I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.

I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
receive calls while I'm away?

What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
or Google maps.

Ken Blake wrote on Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:24:33 -0700 :

> I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.
>
> I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
> receive calls while I'm away?
>
> What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
> or Google maps.

I'm a purposefully helpful kind-hearted person so I wrote up a lot below to
help you (and to help others like you) route offline while they travel.

If you have a T-Mobile post-paid plan in the USA, you're "probably" covered
since my basic plan covers me in my visit to Europe every year with free
unlimited data & unlimited roaming & unlimited texting (including MMS).

Hotspotting/tethering (which they call the same thing but it's not) is
limited to only 5GB/month per phone on the T-Mobile basic postpaid plan.

Even if you do NOT have the basic T-Mobile plan, most carriers 'should'
allow you to buy an enhanced plan (particularly for data) on a monthly
basis (e.g., T-Mobile offers a $10 per month addition for hotspot data).

In that T-Mobile basic plan, the only thing you pay for is phone calls.
They're 25 cents per minute, coming or going, to and from the phone.

That is, they're 25 cents per minute calling the USA or receiving a call
from the USA and 25 cents per minute calling locally or receiving a local
call. That's the only expense - but you can get around that expense too.

Make your calls on Wi-Fi (if you can find a local access point that is).
If you're not on T-Mobile, ask your carrier if they have a European add on.

If you don't have a plan that covers it, you'll need a SIM card that does
have the service where you'll be traveling - where the frequencies "may"
matter (Steve always talks a lot about that) but in my experience, most
phones have at least one frequency that is the same as the local area.

And that one frequency is all you need.

You may need to turn on roaming though, so I would advise you to call your
carrier at 611 on your phone and ask them how to turn on your roaming.

As for maps, what's wrong with OSMAnd~ offline maps?
*OsmAnd& Maps & GPS Offline by OsmAnd, In-app purchases
Free, ad free, 4.5 star, 153K reviews, 10M+ Downloads
<https://osmand.net/>
<https://f-droid.org/repo/net.osmand.plus_431203.apk>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/>
<https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd>

You can download Google Maps offline, which I did for years when it first
came out, but it's so much of a PITA that I don't bother with that anymore.

While I am aware you're not all that technical, someone technical like I am
easily uses geoPDFs of any area in the world which you can download and
route and show your position (all the USA parks and every inch of the USA
except for the military locations has a free georeferenced PDF for that).

Most people use Avenza for routing on georeferenced PDFs.
*Avenza Maps* Offline Mapping by Avenza Systems Inc., In-app purchases
Free, ad free, 4.6 star, 72.6K reviews, 1M+ Downloads
<https://www.avenza.com/avenza-maps/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Avenza>
<https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id388424049>

But I use Paper Maps because it has fewer limitations than does Avenza.
*Paper Maps* by Abbro Inc, In-app purchases
Free, ad free, 5K+ Downloads
<https://www.paper-maps.com/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.abbro.androidmap>
<https://apps.apple.com/app/nextmap/id1147385120>

While this is for technical people, meaning not so much for you, what I use
also is a site which generates geoPDFs for any area, such as Caltopo.
<https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=40.14529,14.83154&z=5&b=mbt>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.caltopo.android>

With Caltopo, you can plan a route and save it on a georeferenced PDF.
Then you can load that georeferenced PDF & route into any map program.
<https://www.offline-maps.net/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.psyberia.offlinemaps>

There's more (much more) if you know what you're doing, as I never have any
problem in Europe (I visit Germany every year like clockwork) routing.

Good luck. Most of what I said above is for experts though.

On 2024-12-02 19:24, Ken Blake wrote:
> I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.
>
> I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
> receive calls while I'm away?

The important detail is who is your provider and what plan you got from
them. You have to ask them what are their fees while you are in the EU,
and whether they have travel plans.

If they are too expensive the solution is to buy, either on Amazon
before departure, or in the EU, a prepaid SIM card, and connect it as
secondary SIM card in your phone, which I hope is dual SIM.

Otherwise, replace your normal SIM and tell your family your new number.

>
> What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
> or Google maps.

My preferred method is to install OSMAnd app, and dowload now the
countries of interest.

With a proper secondary SIM card, you can navigate as usual.

Notice that the conditions of a card bought in one country of the EU
might be different when you change country, so ask the merchant about
that. There are agreements so that the cards work when changing
countries, with similar prices (no roaming charges) but there are limits
and some differences.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Carlos E.R. wrote on Mon, 2 Dec 2024 22:03:55 +0100 :

> Otherwise, replace your normal SIM and tell your family your new number.

Which reminds me that there are a bunch of "second line" apps which give
you a "real" phone number (so to speak) if you can get on the Internet.

In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:24:33 -0700, Ken Blake
<Ken@invalid.news.com> wrote:

>I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.

Lucky you. Now I want to go somewhere. (We'll see if the doctor can
lessen my back pain, so I can walk again. (At least I can still drive.))
>
>I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
>receive calls while I'm away?

For a trip that long, I doubt any plan by your US cellular provider will
be anywhere near as cheap as what I do, rent a sim in the country I'm
going to. One or 2 years I had it mailed to me in Baltimore (they had
an agent in the US who did that.) Other times, I got the SIM at or near
the airport, when I landed. I got good advice from Trip Advisor on which
sim guy was good. (there were really only two selling to the US and they
were both good.) The first year I used Skype to call home and even
bought a Skype phone number, then Whatsapp, but as time went on, the
SIMs I got there included a USA phone number, so it was really easy for
people to reach me. I don't know how common this is in the 3 countries
yuu're going to.
>
>What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
>or Google maps.

I know someone who helped develop Waze, so I have great affection for
it, but Waza in my opinion is mostly for directions, but google maps is
mostly for knowing where you are and what is nearby. I don't need
directions that much, I know how to read a map, and Google maps has
directions when I need them, so I use it. I brought a laptop and when
directions mattered, I would plan my travels the night before, and send
or email or both the directions to the phone.

Are you renting a car? Lots of suggestions if you are. What's the best
clip to attach the phone to the dashboard, etc.

Do you speak the languages of any or all 3 countries? Because I still
don't, and I wanted news or talk radio, not just music, I wanted some
non-local station. YOu don't have to decide this until you need to, but
the way to get stations out of the geographical zone is with a VPN. I
tried Firefox VPN and I couldnt' get it to work, then Nord VPN and I
coudln't get it to work, and I wondered if I was as smart as my mother
told me I was. But Express VPN installed very easily, and for the same
price, it goes into Windows and on your Android phone. Worked really
well, including for videos from the US. (Had to turn if off a few times
to listen to a local station) Pay by the month and when you get home
you can cancel it.

I used Tunein to listen to American news etc. (I was careful not to but
I accidentally said I wanted the paid version and let the free month go
by using it and had to pay for the next momnth.)

The new/used laptop I bought tonight has a place for a SIM, but I used
and will likely still use, my phone as a hotspot to feed internet to the
laptop. All phones can be hotspots now, right? Or at laest yours can?

At least 2 or 3 years, my car had a video screen and worked with that
app which casts Android to the car radio. I forget the name. So I could
get google maps on the car screen, but it's not the whole system. The
map is there, and maybe, I forget, restaurants, hotels, tourist things,
at least a few, but you can't tap on them and learn anything about
them. For that you need the phone, and at least in 2021, you could not
have anything on the phone and the car screen at the same time, iiuc. So
I ended up putting OSMand on the car screen, and it turns out it's
easier and safer to read when driving than google maps is. I kept google
on the phone and referred to it and all its details when I needed it.

(Sometimes I ran the laptop off the cigarette lighter, and one day I was
really into it and wanted to put GPS into the laptop, and they have
that, but it didn't sound like it worked that well. I've given up that
plan to have GPS. But I still use the laptop in the car a lot.
Sometimes I sleep in the car, use it before I sleep and then check my
email in the morning. I roll up my clothes so the laptop can sit level
on the passenger seat. The new laptop is only 4 pounds, instead of 6.
I guess that is good, even though all the accessories weigh another 4
pounds.)

There was also a local app with walkng tours of a quite a few places
around the country. I only found one interesting but it was really good,
historical. Your countries probably have that. I think I heard about
mine on TripAdvisor.com.

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 3 Dec 2024 01:15:16 -0000 (UTC), Andrew
<andys@nospam.com> wrote:

>Carlos E.R. wrote on Mon, 2 Dec 2024 22:03:55 +0100 :
>
>> Otherwise, replace your normal SIM and tell your family your new number.
>
>Which reminds me that there are a bunch of "second line" apps which give
>you a "real" phone number (so to speak) if you can get on the Internet.

I set up one of those for my 83 year old friend, who has no cellular
account but piggybacks on her next door n'bor's wifi. I thought it
would be good for her when she walked over to a farther neigbbor, or
went to the doctor, but she wasn't interested and if you don't use it
for ???? 30 days???, the number gets taken back and you have to start
all over. It worked well, I could call out and call in. Maybe I could
even leave messages? I don't remember which one worked the best but if
anyone cares, I can check her phone next time I see her.

Ken Blake <Ken@invalid.news.com> wrote:
> I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.
>
> I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
> receive calls while I'm away?

There's no technical reason why it can't. Speak to your provider.

If you want to receive calls from people in Europe the model here is caller
pays, and they may not be keen on calling a US number. It's very expensive.

Install WhatsApp as most people and companies in those countries use it by
default for most communication. It doesn't suffer from call costs so they
can "call" you on your US no. for "free". It requires data, but most people
have large/unlimited data caps.

> What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
> or Google maps.

Make sure you have data roaming enabled and they'll work as normal. Again
check with your provider re costs.

As an aside, I'd also recommend getting off your phone and just wander
about. There's a huge amount of hidden gems in European cities and nothing
beats finding a great little square and cafe that's off the beaten track.

micky wrote:

> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.

A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.

Andy Burns wrote:

> micky wrote:
>
>> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>
> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.

Not sure why I said "free", I should have said at no additional cost.

On 2024-12-03 15:25, Andy Burns wrote:
> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> micky wrote:
>>
>>> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>>
>> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
>> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.
>
> Not sure why I said "free", I should have said at no additional cost.

But sometimes companies apply a limit. I'm unsure of the details.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2024-12-03 04:57, micky wrote:
> Do you speak the languages of any or all 3 countries? Because I still
> don't, and I wanted news or talk radio, not just music, I wanted some
> non-local station. YOu don't have to decide this until you need to, but
> the way to get stations out of the geographical zone is with a VPN. I
> tried Firefox VPN and I couldnt' get it to work, then Nord VPN and I
> coudln't get it to work, and I wondered if I was as smart as my mother
> told me I was. But Express VPN installed very easily, and for the same
> price, it goes into Windows and on your Android phone. Worked really
> well, including for videos from the US. (Had to turn if off a few times
> to listen to a local station) Pay by the month and when you get home
> you can cancel it.
>
> I used Tunein to listen to American news etc. (I was careful not to but
> I accidentally said I wanted the paid version and let the free month go
> by using it and had to pay for the next momnth.)

You do not need an VPN to tune radio stations on internet. There are
some apps (free), and some web sites.

Simple Radio app I found reasonable (I tried several apps). Caveat: it
does not want to exit and has to be killed.

https://streema.com is very good. Using it with Firefox in a laptop you
can find out the actual URL and copy it over to VLC and use that one
instead for the listening, with lower CPU load.

Possibly, if you manage to transfer the URL to the phone, you can listen
on the phone using VLC.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 03.12.24 15:25, Andy Burns wrote:
> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> micky wrote:
>>
>>> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>>
>> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
>> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.
>
> Not sure why I said "free", I should have said at no additional cost.

Intra EU roaming charges are forbidden for many years.

A new SIM for a couple of days? Not really.
The OP should ask his US-provider what it has on offer for such trips.

When I travel in the US - the opposite direction - I use my regular plan
from my Swiss provider that includes 40GB data and unlimited calls to
and from USA, Canda and all of Europe. Costs $50/month.

That is really trouble free usage of mobile communication.

Coverage:

Alaska, Andorra, Belgien, Bulgarien, Dänemark, Deutschland, Estland,
Färöer, Finnland, Frankreich, Gibraltar, Griechenland, Grossbritannien,
Guernsey, Hawaii, Irland, Island, Isle of Man, Italien, Jersey, Kanada,
Kroatien, Lettland, Litauen, Luxemburg, Malta, Monaco, Niederlande,
Norwegen, Österreich, Polen, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rumänien, San
Marino, Schweden, Slowakei, Slowenien, Spanien, St. Croix, St. John, St.
Thomas, Tschechien, Türkei, USA, Ukraine, Ungarn, Vatikan, Zypern

--
"De gustibus non est disputandum."

On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 22:03:55 +0100, "Carlos E.R."
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

>On 2024-12-02 19:24, Ken Blake wrote:
>> I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.
>>
>> I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
>> receive calls while I'm away?
>
>The important detail is who is your provider and what plan you got from
>them. You have to ask them what are their fees while you are in the EU,
>and whether they have travel plans.
>
>If they are too expensive the solution is to buy, either on Amazon
>before departure, or in the EU, a prepaid SIM card, and connect it as
>secondary SIM card in your phone, which I hope is dual SIM.
>
>Otherwise, replace your normal SIM and tell your family your new number.
>
>
>>
>> What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
>> or Google maps.
>
>My preferred method is to install OSMAnd app, and dowload now the
>countries of interest.
>
>With a proper secondary SIM card, you can navigate as usual.
>
>Notice that the conditions of a card bought in one country of the EU
>might be different when you change country, so ask the merchant about
>that. There are agreements so that the cards work when changing
>countries, with similar prices (no roaming charges) but there are limits
>and some differences.

TVM.

On Mon, 02 Dec 2024 22:57:11 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com>
wrote:

>In comp.mobile.android, on Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:24:33 -0700, Ken Blake
><Ken@invalid.news.com> wrote:
>
>>I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy) this coming March and April.
>
>Lucky you. Now I want to go somewhere. (We'll see if the doctor can
>lessen my back pain, so I can walk again. (At least I can still drive.))

I also have back pain. My hope is that I can manage with it.

>>I have a Google Pixel 4a. What can I do to enable my phone to make and
>>receive calls while I'm away?
>
>For a trip that long, I doubt any plan by your US cellular provider will
>be anywhere near as cheap as what I do, rent a sim in the country I'm
>going to. One or 2 years I had it mailed to me in Baltimore (they had
>an agent in the US who did that.) Other times, I got the SIM at or near
>the airport, when I landed. I got good advice from Trip Advisor on which
>sim guy was good. (there were really only two selling to the US and they
>were both good.) The first year I used Skype to call home and even
>bought a Skype phone number, then Whatsapp, but as time went on, the
>SIMs I got there included a USA phone number, so it was really easy for
>people to reach me. I don't know how common this is in the 3 countries
>yuu're going to.
>>
>>What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
>>or Google maps.
>
>I know someone who helped develop Waze, so I have great affection for
>it, but Waza in my opinion is mostly for directions, but google maps is
>mostly for knowing where you are and what is nearby. I don't need
>directions that much, I know how to read a map, and Google maps has
>directions when I need them, so I use it. I brought a laptop and when
>directions mattered, I would plan my travels the night before, and send
>or email or both the directions to the phone.
>
>Are you renting a car?

No. I'll be on a tour. What I basically want to know is how to get
back to the hotel, if I can't walk anymore

>Lots of suggestions if you are. What's the best
>clip to attach the phone to the dashboard, etc.
>
>Do you speak the languages of any or all 3 countries?

A little of each. I'm fluent in none of them, but I'm best in Italian,

> Because I still
>don't, and I wanted news or talk radio, not just music, I wanted some
>non-local station. YOu don't have to decide this until you need to, but
>the way to get stations out of the geographical zone is with a VPN. I
>tried Firefox VPN and I couldnt' get it to work, then Nord VPN and I
>coudln't get it to work, and I wondered if I was as smart as my mother
>told me I was. But Express VPN installed very easily, and for the same
>price, it goes into Windows and on your Android phone. Worked really
>well, including for videos from the US. (Had to turn if off a few times
>to listen to a local station) Pay by the month and when you get home
>you can cancel it.
>
>I used Tunein to listen to American news etc. (I was careful not to but
>I accidentally said I wanted the paid version and let the free month go
>by using it and had to pay for the next momnth.)
>
>The new/used laptop I bought tonight has a place for a SIM, but I used
>and will likely still use, my phone as a hotspot to feed internet to the
>laptop. All phones can be hotspots now, right? Or at laest yours can?
>
>At least 2 or 3 years, my car had a video screen and worked with that
>app which casts Android to the car radio. I forget the name. So I could
>get google maps on the car screen, but it's not the whole system. The
>map is there, and maybe, I forget, restaurants, hotels, tourist things,
>at least a few, but you can't tap on them and learn anything about
>them. For that you need the phone, and at least in 2021, you could not
>have anything on the phone and the car screen at the same time, iiuc. So
>I ended up putting OSMand on the car screen, and it turns out it's
>easier and safer to read when driving than google maps is. I kept google
>on the phone and referred to it and all its details when I needed it.
>
>(Sometimes I ran the laptop off the cigarette lighter, and one day I was
>really into it and wanted to put GPS into the laptop, and they have
>that, but it didn't sound like it worked that well. I've given up that
>plan to have GPS. But I still use the laptop in the car a lot.
>Sometimes I sleep in the car, use it before I sleep and then check my
>email in the morning. I roll up my clothes so the laptop can sit level
>on the passenger seat. The new laptop is only 4 pounds, instead of 6.
>I guess that is good, even though all the accessories weigh another 4
>pounds.)
>
>There was also a local app with walkng tours of a quite a few places
>around the country. I only found one interesting but it was really good,
>historical. Your countries probably have that. I think I heard about
>mine on TripAdvisor.com.

Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> wrote:
> On 03.12.24 15:25, Andy Burns wrote:
> > Andy Burns wrote:
> >
> >> micky wrote:
> >>
> >>> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
> >>
> >> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
> >> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.
> >
> > Not sure why I said "free", I should have said at no additional cost.
>
> Intra EU roaming charges are forbidden for many years.
>
> A new SIM for a couple of days? Not really.

Not a few days, probably two *months*: "this coming March and April"

> The OP should ask his US-provider what it has on offer for such trips.

Yes, whatever he does, he should *also* ask his US-provider.

[...]

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> micky wrote:
>
> > rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>
> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.

And for the EU you probably don't need to rent a SIM, but just buy
one, probably with a pre-paid plan.

Ken said "I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy)...". If he visits
them in that order, Carlos may be able to give some suggestions/pointers
for Spain. If Ken could indicate how much minutes/'texts'/GB he would
need per unit of time, that would help.

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 3 Dec 2024 07:54:35 -0000 (UTC), Chris
<ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>Install WhatsApp as most people and companies in those countries use it by
>default for most communication. It doesn't suffer from call costs so they
>can "call" you on your US no. for "free". It requires data, but most people
>have large/unlimited data caps.

Yes, Whatsapp is fantastic. Especially if you want to share part of
your trip with someone back home. I gave 60 or 90 minute video tours of
a couple places where I was to a friend back home. She's seen more of a
couple obscure places than people who have actually been there. And it
was all free (I had plenty of data.)
>
>> What can I do to get walking maps of the cities I'll be in into Waze
>> or Google maps.
>
>Make sure you have data roaming enabled and they'll work as normal. Again
>check with your provider re costs.
>
>As an aside, I'd also recommend getting off your phone and just wander
>about. There's a huge amount of hidden gems in European cities and nothing
>beats finding a great little square and cafe that's off the beaten track.

One of the advantages (maybe the only one) of a bad back, is that I have
to sit frequently and during that time I watch the setting and the other
people. It's very nice.

I've twice had nerve anesthesia (prepartory to ablation, had it worked),
once or twice steroid shots (which seemed to give me one good half-day,
but no more), and tomorrow he is testing spinal cord stimulation. A
7-day test and if it works, he's going to want to implant somthing a tad
bigger than a fig newtow in my body somewhere, instead of taping it to
my side like tomorrow. They say 50% reduction is likely, or something,
but in a moment of trying to get me to do this, he said "If all of the
pain is gone". Note the word "if". The manufacturers say the test
should do 70% and only to expect 50% or less. No one but he has said
100% was possible, but maybe he knows it is. Or maybe he was just trying
to tempt me. He says he's done 400 in the last 5 years.

Oh, Ken, you might consider this or some other design:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PT4GRZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I took it on my last trip, 3 weeks in Guatemala, and used it in one
museum, and in the Guatemala City Zoo. At the zoo I saw two other
people carrying their own seats, of two other designs, one an X-style
camp stool and I don't remember the other

The one above fits easily in a suitcase (despite the dimensions that a
similar gives. Sometimes Amazon dimensions include packaging. ). It'
opens and closes quickly, and is stable. It kept falling off my
shoulder when I used the strap, but something could be worked out.
Adding some other comforable strap that would attach to it or the first
strap and reach around to the other side of one's neck.

And there are other totally different designs too.

I doubt if a tour will take you to the zoo, but they are great at the
zoo. There were lots of benches at the GCZoo, but none were in front of
the animals. You're sitting down so even if others are there, you're
not in their way,and you can stay as long as you want watching animals.

Now I keep it in the trunk of my car, and when I went to a demolition
derby a month ago, I found there were no seats at all. Glad I had this.

On 3 Dec 2024 16:28:17 GMT, Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid>
wrote:

>Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
>> micky wrote:
>>
>> > rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>>
>> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
>> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.
>
> And for the EU you probably don't need to rent a SIM, but just buy
>one, probably with a pre-paid plan.
>
> Ken said "I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy)...". If he visits
>them in that order,

Yes.

>Carlos may be able to give some suggestions/pointers
>for Spain. If Ken could indicate how much minutes/'texts'/GB he would
>need per unit of time, that would help.

There's free wi-fi in all the hotels I'll be in. I don't know how
many minutes/'texts'/GB I would need. I was mostly concerned with
calling a taxi if I wasn't able to walk any farther. Or getting Uber
if I'm someplace that has it.

On 2024-12-03 17:28, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
>> micky wrote:
>>
>>> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>>
>> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
>> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.
>
> And for the EU you probably don't need to rent a SIM, but just buy
> one, probably with a pre-paid plan.
>
> Ken said "I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy)...". If he visits
> them in that order, Carlos may be able to give some suggestions/pointers
> for Spain. If Ken could indicate how much minutes/'texts'/GB he would
> need per unit of time, that would help.

Orange had a nice offer two years ago, but I don't know currently.
Almost unlimited usage for 50 or 60 euros, for a month.

The best method is not asking the locals, but entering a shop that tends
to multiple brands in an immigrant district. My cousin did that in
Barcelona and surprised me by finding a very good deal I did not know about.

Just a note: they will ask you to show an ID. This is counter-terrorism
measures since 9-11 and 11M

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2024-12-03 19:58, Ken Blake wrote:
> On 3 Dec 2024 16:28:17 GMT, Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
>>> micky wrote:
>>>
>>>> rent a sim in the country I'm going to.
>>>
>>> A SIM for any EU country ought to allow free roaming to any other EU
>>> country, so the O/P won't need three SIMs.
>>
>> And for the EU you probably don't need to rent a SIM, but just buy
>> one, probably with a pre-paid plan.
>>
>> Ken said "I'll be in Europe (Spain, France, Italy)...". If he visits
>> them in that order,
>
> Yes.
>
>
>> Carlos may be able to give some suggestions/pointers
>> for Spain. If Ken could indicate how much minutes/'texts'/GB he would
>> need per unit of time, that would help.
>
>
> There's free wi-fi in all the hotels I'll be in. I don't know how
> many minutes/'texts'/GB I would need. I was mostly concerned with
> calling a taxi if I wasn't able to walk any farther. Or getting Uber
> if I'm someplace that has it.

Yep.

One note, taxi calling in Spain is now done with an app. Varies per
city, I think. There are competing apps.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2024-12-03 19:16, micky wrote:
> In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 3 Dec 2024 07:54:35 -0000 (UTC), Chris
> <ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Install WhatsApp as most people and companies in those countries use it by
>> default for most communication. It doesn't suffer from call costs so they
>> can "call" you on your US no. for "free". It requires data, but most people
>> have large/unlimited data caps.
>
> Yes, Whatsapp is fantastic. Especially if you want to share part of
> your trip with someone back home. I gave 60 or 90 minute video tours of
> a couple places where I was to a friend back home. She's seen more of a
> couple obscure places than people who have actually been there. And it
> was all free (I had plenty of data.)

Otherwise, do not forget RCS. If your friends back home do not have
whatsapp, they may have RCS; maybe they just need to activate it. If
available, it is is also gratis.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> Wrote in message:

> Just a note: they will ask you to show an ID. This is counter-terrorism
> measures since 9-11 and 11M
>

11M = 11th Marzo - i.e. Atocha?
--
Remove numerics from my email address.

On 2024-12-03 20:25, Dave Royal wrote:
> "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> Wrote in message:
>
>> Just a note: they will ask you to show an ID. This is counter-terrorism
>> measures since 9-11 and 11M
>>
>
> 11M = 11th Marzo - i.e. Atocha?

Exactly.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 03.12.24 20:19, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2024-12-03 19:16, micky wrote:
>> In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 3 Dec 2024 07:54:35 -0000 (UTC), Chris
>> <ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Install WhatsApp as most people and companies in those countries use it by
>>> default for most communication. It doesn't suffer from call costs so they
>>> can "call" you on your US no. for "free". It requires data, but most people
>>> have large/unlimited data caps.
>>
>> Yes, Whatsapp is fantastic. Especially if you want to share part of
>> your trip with someone back home. I gave 60 or 90 minute video tours of
>> a couple places where I was to a friend back home. She's seen more of a
>> couple obscure places than people who have actually been there. And it
>> was all free (I had plenty of data.)
>
> Otherwise, do not forget RCS. If your friends back home do not have
> whatsapp, they may have RCS; maybe they just need to activate it. If
> available, it is is also gratis.

Seriously?!

--
"Roma locuta, causa finita." (Augustinus)

On 2024-12-03 22:24, Jörg Lorenz wrote:
> On 03.12.24 20:19, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2024-12-03 19:16, micky wrote:
>>> In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 3 Dec 2024 07:54:35 -0000 (UTC), Chris
>>> <ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Install WhatsApp as most people and companies in those countries use it by
>>>> default for most communication. It doesn't suffer from call costs so they
>>>> can "call" you on your US no. for "free". It requires data, but most people
>>>> have large/unlimited data caps.
>>>
>>> Yes, Whatsapp is fantastic. Especially if you want to share part of
>>> your trip with someone back home. I gave 60 or 90 minute video tours of
>>> a couple places where I was to a friend back home. She's seen more of a
>>> couple obscure places than people who have actually been there. And it
>>> was all free (I had plenty of data.)
>>
>> Otherwise, do not forget RCS. If your friends back home do not have
>> whatsapp, they may have RCS; maybe they just need to activate it. If
>> available, it is is also gratis.
>
> Seriously?!
>
>
Of course.

--
Cheers, Carlos.