I am going to Corfu on 6th October with my mum and 9yr old daughter. Unfortunately hubby is staying in Glasgow:( However, we have bought a Greek sim card to put in the mobile so that we can call each other and not pay a fortune for the calls.
Does anyone know where in Corfu (or around Gouvia) you can buy the phone card to top up the credit (does this make sense?) I'm on a contract with my phone here and have never used a pay as you go one.
Only 21 days to go - yipppeeeeeee
Message posted by chilled on 15 September 2006 at 5:07pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
Hi you should be able to get a top up card from most shops that sell newspapers, there is usually a sign outside the shop to say pone cards are available inside
Have a great time
Message posted by Guest on 15 September 2006 at 5:16pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
Guest
Depends what SIM card you have. If you have bought one from www.0044.co.uk then it is really easy to top it up.
Regards.
Message posted by Silver-Fox on 15 September 2006 at 9:39pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
Check with your Provider before you travel. My Wife is on contract with Vodaphone and they have a facility called "Passport". There's a one off connection charge of just 75p and then it uses her free minutes. Works for both incoming and outgoing calls which is useful for the kids. If you were to phone on a Pay As You Go phone you'd have to pay for the call as far as the UK and then your Husband would have to pay for the UK transmission (as we found out the hard way when our Daughter phoned us once in Zante when my Wife was on Pay As You Go)
Message posted by Ron B on 15 September 2006 at 9:56pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
Sorry to disagree, Silver-Fox, but by buying a Greek sim-card you can avoid this double charging, which seems to be some kind of unique UK rip-off.
To give you some idea of a weeks calls Fee, my OH has just been in Corfu for a week and he used about 15euros phoning back every day, as well as some local calls.
jane
Message posted by intermalc on 15 September 2006 at 10:02pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
a sim card start up kit is £29 or so on 0044.co.uk think of the phone cards you could buy for that? its a lot of money just to ring home? unless you use it all the time? plus the calls or have i got it wrong? malc
Message posted by ElaineK (Paxos) on 16 September 2006 at 10:58am - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
I think you've got it more or less right Malc. The £29.50 includes £5.50-worth of "free" calls and as the charge for calling the UK is 50p/minute that means the basic card costs you £24 and you get 11 minutes' worth of calls before you start paying extra.
My PAYG on Orange charges me 90p a minute to call the UK from Greece, so I'd get over 32 minutes of calls for £29.50, as opposed to the 11 minutes you get on the SIM card. But if I made 32 minutes' worth of calls using the SIM card it would cost £29.50 + 21 minutes at 50p = £40. So you obviously need to think about how many calls you're likely to make in order to decide whether it's a good deal for you or not.
If anyone needs any help in working out what the break-even point is, let me know what your current charge is and I'll work it out for you.
Elaine
Message posted by Fee on 16 September 2006 at 3:16pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
The reason we bought the sim card this year was I went with my mum last year and my mobile bill was over £200 when I came back. We got the sim card from Go Sim for £29.99 and that gives you 8 euros of free calls. All incoming calls are free. However we also bought the Tesco internet phone so that hubby can call from that and it's only a few pence for the call. Never mind, we won't have this problem next year as he's coming with me.
Message posted by intermalc on 16 September 2006 at 9:55pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
fee,first class i didnt think of skyp to ring my phone in corfu!!! we have skyp on our pc well done .must price it up! thank you, will do it now. all the best malc
Message posted by intermalc on 16 September 2006 at 10:28pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
I have a vodaphone pay as you go in the UK .....I just bought a vodaphone PAYG simcard in Corfu . Calls to anywhere are cheap , not really priced it to the penny , but I'm satisfied , no hassle , top up in any supermarket ...what's the problem ?
........J&H
Message posted by intermalc on 16 September 2006 at 10:57pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
john& hilary, only ever used my mobile for text in corfu, but now i know about skyp, stick the mobile! we have 158euros credit( my daughter is on it all the time) we got it to stop her using the home phone! did it work? no chance she can talk on both!!!!! 16 year old say no more. i phone home by buying phone cards. all the best malc
Message posted by daveandaleks on 18 September 2006 at 12:37am - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
Virgin Mobile PAYG - 95p/min to make calls, 60p/min to receive calls, 35p to send a text, free to receive texts - cheaper if you're Virgin Mobile pay monthly or pay by direct debit.
Unless you're contract for mobiles and only call the UK in emergencies, I'd just plump for the €4 telephone cards available pretty much everywhere (now find a phone that works!)
Message posted by Carolena on 18 September 2006 at 4:11am - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
I think it is worth it for the Greek sim, as long as you are likely to use it again in the future. My family and I have Greek mobiles which we use every year, so for us it is worth it.
Carolena
Message posted by Cuthbert on 18 September 2006 at 5:51am - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
My son is going out to Ipsos next May to work until September. As he usually text me to let me know he is OK most days, do you think it would be worth his while to buy a greek mobile. He is with 3 and the charges this year were terrible.
By the way Peter of Spear Travel you need to give your girls a big bonus for christmas this year. Catherine, Sam and the others have been fantastic helping us to book our flights to Corfu. Don't know what I would have done without them.
Viv D
Message posted by Carolena on 19 September 2006 at 7:38pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
If your son is out there for the whole summer then it is certainly worth it for him to have a Greek phone. I bought 2 Greek mobiles for E99 each this summer (we also had 2 from previous years) and the E99 included E10 of calls. We just take the same phones back every year. We got our new 2 from the Vodafone shop in Corfu Town. If your son has a UK phone which is not locked then it would be cheaper to buy a Greek sim and use that phone. You can buy the Greek sim there. A lot of UK pay as you go phones, and some of the others, are locked and won't take a different sim card. Check this first.
As well as keeping in contact with you, it will be cheaper for your son to call and text friends in Greece while he is there.
Good luck,
Carolena
Message posted by marymouse on 19 September 2006 at 8:15pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
I have a pay as you go phone but I have to say I find it cheaper to use a public phone box! Buy a phone card from a supermarket - it's easier and based on my Vodafone pay as you go, much cheaper.
Message posted by VictoriaRose on 21 September 2006 at 8:28pm - IP Logged
Legal Disclaimer
We came back from corfu two weeks ago. I have a pay as go phone on 02, but it WOULD NOT WORK AT ALL. despite checking with 02 and getting their abroad 35pmin approval. Other peoples in the apartments worked!. got really annoyed, had to find a phone every night to phone home (my daughter is pregnant and had to check she was okay). When we found out the phone would not work we spent most of the evening trawling around and tried 5 payphones before finding one that worked and one even gave my husband a shock in his ear when he tried it. !!!
So dont rely on payphones, although they are cheaper than mobiles you cant always find one. and of course then no one can contact you in an emergency.
My advice is take a mobile, make sure it works, (for emergencies), dont ring home, forget everybody at home, after all YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON HOLIDAY !!
If you wish to post a reply to this thread you must first Login
If you are not already registered you must first register
All Rights Reserved. No part of the Corfu Travel Guide web site may be reproduced without permission.
Infringement will be pursued.
The Corfu Travel
Guide and Lefkada Travel Guides are brought to you by Agni Travel.
Agni Travel is the sister company of Taverna Agni and also the sponsor of the Agni Animal Welfare Fund
Topic:
