topic Re: tracfone in Electronics

tracfone

bargainsgirl — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 13:32:34 GMT

Has anyone used their tracfone from usa to call a tracfone in europe using their international travel plan?

Has anyone taken JUST PHOTOS on their tracfones while overseas? (no calls or texts)

Re: tracfone

glb613 — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 15:32:58 GMT

http://extras.tracfone.com/en/ild/faqs

Re: tracfone

bargainsgirl — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 15:48:36 GMT

Looks like a no unless you call an actual # not a cell phone #.

Re: tracfone

x Hedge — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 17:22:33 GMT

Don't understand your comment, @bargainsgirl .

The phone number assigned to a cell phone is an "actual number.

TracFone had both Global Calling and International calling. You need to read both and understand how one or both can fit in with your travel plans. Some of it depends on your destination.

Re: tracfone

Venezia — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 17:34:57 GMT

@bargainsgirl - The camera in any phone is just that - a camera. It's not dependent on location.

Re: tracfone

Mothertrucker — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 18:10:55 GMT

@x Hedge wrote:

Don't understand your comment, @bargainsgirl .
The phone number assigned to a cell phone is an "actual number.

TracFone had both Global Calling and International calling. You need to read both and understand how one or both can fit in with your travel plans. Some of it depends on your destination.

While I agree that a cell # IS a phone number- I think it has to be a landline per Tracfones rules...

Re: tracfone

x Hedge — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:41:08 GMT

@Mothertrucker

I truly don't know about the TracFone rules in this, I haven't read them, and I don't know honeybuns' European itinerary. The TracFone website answers questions, but you have to know the cities you'll be calling to.

But re: "actual number" , I do know phone calls can be forwarded from one type of device to another.

I believe OP has previously asked similar questions while readying for a trip.

Maybe someone in the Travel forum has experience with this, but it's still up to the actual itinerary.

Re: tracfone

bargainsgirl — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 12:28:02 GMT

That is true. Bottom line...Tracfone CANNOT be used overseas. You can call FROM one from US but it has to be to a landline phone. NO cell phones will accept a call from a Tracfone.

Re: tracfone

x Hedge — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 12:47:53 GMT

But why are you so focused on calling, @bargainsgirl ?

Can't you email from smartphone to smartphone?

Texting between phones still uses telephone lines, but emailing on phones, tablets, etc goes over WiFi, which is available in any city. If you email you can attach short audio clips, video, and pictures you've taken.

Re: tracfone

glb613 — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 21:03:22 GMT

@x Hedge wrote:
But why are you so focused on calling, @bargainsgirl ?

Can't you email from smartphone to smartphone?
Texting between phones still uses telephone lines, but emailing on phones, tablets, etc goes over WiFi, which is available in any city. If you email you can attach short audio clips, video, and pictures you've taken.

That isn't true. Texting uses a cellular data plan.

"Once your message is typed, it travels through radio waves to the control channel. The control channel is the pathway that allows your phone to communicate with your cell phone tower so that your phone can send and receive calls, data packets and SMS messages."

"Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or other type of compatible computer. Text messages may be sent over a cellular network, or may also be sent via an Internet connection"

Re: tracfone

Zhills — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 00:54:40 GMT

Re: tracfone

x Hedge — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 17:38:27 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
@x Hedge wrote:
But why are you so focused on calling, @bargainsgirl ?

Can't you email from smartphone to smartphone?
Texting between phones still uses telephone lines, but emailing on phones, tablets, etc goes over WiFi, which is available in any city. If you email you can attach short audio clips, video, and pictures you've taken.

That isn't true. Texting uses a cellular data plan.

"Once your message is typed, it travels through radio waves to the control channel. The control channel is the pathway that allows your phone to communicate with your cell phone tower so that your phone can send and receive calls, data packets and SMS messages."

"Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or other type of compatible computer. Text messages may be sent over a cellular network, or may also be sent via an Internet connection"

@glb613

Are you saying texting between phones never uses telephone lines?

Yes, there are ways to transmit both SMS and MMS texts that require wifi/internet connection.

I just want OP to find a method to communicate in a way that meets her needs while traveling out of the country. She seems focused on calling, which apparently has more limitations and greater expense.

Re: tracfone

glb613 — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 19:36:45 GMT

I've been to Europe or Canada every year since 2012. You need an international plan to text or call from your phone. You can use free Wifi when you have it but, I've never used it for phone calls or texting. Some pople wait and rent a phone when they get to their destination which is something I've never done.

Cell phones use Wifi or cell towers. They don't use landlines.

Re: tracfone

x Hedge — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:48:01 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
I've been to Europe or Canada every year since 2012. You need an international plan to text or call from your phone. You can use free Wifi when you have it but, I've never used it for phone calls or texting. Some pople wait and rent a phone when they get to their destination which is something I've never done.

Cell phones use Wifi or cell towers. They don't use landlines.

Ok. So let's say she chooses to email instead.

There are small, inexpensive tablets (like mine) that are about the size of the bigger phones. Easy to carry around. She could attach her photos and recordings to emails, no?

My neighbors go on cruises. They use the ship's WiFi. One does online classes, gets her assignments and submits her homework, from the middle of the ocean!

And no one's mentioned the possibility of skype.

So I can't believe @bargainsgirl' need to communicate to/from people in European locations needs to be this difficult.

What I'm saying is, unless the communications have to specifically be by phone, there are other methods to consider.

Re: tracfone

glb613 — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 22:08:54 GMT

@x Hedge wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
I've been to Europe or Canada every year since 2012. You need an international plan to text or call from your phone. You can use free Wifi when you have it but, I've never used it for phone calls or texting. Some pople wait and rent a phone when they get to their destination which is something I've never done.

Cell phones use Wifi or cell towers. They don't use landlines.

Ok. So let's say she chooses to email instead.
There are small, inexpensive tablets (like mine) that are about the size of the bigger phones. Easy to carry around. She could attach her photos and recordings to emails, no?

My neighbors go on cruises. They use the ship's WiFi. One does online classes, gets her assignments and submits her homework, from the middle of the ocean!
And no one's mentioned the possibility of skype.

So I can't believe @bargainsgirl' need to communicate to/from people in European locations needs to be this difficult.
What I'm saying is, unless the communications have to specifically be by phone, there are other methods to consider.

You can use free Wifi where available for e-mail, FaceTime, Skype and other internet ways of communicating. Some phones have Wifi calling. If yours does, you need to enable it.

Re: tracfone

qbetzforreal — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 22:25:42 GMT

In India and China, only one person in the group could text or make a call because they had an international calling plan. The rest of us were out of luck.

Re: tracfone

bargainsgirl — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 03:45:50 GMT

I still would like to know if anyone has taken a Tracfone to Europe just to take photos. If you read the Tracfone website it will tell you that their phones will not work in Europe to make phone calls. I am not looking to call. Just to take pics. I plan to use my Amazon tablet to email home by connecting to WIFI when it is available.

Re: tracfone

Julius Seizure — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 06:02:43 GMT

@bargainsgirl wrote:
I still would like to know if anyone has taken a Tracfone to Europe just to take photos. If you read the Tracfone website it will tell you that their phones will not work in Europe to make phone calls. I am not looking to call. Just to take pics. I plan to use my Amazon tablet to email home by connecting to WIFI when it is available.

I have used my Tracfone in Europe to take photos.Your phone will take photos no matter where you are. Taking photos doesn't require any kind of a connection to anything. It's a digital camera, just like any other digital camera you would use to take photos. All that being said, do yourself a favor and take a good quality camera to take photos.

Re: tracfone

bargainsgirl — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 21:53:22 GMT

Thanks!!

Re: tracfone

lulu1 — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 18:42:22 GMT

@bargainsgirl wrote:
I still would like to know if anyone has taken a Tracfone to Europe just to take photos. If you read the Tracfone website it will tell you that their phones will not work in Europe to make phone calls. I am not looking to call. Just to take pics. I plan to use my Amazon tablet to email home by connecting to WIFI when it is available.

I've used my Tracfone to take pictures in several European countries.