Calling USA from Australia

wheaties · March 13, 2012, 11:28 AM

Taking a AAA tour with friends to Australia/New Zealand/Fiji. I will not be taking a computer, but do have an iPhone. Can I Skype using my iPhone? What's the cheapest/easiest way to check in with our kids back in the USA a few times during our three week trip? We've never been out of the country that long before!

persia · March 13, 2012, 12:01 PM

Skype on Wifi is pretty much the cheapest way to call and yes there's an app for that.....

rossi2021 · March 15, 2012, 01:21 PM

I live in Australia and what I do when I travel overseas is divert my home cell (we call it a mobile (phone) here) directly to voice mail so you do not get hit with expensive call/data roaming costs and buy a prepaid SIM card (which has data/internet) for the country I am travelling in. In Australia you can buy prepaid SIM cards at most GAS (Petrol) Stations, 7/11 or stores like Coles, Woolworths or Safeways. With the iPhone they take a micro SIM card which is smaller than other SIM cards so I purchased a micro SIM cutter ebay, basically it is like a hole punch but you put the regular SIM in it (make it is in the correct way) then press and the micro SIM is cut out of the regular SIM. Not sure if you can buy iPhone SIMS on prepaid here cause I have never done it. Mobile Phone Co's include Telstra (probably best coverage for most of Australia) Optus, Vodapone and heaps of resellers for these Co. Telsta is best for coverage.
Hope you have a great trip.

PS I had a friend that went to NZ and took his mobile with him, did not make many calls over there but 1 of his kids was playing with his phone playing games and he got hit with a bill for $3,500 data roaming, the kid was playing some game that accessed the internet!!!!!!

mbger1 · March 18, 2012, 12:34 PM

We were in Sydney in January and used Skype to call US using our IPAD. Worked great and very inexpensive, 2 1/2 cents per minute.

wheaties · March 19, 2012, 07:36 AM

Old dog, new tricks. I've never Skyped before and doing so from Australia back to the USA sounds like the best way to go using my iphone. I have downloaded the app. From what I can see, I will need to add $ to have Skype credit so that I can call USA landlines or cell phones, but if I am at a wifi site, I can Skype for free from my iphone to a computer or possibly other iPhone with Skype installed. Am I understanding this correctly? Thanks so much for any help you can give!

persia · March 19, 2012, 07:53 AM

Skype works fine on an iPhone (iPad or iPod) on Wifi. It is a computer. You ran run Skype from an OS X/Linux/MS Windows box as well, but it really doesn't get you anything extra.

You might alway want to check the only two "landline" companies that are growing, MajicJack and Nettalk. They have apps that allow free calls to US and Canadian numbers that should work in Oz.

siesta · March 21, 2012, 08:52 PM

If you can connect your phone to wifi, you can make free calls to the USA and Canada from anywhere in the world via google voice.

www.google.com/voice

zora · April 15, 2012, 07:46 AM

When we went to Australia last summer I set up a google voice account (never used it) but bought prepaid phones at the Sydney airport (voda phone) with prepaid international plans and they worked great, even in alice springs. There was a guy from our flight that had done all the research before hand and basically told me what I wanted to buy. Each phone ( one for DH and one for me) was $20. Good luck!

March 13, 2012, 11:28 AM	#1
wheaties TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Jun 6, 05 Location: Washington, PA Posts: 114 Resorts: 3BR Marriott Grande Vista, Sudwala Lodge	Calling USA from Australia Taking a AAA tour with friends to Australia/New Zealand/Fiji. I will not be taking a computer, but do have an iPhone. Can I Skype using my iPhone? What's the cheapest/easiest way to check in with our kids back in the USA a few times during our three week trip? We've never been out of the country that long before!

March 15, 2012, 01:21 PM	#3
rossi2021 TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Mar 15, 12 Location: Brisbane AUSTRALIA Posts: 5	I live in Australia and what I do when I travel overseas is divert my home cell (we call it a mobile (phone) here) directly to voice mail so you do not get hit with expensive call/data roaming costs and buy a prepaid SIM card (which has data/internet) for the country I am travelling in. In Australia you can buy prepaid SIM cards at most GAS (Petrol) Stations, 7/11 or stores like Coles, Woolworths or Safeways. With the iPhone they take a micro SIM card which is smaller than other SIM cards so I purchased a micro SIM cutter ebay, basically it is like a hole punch but you put the regular SIM in it (make it is in the correct way) then press and the micro SIM is cut out of the regular SIM. Not sure if you can buy iPhone SIMS on prepaid here cause I have never done it. Mobile Phone Co's include Telstra (probably best coverage for most of Australia) Optus, Vodapone and heaps of resellers for these Co. Telsta is best for coverage. Hope you have a great trip. PS I had a friend that went to NZ and took his mobile with him, did not make many calls over there but 1 of his kids was playing with his phone playing games and he got hit with a bill for $3,500 data roaming, the kid was playing some game that accessed the internet!!!!!! Last edited by rossi2021; March 15, 2012 at 01:24 PM. Reason: extra info

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March 13, 2012, 12:01 PM	#2
persia Guest BBS Reg. Date: Nov 18, 07 Location: Newton Highlands Posts: 511	Skype on Wifi is pretty much the cheapest way to call and yes there's an app for that.....

March 18, 2012, 12:34 PM	#4
mbger1 TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Jun 11, 05 Location: Thornton Colorado Posts: 31	We were in Sydney in January and used Skype to call US using our IPAD. Worked great and very inexpensive, 2 1/2 cents per minute.

March 19, 2012, 07:36 AM	#5
wheaties TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Jun 6, 05 Location: Washington, PA Posts: 114 Resorts: 3BR Marriott Grande Vista, Sudwala Lodge	Old dog, new tricks. I've never Skyped before and doing so from Australia back to the USA sounds like the best way to go using my iphone. I have downloaded the app. From what I can see, I will need to add $ to have Skype credit so that I can call USA landlines or cell phones, but if I am at a wifi site, I can Skype for free from my iphone to a computer or possibly other iPhone with Skype installed. Am I understanding this correctly? Thanks so much for any help you can give!

March 19, 2012, 07:53 AM	#6
persia Guest BBS Reg. Date: Nov 18, 07 Location: Newton Highlands Posts: 511	Skype works fine on an iPhone (iPad or iPod) on Wifi. It is a computer. You ran run Skype from an OS X/Linux/MS Windows box as well, but it really doesn't get you anything extra. You might alway want to check the only two "landline" companies that are growing, MajicJack and Nettalk. They have apps that allow free calls to US and Canadian numbers that should work in Oz.

March 21, 2012, 08:52 PM	#7
siesta TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Aug 12, 10 Posts: 2,963	If you can connect your phone to wifi, you can make free calls to the USA and Canada from anywhere in the world via google voice. www.google.com/voice

April 15, 2012, 07:46 AM	#8
zora TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Oct 21, 11 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 105 Resorts: hgvc, driPolo, wyndham	When we went to Australia last summer I set up a google voice account (never used it) but bought prepaid phones at the Sydney airport (voda phone) with prepaid international plans and they worked great, even in alice springs. There was a guy from our flight that had done all the research before hand and basically told me what I wanted to buy. Each phone ( one for DH and one for me) was $20. Good luck!