topic Re: use of phone in america in Discussions & Feedback

use of phone in america

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 21:31:34 GMT

going to america on sat. do i need to inform o2 of same? or does my phone (htc 820 ) just connect to equivalent american provider?

Re: use of phone in america

jonsie — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 21:38:13 GMT

It should connect fine. I would check with customer service that there are no international bars on the phone to be on the safe side.

Also you would be best to switch off voicemail whilst still in the UK.

Re: use of phone in america

MI5 — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 21:41:30 GMT

Be aware of the costs before you use too much, esp data services http://international.o2.co.uk/internationaltariffs/travelling_abroad

Re: use of phone in america

Cleoriff — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 22:28:44 GMT

Hi @Anonymous When I went to the USA I actually contacted customer services to let them know before I went . It really does save any hassle.

Re: use of phone in america

cyrillicguy — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 22:29:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
going to america on sat. do i need to inform o2 of same? or does my phone (htc 820 ) just connect to equivalent american provider?

Get a 3 Pay&Go sim, top it up by £15 then convert it to a bundlle (300 mins/unlimited data as far as i can remember). Divert all calls from your O2 sim to that 3 number, put your 3 sim in your phone and your O2 sim in your wallet :). With 3 you'll be able to use your bundle allowances as if you were in UK, means no roaming charges.

One thing to remember - your phone has got to be unlocked in order to use other network's sim.

Re: use of phone in america

Cleoriff — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 22:34:58 GMT

I had absolutely no problem using mine in Florida. In fact 4 of us in our party were on O2 and we all contacted CS before we went.... My eldest was on Vodaphone though...and he bought a local US sim...worked a treat for him....

Re: use of phone in america

Bambino — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 07:29:50 GMT

@cyrillicguy wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
going to america on sat. do i need to inform o2 of same? or does my phone (htc 820 ) just connect to equivalent american provider?
Get a 3 Pay&Go sim, top it up by £15 then convert it to a bundlle (300 mins/unlimited data as far as i can remember). Divert all calls from your O2 sim to that 3 number, put your 3 sim in your phone and your O2 sim in your wallet :). With 3 you'll be able to use your bundle allowances as if you were in UK, means no roaming charges.
@Cleoriff 's suggestion of using a local US P&G sim is a good idea too. It really does depend on how long you're planning to be there and what you need your phone for while you're there.

One thing to remember - your phone has got to be unlocked in order to use other network's sim.

@cyrillicguy 's suggestion is a very good one, but also keep in mind that if you do use a Three sim while in the US, whatever bundle allowance you get only covers you for calls and texts back to the UK. Any calls or texts you make to US numbers while you're there are chargeable.

@Cleoriff 's suggestion of using a US P&G sim is also a good idea. It all depends on how long you're planning to be there, and what you're going to use the phone for while you're there.

Re: use of phone in america

MI5 — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 07:31:42 GMT

It is also capped at 25gb (should be more than enough data though) and if you put Tugo on your phone before you leave there is no need to set up any diverts as Tugo will work over the Three data connection.

Re: use of phone in america

cyrillicguy — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 08:07:32 GMT

@Bambino wrote:
@cyrillicguy wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
going to america on sat. do i need to inform o2 of same? or does my phone (htc 820 ) just connect to equivalent american provider?
Get a 3 Pay&Go sim, top it up by £15 then convert it to a bundlle (300 mins/unlimited data as far as i can remember). Divert all calls from your O2 sim to that 3 number, put your 3 sim in your phone and your O2 sim in your wallet :). With 3 you'll be able to use your bundle allowances as if you were in UK, means no roaming charges.
@Cleoriff 's suggestion of using a local US P&G sim is a good idea too. It really does depend on how long you're planning to be there and what you need your phone for while you're there.

One thing to remember - your phone has got to be unlocked in order to use other network's sim.
@cyrillicguy 's suggestion is a very good one, but also keep in mind that if you do use a Three sim while in the US, whatever bundle allowance you get only covers you for calls and texts back to the UK. Any calls or texts you make to US numbers while you're there are chargeable.
@Cleoriff 's suggestion of using a US P&G sim is also a good idea. It all depends on how long you're planning to be there, and what you're going to use the phone for while you're there.

With a 3 sim when in US, I'd use a little workaround for calling local (US) numbers: use a voip provider with a UK access number and route my calls to US through them. UK->US calls cost about 1p/min on average with any decent voip supplier and calls to the UK access number would come out of your 3 allowance.

Re: use of phone in america

Cleoriff — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 08:52:26 GMT

We were on holiday (8 family members) in Florida. It was a 25 day stay. My eldest had problems with Vodafone anyway... so he got a local sim for the time he was there. Easy enough to transfer his contacts over...