

I assume those require Wifi, though, right? I'm just worried he won't have wifi sitting in a train station, or standing outside an airport waiting for a pickup, or if a cab drops him off in the wrong place or something, and there definitely won't be wifi at the competition itself. Plus he wouldn't be able to communicate with the coach or other team members unless they had the same app.

His current ATT plan is "grandfathered" in, it's $25/month for 8 gigs of data, auto-renewed annually, and it's prepaid through December. I hate to have him give that up to switch to an unlimited plan for $65/mo, plus $10/day that he's in Europe, plus lose the six months he has left on his current plan, but I also hate the idea of him being stranded somewhere with no way to call or text for help. (I was once stranded at Heathrow Airport with two exhausted kids when the person who was supposed to pick us up got the flight info wrong and wasn't there. I literally had to buy a cheap prepaid UK phone at the airport to call him and get it sorted out!)

[BeachGal]

I’m not 100% sure but a brother of mine said that any base model iPhone SE would work.  And any old Samsung Galaxy as well.  Might need to download an SMS texting app on either perhaps.  But that’s probably it. Then wifi from a hotspot.

Do you think getting a wifi hotspot might be a problem?

[KSera]

24 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

I assume those require Wifi, though, right? I'm just worried he won't have wifi sitting in a train station, or standing outside an airport waiting for a pickup, or if a cab drops him off in the wrong place or something, and there definitely won't be wifi at the competition itself. Plus he wouldn't be able to communicate with the coach or other team members unless they had the same app.

His current ATT plan is "grandfathered" in, it's $25/month for 8 gigs of data, auto-renewed annually, and it's prepaid through December. I hate to have him give that up to switch to an unlimited plan for $65/mo, plus $10/day that he's in Europe, plus lose the six months he has left on his current plan, but I also hate the idea of him being stranded somewhere with no way to call or text for help. (I was once stranded at Heathrow Airport with two exhausted kids when the person who was supposed to pick us up got the flight info wrong and wasn't there. I literally had to buy a cheap prepaid UK phone at the airport to call him and get it sorted out!)

He doesn’t have to have Wi-Fi, just working data. Which I suppose if he was way far out somewhere as possible that he could lose data? I would think that to happen much less often in the UK and Germany been in the US though. And certainly not in any area where there are airports or many businesses. You could look at a coverage map to make sure.

would it be worth keeping his current plan and getting a new phone for pay-as-you-go just for the trip? 

[mum]

You need wifi or data for What'sApp. Or a burner phone bought in whatever country he is in. 

[BeachGal]

How about using Google Fi unlimited plan and a cheap phone like Samsung AO3s? If you are able to buy it quickly (might not be able to), port his number over, that *might* work. 

 

[Corraleno]

3 minutes ago, KSera said:

He doesn’t have to have Wi-Fi, just working data. Which I suppose if he was way far out somewhere as possible that he could lose data? I would think that to happen much less often in the UK and Germany been in the US though. And certainly not in any area where there are airports or many businesses. You could look at a coverage map to make sure.

would it be worth keeping his current plan and getting a new phone for pay-as-you-go just for the trip? 

From what I can tell, his current plan won't work at all outside the US except in Canada or Mexico. I'm trying to figure out if there is any pay-as-you-go phone that he can buy here that will include texting from Europe to the US, he doesn't have a lot of time to spare when he gets to Germany to go looking for phones, and then he won't know if what he gets in Germany will even work in the UK or Georgia. From what I have read about burner phones in Germany, they say they work "throughout the EU" — but that doesn't include the UK or Georgia.

[freesia]

I can’t remember the details, but when ds went to England, he got a SIM card there. Your phone has to be compatible somehow. He took out his US SIM and then put it back when he got home. It didn’t effect his US plan at all. 

[BeachGal]

Not sure it’ll help, but more about SIM cards in Georgia:

https://georgiantravelguide.com/en/articles/mobile-operators-in-tbilisi-georgia

[Bootsie]

If he can access Wifi, he can use WhatsApp.  With his current plan, is there simply a high per-text charge if he is international?  If so, he could depend on WhatsApp when he is in WifI reach (which will be most situations) and use the high per-text charge IF there is an emergency.  (We have a TMobile plan; texting in most parts of the world is included and our data plans carry over to other locations; there is no need for an additional international plan.  Making a call could be expensive if we had to, but we generally don't need to do that.)

[domestic_engineer]

are you sure his at&t plan doesn't include texting in Europe?  The current prepaid plans being advertised online allow it.  Perhaps you can switch from your grandfathered plan to a current plan.  I think the prepaid plans can be modified online which would be good for your time sensitive situation.  There's a 15 GB for $40/month or a 8 GB for $33/month when you prepay for 3 months.

[Corraleno]

19 minutes ago, domestic_engineer said:

are you sure his at&t plan doesn't include texting in Europe?  The current prepaid plans being advertised online allow it.  Perhaps you can switch from your grandfathered plan to a current plan.  I think the prepaid plans can be modified online which would be good for your time sensitive situation.  There's a 15 GB for $40/month or a 8 GB for $33/month when you prepay for 3 months.

The prepaid plans allow texting to Europe and other countries, but the ATT website says that you need a postpaid plan to add the "International Day Pass" that allows texting from (or within) Europe. Which makes sense since prepaid plans don't really have a mechanism to bill for additional charges like postpaid plans do.

[Corraleno]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

If he can access Wifi, he can use WhatsApp.  With his current plan, is there simply a high per-text charge if he is international?  If so, he could depend on WhatsApp when he is in WifI reach (which will be most situations) and use the high per-text charge IF there is an emergency.  (We have a TMobile plan; texting in most parts of the world is included and our data plans carry over to other locations; there is no need for an additional international plan.  Making a call could be expensive if we had to, but we generally don't need to do that.)

It looks like TMobile's unlimited plan for 1 person is only a little more than ATT's unlimited (which is what he would need to add international acesss), but ATT's Day Pass is an additional $10/day, so it would even out just over these two trips, and he is likely to be traveling more in the fall.

Can you still use your usual amount of data and use your phone as a hotspot when you're in Europe? This might be the most convenient option for him, although it's not the cheapest. 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Corraleno

[Bootsie]

1 minute ago, Corraleno said:

Itt looks like TMobile's unlimited plan for 1 person is only a little more than ATT's unlimited (which is what he would need to add international acesss), but ATT's Day Pass is an additional $10/day, so it would even out just over these two trips, and he is likely to be traveling more in the fall.

Can you still use your usual amount of data and use your phone as a hotspot when you're in Europe? This might be the most convenient option for him, although it's not the cheapest. 

I don't ever use my phone as a hotspot.  Are you thinking of his using his phone as a hotspot for his computer?  Most places that I am in within Europe have wifi, or it is easy to get to a place if I need to.

There are several things to consider:  will he want to text people with US phone numbers?  Will he want to text people with European (local) numbers?  Will he want to accept texts from people with US numbers?  Will he want to accept texts from people with European numbers?  When considering an "international" plan or pass it can mean any or all of those things.  

 

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, mum said:

What'sApp is the app through which we communicate with people while travelling. I have direct experience that it works from US to UK, Asia and Africa. There's always the option to buy a burner phone in the country he's in-probably at a newsagents or some such place in the UK

https://www.tripsavvy.com/pay-as-you-go-cell-phones-1583353

WhatsApp is the one I have because it seems to be the app used in South America.

 

[Laura Corin]

Heathrow has phone shops. I don't know about pricing but they should be able to sell him a burner phone

https://www.heathrow.com/at-the-airport/airport-services/sim-local

Otherwise - my local Tesco supermarket sells burner phones. 

[Bootsie]

If he will be in different countries in Europe, a SIM card purchased in one country will not necessarily give him service in another country (or may be charged at an international/roaming rate).  Also, if he has a different number while in Europe, his friends will need to be given that number and he will need to know how to enter phone numbers to make international calls.

[Laura Corin]

1 minute ago, Bootsie said:

If he will be in different countries in Europe, a SIM card purchased in one country will not necessarily give him service in another country (or may be charged at an international/roaming rate).  Also, if he has a different number while in Europe, his friends will need to be given that number and he will need to know how to enter phone numbers to make international calls.

Within the EU, there should not be roaming charges.  The UK is unfortunately not in the EU any longer, so you would need to check whether a burner chip would incur them.

[Bootsie]

2 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Within the EU, there should not be roaming charges.  The UK is unfortunately not in the EU any longer, so you would need to check whether a burner chip would incur them.

I haven't been with someone with a burner chip in Germany in the past couple of years, but I did pre-COVID, and knew people that had trouble that they would not have service if they had a German SIM card and then crossed into Austria, France, or Switzerland (which is not EU either). 

[NewnameC]

10 hours ago, Corraleno said:

It looks like TMobile's unlimited plan for 1 person is only a little more than ATT's unlimited (which is what he would need to add international acesss), but ATT's Day Pass is an additional $10/day, so it would even out just over these two trips, and he is likely to be traveling more in the fall.

Can you still use your usual amount of data and use your phone as a hotspot when you're in Europe? This might be the most convenient option for him, although it's not the cheapest. 

We have T-Mobile and have used it for texting each other in many countries. We have traveled with American friends/families and can text them also; we also can text the US while out of the country. It works great and is free.
 

My “kids” have studied and worked abroad and used what’s app with T-mobile data with no issues to communicate with local folks/businesses. Our T-mobile plan allows us to use international data for free , but I don’t remember the details.

our plan works so well that “my kids” never want to leave it. 

 

[YaelAldrich]

The person could buy a MiFi service and SIM for it. Then they would have data for any device. Their phone could be on the US based service (if available) but not use the expensive data. I use GigSky.

[Twolittleboys]

Unfortunately, I don't have time to read all the responses so not sure how redundant this is. We live in Germany and what we do/did is

a) buy an unlocked phone (I previously had a very cheap Samsung and now a Xiaomi, not the cheapest model but not very expensive)

b) buy a phone card at a drugstore/grocery store - we use a service for which the card is like 15 euro but comes with 10 (or maybe 15) euro prepaid. The one we use lets you sign up for a monthly plan that is completely free. It doesn't work for internet per se but does work well for What's app (which we use for messaging) and of course you can use wifi when available. You can also get a certain amount of data for 24 hour for like 99 cents (I can't get this to work well though as it goes very fast but possibly I am doing something wrong)

c) The nifty thing is that generally if I go to other EU countries the data will be much better as you get (for free) the lowest option they have which is generally better 

 

So your son could get a cheap phone in Germany, a Sim card, and would be good to go in Germany and UK (at least it worked well there on my last trip in December).

[Lillyfee]

We have t mobile and that works in Germany.

We usually talk over WhatsApp which is free. My husband texts with his co workers over signal.

We never had a problem communicating.

[Corraleno]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions, I've passed them along to DS and left it up to him to decide what to do. And I will keep the ideas in mind for myself, too, if I travel to visit family later this year. 

[Teachaheart]

10 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

The person could buy a MiFi service and SIM for it. Then they would have data for any device. Their phone could be on the US based service (if available) but not use the expensive data. I use GigSky.

I’m currently overseas, and this is what I’m using right now.