Traditional Cell Phone Rental Companies
Solid Service and Support
Traditionally, when American travelers needed a cell phone in another country they called an international cell phone rental company. These are typically U.S.-based companies that don’t offer phone service here, but instead specialize in renting cell phones for Americans traveling abroad.
Higher Rate, But Easier Roaming
Today there are multiple travel cell phone choices, such as roaming with your U.S. cell phone (or renting a phone through your U.S. carrier), or using the local GSM and SIM card service in the country being visited. However, traditional cell phone rental companies are still popular for good reasons. They allow you to roam easily to multiple countries, there is no need to add credit as you talk, and usually they offer 24 hour customer service in English.
Pros and Cons - Traditional Cell Phone Rentals
PROS
Reliability and Ease of Use
The advantages of traditional cell phone rental companies are reliability and ease of use. Because these companies have been operating with the overseas GSM technology and local operators for many years, they have solid relationships with the service providers and thorough knowledge of how the service works on the overseas network. These types of cell phone rental services tend to work well with a minimum of fuss or adjustments while overseas.
24 Hour Customer Service in English
Most of the traditional cell rental companies offer 24-hour customer support in English. Some of the larger and older companies also have offices in other countries to help customers. These are important considerations for people who need reassurance that potential problems with the phone or service can be addressed immediately.
Easy Billing
Another major advantage to the original cell phone rental option is that you are billed at the end of the trip, typically to the credit card provided at the time of rental. There is no need to worry about adding credit or running out of credit for outgoing calls, as is the case with many GSM cell phone and SIM card services. The downside of this feature is that it is easy to talk more than you realize and come home to a higher than expected phone bill.
Itemized Call Record
Most of these companies also offer an itemized call record showing time, duration and phone number of each call made and received. This is helpful for corporate and client billing purposes. A list of itemized calls is rarely possible with a pay as you go pre-paid SIM card service.
CONS
Higher Per Minute Calling Rates
The traditional cell phone rental is one of the more expensive cell phone rental options. The services it offers such as 24 hour customer service in English and multiple offices for fast customer responses come at a higher per minute price than some other offices.
Expect to pay about a $1 to $2 a minute for incoming and outgoing calls in Europe and other Western nations. Calls in South America, China Eastern Europe and Asia can be $5 a minute or more.
Often a UK Phone Number - Forwarding Extra
Very often the cell phone number is based in the United Kingdom. Having your U.S. phone number forwarded to the overseas cell phone will usually result in additional per minute charges.
Post Vacation Bill
Many of us remember our first cell phone plan. We thought we would only need a few minutes of airtime. But when the first bill arrived with overage charges, we realized that all those all those short calls added up and that we talked more than we anticipated.
Imagine the sticker shock when the rates are one or more dollars a minute. While it may be possible to get updates on your call charges during your trip, it will usually require a call to customer service, and even this effort may not give you the most up to date results.
Ultimately, all the calls will be tabulated when the phone is received by the rental company when your trip is done. Also, because the billing is through a credit card, it’s possible that charges will continue to appear through one or two billing cycles after your return.
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