best plan for staying in touch while in israel
Aug 11, 2017, 8:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Israel
Posts: 986
best plan for staying in touch while in israel
my sister will be in Israel for 10 days, her husband for 3. They both have Verizon plans and iphones. they'll mostly be calling US numbers while in Israel.
Verizon has a 10$ a day plan. pay only if you use your phone. is that a good option or is there something better? thanks!
Verizon has a 10$ a day plan. pay only if you use your phone. is that a good option or is there something better? thanks!
Aug 11, 2017, 10:28 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
I'd call Verizon and ask if the $40/month international travel plan is still available. It's described at the link above but myverizon.com doesn't make it available to me anymore.
She'll have to manage data usage carefully if she uses this plan. It provides only 100MB of data. That's plenty if you're careful but can be blown through in a few minutes if you aren't.
I bought a Golan SIM which I used on a recent trip to Israel. The service was fine but the company is nearly impossible to deal with. I can't recommend it.
She'll have to manage data usage carefully if she uses this plan. It provides only 100MB of data. That's plenty if you're careful but can be blown through in a few minutes if you aren't.
I bought a Golan SIM which I used on a recent trip to Israel. The service was fine but the company is nearly impossible to deal with. I can't recommend it.
Aug 12, 2017, 8:27 am
#4
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
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There are a few companies that will ship a Golan SIM to you in the US, but if you look through this very forum you'll find a recent thread on doing that, and some of the problems encountered...
Aug 12, 2017, 10:43 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
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If you do go the local SIM route, you could set up Google Voice and make calls to the US that way. It can even be set up so that you can answer calls without having to go into the Hangouts app (the normal incoming call screen will appear with "Hangouts Audio" on it and the calls will appear in the native call history too). I'm not exactly sure how much data such a call uses, however, so I'd make sure to purchase a fair bit of data just in case.
Aug 13, 2017, 12:11 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: OKC
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There's really two options since most of their calling will be back to the US, and not local.
1) get a local SIM with data (1GB will get you quite a bit of calling, if you don't use it for anything else), and use Google Voice as mentioned above. Forward your US Verizon numbers to the Google Voice number before you leave the US.
2) Pay the $10/day on Verizon. It's more expensive but covers local calls and calls back to the USA (which they likely have unlimited amounts of, if on a recent plan). Also no 2nd number to hassle with.
1) get a local SIM with data (1GB will get you quite a bit of calling, if you don't use it for anything else), and use Google Voice as mentioned above. Forward your US Verizon numbers to the Google Voice number before you leave the US.
2) Pay the $10/day on Verizon. It's more expensive but covers local calls and calls back to the USA (which they likely have unlimited amounts of, if on a recent plan). Also no 2nd number to hassle with.
Aug 14, 2017, 7:20 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
Posts: 14,225
There's really two options since most of their calling will be back to the US, and not local.
1) get a local SIM with data (1GB will get you quite a bit of calling, if you don't use it for anything else), and use Google Voice as mentioned above. Forward your US Verizon numbers to the Google Voice number before you leave the US.
2) Pay the $10/day on Verizon. It's more expensive but covers local calls and calls back to the USA (which they likely have unlimited amounts of, if on a recent plan). Also no 2nd number to hassle with.
1) get a local SIM with data (1GB will get you quite a bit of calling, if you don't use it for anything else), and use Google Voice as mentioned above. Forward your US Verizon numbers to the Google Voice number before you leave the US.
2) Pay the $10/day on Verizon. It's more expensive but covers local calls and calls back to the USA (which they likely have unlimited amounts of, if on a recent plan). Also no 2nd number to hassle with.
