When traveling abroad to countries outside of your own you might be wondering how you are going to call to check on things at home. This is especially true if you are looking at traveling for a long period of time. It has been found that having an international SIM card will save you a large amount of money when you are traveling out of the country and have the need to call home but the price of the calls will vary depending on where you have purchased the SIM card. It will also make a different on whether or not the call is considered a local call or an international call. This article will help to make this process a little bit clearer for you.
International SIM Cards And Network Chips
There are some people who travel all over the world and because there are two different main types of chips they require having two different cell phones for different areas of the world. If you are in Asia they use a chip known as CDMA and if you are in Europe they use a chip known as GSM. For international travel the GSM is the most popular and will be available in most of the nations that are developed. If you are comparing other countries to the United States you will find that the carries in the US will differ depending on whom you are speaking about. Sprint and Verizon work off of the CDMA and AT&T and T Mobile work off of the GSM. If you have a phone that is unlocked you will be able to change out the chip in your phone but if it is not unlocked you may have to purchase a different phone. If you are going to depend on having the carrier unlock the phone for you AT&T and Verizon will not assist you in doing this. Therefore it is recommended that you purchase a cheap phone for your travels that will have the correct chip in it. Once you get to the country that you are traveling you can purchase a card that will have prepaid minutes on it for those calls that you need to make.
The International SIM Card And The TruPhone App
If you are interested in an app that can help with making international phone calls you might be interested in the TruPhone app. This app is used while using an international SIM card and works perfectly for making calls while you are traveling. Both international calls and local calls can be made easily. How it works is that you will give your friends and family a local number that resides in the United States for them to call when you are traveling abroad. It will not matter which international SIM card you have in your phone they will still be able to reach you at anytime simply by using the US telephone number. If you are using a Wi-Fi hotspot your pre paid minutes will not be used. However it is difficult sometimes to find a hotspot while you are out of the country.
Using an international SIM card can make a big difference when you are traveling. You might find that if you purchase a local SIM card that it will be helpful if you have the store clerk help you to install it. Having the opportunity to call home is a fantastic way to stay in touch with family and friends while you are traveling. Many phones are set up to make and receive international calls. Before purchasing a new SIM card you might want to check to see if your phone is already set up and save yourself some money.
Image credits to Jacob gami
