I leave for my Stag hunt Saturday. Is it possible to buy a prepaid cell in the airport that will allow me to call the little missus in the US while I am gone ? I am coming into Gatwick. Thanks..............JJ

Should be no problem to buy a "pay-as-you-go" phone.

Will your US cell phone not work here?

JJ,

Gatwick will have all the shops from various providers available.

US cell phones operate on a different frequency than here in Europe. If you have a Tri-Band cell phone all's O.K and you can purchase a (pretty expensive) UK Call Card to telephone to the US.

If not, you can purchase a cell phone in the UK. It will be expensive and you will pay big $$$.

Thanks all, no my cell that I had to buy to work in the mtns. here at home will not work out of the country. I just got back from Africa and Sat-phone minutes cost as much as my buff trophy fee....I hope I can get a phone and minutes for $200 to $300..........much cheaper that sat-phone rates...................JJ

JJ, two things to beware of, depending on where you are going, some areas of scotland are notorious for having little or no signal/reception. Some networks ( there are 4 or 5 main ones here) work better than others in different areas.
You may be able to call the lil lady from your accommodation, and she should be able to call you back on a return number which will, be much cheaper for you, rather than using costly pay as you go international minutes.

Good Luck, let us know where you are going- we may be able to help further.

JJ,

Exactly what floyd said. I'm sure you can call and give your wife the number of the inn or the number of your ghillie for her to call at prearranged times.

On the other hand if you want to by a phone they start at about £30 with £10 talktime included. YOu will need to precharge it with enough money to last you the week but incoming call will be free so you can SMS home when you are able to take a call.

I think there are a couple of phone shops in Gatwick arrivals.

where are you staking?

FB

JJ,
look for a Vodafone shop, get in buy a GSM telephone, possibly tri-band, verify all the possibilities about the contracts, prepaid sim, etc etc, but the important thing is to ask to have international roaming, make your choice and in a very little time you'll call home.

Often telephones are sold together the sim, it can be a choice, but int. roaming must be active.

Go Vodafone, go (one of the motto of the Company). Now can anybody tell me where I work?

JJ,

Good advice here and Steve's got a good idea too. The coverage issue in Scotland can be a hassle at times depending where you're gonna be. Sometimes you have to take a drive up the road to get coverage.

Buy a Tri-Band in the UK and get one with as little contract coverage as required - pitch the card when you're back inthe US and you now have an International Cell Phone for when you travel; as pre-paid cards are getting less expensive here.

There is a super cheap fixed net provider from Germany that uses a 01015 prefix but don't know that it would be the same from Scotland. I call the US for 2.86 European Cents (not Euros) a minute.


Waidmannsheil in Scotland!