Travelling internationally - cell phone

[no4njnk]

I am not leaving for a few weeks. I would assume they would have Go phone or whatever in the larger airports but it sounds like I may need to pick up a drop phone.

Guess since I won't have the Iphone we will need to pick up some good ole paper maps of where we are going. I was going to use my Ipad for emails and such (disable 3g, roaming, etc) by using the wifi in the hotels that have it available. Would this not be a good idea either?

[jimithing]

AT&T has an international plan that you can add for just a month. I want to say it was $25 last time I went to Australia. If I recall correctly it was unlimited data. Voice was still stupid expensive but it let me keep up with e-mails.

Then I bought a prepaid phone card to call the wife. Didn't use it as much as I thought I would because the time change was so large.

[propellerhead]

You won't always find wifi overseas. An unlocked phone and buying a sim locally is your best solution.

[KBScobravert]

I am not leaving for a few weeks. I would assume they would have Go phone or whatever in the larger airports but it sounds like I may need to pick up a drop phone.

Guess since I won't have the Iphone we will need to pick up some good ole paper maps of where we are going. I was going to use my Ipad for emails and such (disable 3g, roaming, etc) by using the wifi in the hotels that have it available. Would this not be a good idea either?

I use my Samsung Galaxy for internet just put it on airport mode. To further protect, you could pull the simm card. Wifi connections are everywhere. In the airports you will find a program called Bogo or bongo (can't remember). It is cheap. If I am in London or Frankfurt I will pick up a 8hr pass on their site for typically $4-5. Hotels always have wifi of course, not always free. My hotel of choice in Dubai charges $24 a day for a 24hr period. Most of my internet I use though is on my little cheapo netbook.

For phone calls I just use my local cheapo. I litterally have access to 20-30 of these types of phones. We collect them up from people who aren't allowed to have them on base and they go into the grab bag. My latest grab was a dual simm Nokia international unlocked with a Dubai simm card already in it.