MyNext30Years Posted February 6, 2010 Report Share Posted February 6, 2010 I'm having my surgery in 2.5 weeks (YIPPEE) and am trying to figure out the best way to call home to my family during my stay. I know it's free from the OCC, but from what I can tell, I'm only going to be there less than 24 hrs. My mom and I are staying an extra day for sight seeing and my kids are small, so I'm going to need to be able talk to them on a semi-regular basis (at least daily.) In my quick google research, I found www.pingo.com where you can purchase inexpensive calling cards to call to and from multiple countries. They have a local 800 for Mexico to use. Has anyone tried this? Anything else? My cell provider says it won't work and even if it did they don't have an international plan, so I don't want that bill!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogiesmom Posted February 8, 2010 Report Share Posted February 8, 2010 Who is your mobile carrier? I have Sprint and they told me that they do not have an International rate plan for Mexico but I discovered when I got there that there were parts of TJ where my phone thought I was in the US still (since it is a border town) and that I did not get charged for those calls. I was only charged 1.96 for the whole trip and my mother has Sprint too and she was only charged an additional 10.00 but she used her cell phone more than I did while we were there. So if your carrier says that there will not be any coverage I would be suspect since you are in signal range of US towers. The only way I see it not being available is if you have one of those regional carriers like Metro PCS. The regional carrier for the San Diego area is Cricket and not Metro PCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macleay Posted February 8, 2010 Report Share Posted February 8, 2010 I have sprint and have the international plan, but it's a huge charge per minute. I'm sure you can call from the Marriott or Lucerne, but you'll want to check the charge per minute from them. I haven't used pingo.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaniceBlack Posted February 8, 2010 Report Share Posted February 8, 2010 I'm having my surgery in 2.5 weeks (YIPPEE) and am trying to figure out the best way to call home to my family during my stay. I know it's free from the OCC, but from what I can tell, I'm only going to be there less than 24 hrs. My mom and I are staying an extra day for sight seeing and my kids are small, so I'm going to need to be able talk to them on a semi-regular basis (at least daily.) In my quick google research, I found www.pingo.com where you can purchase inexpensive calling cards to call to and from multiple countries. They have a local 800 for Mexico to use. Has anyone tried this? Anything else? My cell provider says it won't work and even if it did they don't have an international plan, so I don't want that bill!! Hello and Congrats, I brought my laptop so I could keep in touch with my family. It worked great for me My cell phone did not work either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNext30Years Posted February 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2010 My cell is with NTelos which I'm guessing is what you're calling a regional provider. Although I have a nationwide plan, it's home base is very limited to VA and maybe the borders of a couple of other states. They told me that they (Mexico I guess) use a different type of signal than we do and that it wouldn't work at all. I don't know. I'm afraid to even have it turned on for fear of picking up on a tower and getting charged. I think I read where the motel charged someone a fee of like $10 or something to use an 800 number to call home for a couple of minutes, so that's not really an option either. Maybe we'll just do some sight seeing in San Diego on Friday and make the call then. Ok, on a different note. I have another question for you ladies. My husband just rolled his eyes at me when I asked him. I bought some of those glove inserts call Warm Hands or something like that. Skiiers, hunters, etc. use them to keep warm. At lot of people have said they used a heating pad, so I bought them for the plane ride home. They are supposed to last for 10 hours and a 6 pk was only $2. Am I crazy? Are you rolling your eyes too? Heck they might not pass through security! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownEyedGirl Posted February 20, 2010 Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 You'll be able to call Canada and the US from your room while you are staying at OCC. That was a nice perk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNext30Years Posted March 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 Thank you! I definitely took advantage of the free calls while I was there. FYI, pingo.com worked pretty well - the only complaint is that there was a slight delay but overall it definitely served the purpose and I only paid like $5 for almost 300 minutes. I would definitely recommend it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopingforachange Posted June 5, 2010 Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 I am assuming boost mobile would not work either since it's on the sprint network, what about texting do they charge extra for those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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