I live in the US. My cell phone is based in the US.
My phone will, by default, make calls over Wi-Fi if it is available.
Now, let’s say I am in London and call (via Wi-Fi) my GF who is also in London with me (her phone is based in the US same as me). She is on the local cell network and not Wi-Fi.
Is that a free call or does someone pay for an international call? If so…who?
If she is also on Wi-Fi is the call free or is it an international call?
If I am on Wi-Fi and call a local restaurant in London to make a reservation is that an international call I pay for?
I think I know the answers and I believe that they’re probably what you expect that they’d be but I’ll let an expert chime in.
I will say that you should look into adding international calling to your plan. When we went to Europe last summer, it was something like $10/month and we dropped it when we got back.
I am going on a cruise (all sea days) and the cell network on the ship is fantastically expensive. I just simplified it for the OP (and I will have some time in London so still works). I will have internet access on the ship.
I was in Italy last summer and it was $10/day so about $80 for the week (yeah…$80 for seven days somehow) plus my usual cell phone fee. It adds up fast.
In your case, I’d probably turn off cellular data and use FaceTime (or something similar) to ensure that all calls were WiFi. (Assuming that the gf is all you want to talk to.)
I have used Skype which is very reasonable for such a thing, including calling while oversees.
Another trick I have used is placing my phone in airplane mode while using my cellular services (which I normally switch off when oversees as the charges are outrageous) over WiFi. That does not seem to incur the wrath of the Verizon billing department.
If I am on a Wi-Fi network calls to US landlines and US mobiles that are physically in the US at that time are free. The billing system of my carrier doesn’t know those calls ever happened.
That’s also usually true for calls to/from another US mobile in the foreign country where we both are.
I’m Android and sometimes Apple phones refuse to exchange wifi calls w non-apple phones.
Last year, I took a month-long trip to Thailand with an extended family of about ten people. We opted to all install Line, a messaging app which is more popular in Asia than WhatsApp.
This allowed us all to stay in touch (and allowed the family to stay in touch with friends over there) as long as we had WiFi access, and motels all had WiFi. Also I could email and text people back home.
My family is going to Greece later this year. We looked into adding international calling to our plans, but the minmum period seemed always to be a month, and we’re only going for a week. So we’re just using WhatsApp.
With my carrier enabling international calling/data is free, I’m only charged when I actually use it in another country. Fee is $10/day for the first phone and $5/day for the second with a max of $100 per billing period. I get the same unlimited calling and data I get at home. The convenience IMHO is well worth the cost - if Mrs. Martian wants to wander off on her own a bit we can reconnect without worry, Google Maps is invaluable in strange cities, the ability to look up things we see as we see them is great, Google Translate is a lifesaver.
I used to get local sim cards, but that can be a pain (especially if you are visiting multiple countries) since you need an unlocked phone and you need to take the time to buy the local sim card. The difficulty of buying that sim card also varies by country - Germany required a local residential address, for example.
T-Mobile told ABC: “We recommend our customers check the travel features of their plan, such as international data roaming, before departing … if a customer is on an older plan that doesn’t include international roaming for data and calling, they’ll need to make sure they’re using airplane mode and wifi when using data to be certain the device doesn’t connect to an international network.”
This is going to depend entirely on your provider and plan. My current provider does not charging the daily flat-rate roaming fee if you use wifi calling and do not connect via cellular. My old provider does.
I’m in the US, and I travel overseas a dozen times a year to Europe mostly, but to South America and Asia, too.
I have n Android phone and use Google Fi and have done so for 10 years; it is wonderful.
It makes Wi-Fi calls in the US and overseas and it’s super cheap.
Regarding Google Translate, be sure you download the language module of every foreign language that you will be using while you’re away. Then you can use Google Translate without a cellular or Wi-Fi connection.