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Drone posted:Emergency calls (999 in the UK) aren't subject to roaming fees and are always free. Modern phones are configured to take any emergency call number (911, 999, 112) and convert them to whatever the local emergency number is so you probably don't even have to remember that.
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Feb 19, 2020 19:14
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Carbon dioxide posted:Modern phones are configured to take any emergency call number (911, 999, 112) and convert them to whatever the local emergency number is so you probably don't even have to remember that. Yeah I knew that the major carriers in the US and Europe accept 911 and 112 interchangeably, didn't know the smartphone manufacturers did that on their end as well. Neat.
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Feb 19, 2020 19:16
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Drone posted:Yeah I knew that the major carriers in the US and Europe accept 911 and 112 interchangeably, didn't know the smartphone manufacturers did that on their end as well. Neat. I'm not entirely sure if this is implemented on the carrier level or phone level or both but afaik it basically always works, anywhere in the world.
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Feb 19, 2020 21:14
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Same question, but for Ireland. I'll be using my phone for navigation while driving, and the paltry amount of data AT&T offers as part of their Passport offering for international travel won't cut it. It's an iPhone Xs, bought through Apple and on the AT&T network.
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Feb 20, 2020 01:26
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Even on a locked iPhone you can type 112 on the passcode screen and it’ll give you the option to call emergency services. But I think that poster meant “mum can’t find the cat food” emergencies, not “bleeding to death in the road” emergencies. Either way, make sure your phone isn’t carrier locked and then buy a new tourist sim when you arrive. Most airports will have counters in the arrivals hall. There’s no roaming charges in the EU (which still includes the UK) so your sim should roam no issues in other countries.
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Feb 20, 2020 06:15
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You can buy SIM cards at the airport or in many stores. Depends which airport you are flying into but usually there are vending machines in the baggage claim area. https://www.traveltomtom.net/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/sim-card-london-heathrow Pop the SIM card into your phone, follow the instructions and you're good to go. Apps like Whatsapp are not affected by the change in number - you friends and family can still message you as normal but your phone number (incoming and outgoing calls) will be different. One option if you really want to keep your own phone number on is to buy a cheap phone in your home country, bring it, and just use it as a hot-spot provider for your main phones(or if you are traveling as a pair one of you keep the normal phone and the other use the SIM and hot-spot share). Edit: I highly recommend getting a local SIM whenever you are on holiday. It's nice being online, having access to online maps, google, etc. While your own carrier may have international roaming I expect the charges to be horrendous Vanilla fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Feb 20, 2020 |
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Feb 20, 2020 11:07
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Vanilla posted:One option if you really want to keep your own phone number on is to buy a cheap phone in your home country, bring it, and just use it as a hot-spot provider for your main phones(or if you are traveling as a pair one of you keep the normal phone and the other use the SIM and hot-spot share). This is kind of risky as not all SIMs allow you to broadcast as a hotspot. I have no idea when that is or is not true, but historically it was quite common. I've come across this recently, although I live in Europe so I have no idea what the current EU status is on the legality of blocking internet sharing on phones.
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Feb 20, 2020 11:41
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Omne posted:Same question, but for Ireland. I'll be using my phone for navigation while driving, and the paltry amount of data AT&T offers as part of their Passport offering for international travel won't cut it. It's an iPhone Xs, bought through Apple and on the AT&T network. i don't have to pay for it as it's handled through work and there may be a cheaper option but i've used at&t's international day pass with no issues in japan, czech republic, and germany. it's a 10 dollar a day flat fee and i've gotten fast data speeds in all three countries.
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Feb 20, 2020 11:51
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Saladman posted:This is kind of risky as not all SIMs allow you to broadcast as a hotspot. I have no idea when that is or is not true, but historically it was quite common. I've come across this recently, although I live in Europe so I have no idea what the current EU status is on the legality of blocking internet sharing on phones. Yup - fair point. It used to be an issue a long time ago but less so the last 5 years+ here is a list of providers that let you tether in the UK https://kenstechtips.com/index.php/tethering-on-uk-networks 
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Feb 20, 2020 12:18
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Thauros posted:i don't have to pay for it as it's handled through work and there may be a cheaper option but i've used at&t's international day pass with no issues in japan, czech republic, and germany. it's a 10 dollar a day flat fee and i've gotten fast data speeds in all three countries. Yeah $10/day for data is absolute madness, in a lot of European countries I would expect to pay about 20 euros for a 30-day tourist SIM. For the two years I travelled in Europe I used a Three UK card which was 15 pounds/month for I think 3gb of data and unlimited calls/texts.
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Feb 20, 2020 12:19
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Yeah that's a lot. I'd probably use the 10$ a day for a long weekend where I couldn't be bothered switching SIM cards. In many countries you can do better with local SIMs. I I think in Bali I paid about $15 USD for 50GB and 30 days
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Feb 20, 2020 12:25
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webmeister posted:But I think that poster meant “mum can’t find the cat food” emergencies, not “bleeding to death in the road” emergencies. Yeah, this is more what I meant. Though the other info is good too. Thanks all.
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Feb 20, 2020 19:21
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I've got an 8-hour layover in Amsterdam on my way to Portugal because I am a dunce at booking flights. 1) Should I buy a SIM in Amsterdam or wait til I get to Portugal? How will recharges work if I have a Dutch SIM in Portugal? 2) What should I do for 8 hours (mid-morning to mid-afternoon)? I'll be jetlagged so I don't really feel like pushing myself and being super active would be a great idea, but sitting around Schiphol for 8 hours doesn't sound much better.
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Feb 21, 2020 03:47
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PT6A posted:I've got an 8-hour layover in Amsterdam on my way to Portugal because I am a dunce at booking flights. 1) Up to you, I dunno if either country makes it easier or harder for tourists to buy a SIM. A SIM bought in the Netherlands will work fine in Portugal. You shouldn't need to recharge it, and most tourist SIMs don't have recharge capability anyway. 2) Read back a page or two in the thread, Amsterdam is pretty well covered. From memory it's fairly quick from the city to Centraal via train so you'd have a good few hours to wander around and soak up the atmosphere.
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Feb 21, 2020 04:33
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Alternately just pay for lounge access and rest up. 8 hours is definitely enough time to go into town and walk around, but I guess it’d be weather-dependent and time of day dependent if that was worthwhile compared to your energy levels, unless there’s some specific site you wanted to see. Otherwise "seeing" Amsterdam is largey general atmosphere of the canals and such; I can’t think of any specific sites, other than museums, eg nothing like the Arc de Triomphe or the Pantheon where it’s a quick and specific architectural visit. There are some specific areas but it’s mostly walking around the streets and checking out shops and gawking, unlike say, Paris or Rome. But yeah no reason not to get a SIM in Amsterdam while you’re there, if it saves you anything in Portugal it would only be like €5-€10, and you’ll want that SIM anyway if you go into town. There’s a direct bus from the airport to Museumsplein which is super convenient as well. Saladman fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Feb 21, 2020 |
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Feb 21, 2020 07:24
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Doing admin-related things like getting a SIM will likely be easier in Amsterdam vs Portugal (depending on exactly where you go there) as the Dutch basically speak perfect English.
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Feb 21, 2020 08:19
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Lady Gaza posted:Doing admin-related things like getting a SIM will likely be easier in Amsterdam vs Portugal (depending on exactly where you go there) as the Dutch basically speak perfect English. It's insane they all speak like 4 languages fluently
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Feb 21, 2020 08:26
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theres a mini rijksmuseum at schiphol u can waste half an hour at
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Feb 21, 2020 13:08
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Saladman posted:Alternately just pay for lounge access and rest up. 8 hours is definitely enough time to go into town and walk around, but I guess it’d be weather-dependent and time of day dependent if that was worthwhile compared to your energy levels, unless there’s some specific site you wanted to see. Otherwise "seeing" Amsterdam is largey general atmosphere of the canals and such; I can’t think of any specific sites, other than museums, eg nothing like the Arc de Triomphe or the Pantheon where it’s a quick and specific architectural visit. There are some specific areas but it’s mostly walking around the streets and checking out shops and gawking, unlike say, Paris or Rome. I spent 6 hours in the airport lounge in Copenhagen and it was glorious. Free coffee/espresso, food and booze, wifi, etc. There are also signs that said please don't sleep and I noticed them when I got up from my 3 hour nap. A+ would recommend
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Feb 21, 2020 17:25
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Here's a random one that doesn't necessarily fit into the Europe thread, but hey we have enough frequent travelers here and we're on the topic anyway that it might make sense to ask: are normal Economy-class plebes like... permitted to just buy lounge access? Like, I travel reasonably frequently (within and without Europe) for work, but not nearly enough to qualify me for like... Lufthansa Senator status or anything. Can I still just randomly roll up to any old Star Alliance lounge and be like "yo, can I just buy my way in to your comfy lounge with nice bathrooms and free buffet/booze"? If so, what does that usually cost anyway? A buddy of mine gave me a free pass to the United lounge once at Heathrow and it was pretty fantastic, even if I didn't have a ton of time to spend there on my comparatively short layover. Drone fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Feb 21, 2020 |
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Feb 21, 2020 17:42
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I personally can't answer because we leached off my girlfriend's mom's membership. Also I forgot about the private comfy bathrooms which took up 30 minutes of my stay which also would recommend. Bring your laptop in.
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Feb 21, 2020 17:45
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kiimo posted:I spent 6 hours in the airport lounge in Copenhagen and it was glorious. Free coffee/espresso, food and booze, wifi, etc. There are also signs that said please don't sleep and I noticed them when I got up from my 3 hour nap. Absolutely. I don't know about the Star Alliance lounges, but the Priority Pass membership with 6 annual free lounge visits alone are almost worth the $140 I pay for my credit card's annual fee. I actually just looked up the membership for Priority Pass, and it costs US$99 for the basic membership alone without any free visits (US$32 per visit -- with higher membership fees if you travel more). Nothing like drinking sparkling wine at noon in an airport. The alcohol was unattended in Budapest so I made myself a makeshift martini when no one was waiting for a drink.
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Feb 21, 2020 17:58
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Yeah the copenhagen one had a full bar and no employees attending to it save the occasional person walking around collecting dishes. Beautiful. I made various coffee / whiskey concoctions before I conked out
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Feb 21, 2020 18:04
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The Toronto Pearson one had staff serving drinks, but I'm not surprised given Ontario's stringent liquor laws probably include airport lounges. Having said that, even though there's a coffee-making machine, the bartender also has access an actual espresso machine. It was really crowded when I was there, and I felt sorry for the older couple trying to find two seats together.
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Feb 21, 2020 18:25
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Drone posted:Here's a random one that doesn't necessarily fit into the Europe thread, but hey we have enough frequent travelers here and we're on the topic anyway that it might make sense to ask: are normal Economy-class plebes like... permitted to just buy lounge access? Usually yes, and typically around $50 to $75, but yeah if you want to use it a bunch you can buy membership outside of frequent flyer status. Sometimes peak hours in some lounges are members only, which is either purchased membership or status membership. The huge majority of my flights are directs or with connections that are short enough to make it not worthwhile even if free, but I buy access a couple times a year when I do have > 3 hr layovers. The complementary nice showers are a huge plus if it’s between two long intercontinental flights, it’s as good as an airport hotel and with the benefit of free food.
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Feb 21, 2020 18:42
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Drone posted:Here's a random one that doesn't necessarily fit into the Europe thread, but hey we have enough frequent travelers here and we're on the topic anyway that it might make sense to ask: are normal Economy-class plebes like... permitted to just buy lounge access? If you have money to spend, there’s someone to let you do that, particularly at airports. Most major international airports have pay-for-access lounges. I’ve used several airline specific lounges through business class flights for my job, and when I’ve had long layovers on holidays I’ve sometimes paid to access other longes. Totally worth it, even if for having somewhere quiet to sit.
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Feb 21, 2020 18:44
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Drone posted:Here's a random one that doesn't necessarily fit into the Europe thread, but hey we have enough frequent travelers here and we're on the topic anyway that it might make sense to ask: are normal Economy-class plebes like... permitted to just buy lounge access? At most airports you'll also find many private lounges which are all paid lounges. Some of these have annual memberships which permit unlimited, or a good number of, lounge entries per year. I know a few people at my company who have managed to expense these memberships under the guise that everything they eat or drink in an airport is going to be expensed anyway so why not pay for the lounge? Costs are reduced and they have somewhere quiet to work.
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Feb 21, 2020 18:47
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If you're heading to a lounge in an airport you've never been to, just make sure you look up where it is ahead of time. I found out way after going through security that the lounge in Frankfurt was before security. Had to pay for my own lunch and liquor like a schmuck.
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Feb 21, 2020 20:30
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I've done it both ways, since I do a decent amount of international business-class flying, and FWIW I've (generally, there are exceptions) found that the airline lounges tend to be nicer than the private ones, so if you can pay to get into those definitely do it. IME OneWorld lounges are also better than the StarAlliance ones, with the exception of Air New Zealand if you find yourself in NZ. Sleepinginairports.net usually has pretty comprehensive info about lounges in most airports. HookShot fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Feb 22, 2020 |
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Feb 22, 2020 01:09
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I decided to postpone Lisbon and go to Berlin instead, for five nights, April 6 to 11. Without specific plans, but I would like to visit some museums. I don't really have targeted questions, is the weather likely to be nice at that time? Is TXL really very bad, should I be worried?
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Feb 23, 2020 17:22
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Shy posted:I decided to postpone Lisbon and go to Berlin instead, for five nights, April 6 to 11. Without specific plans, but I would like to visit some museums. TXL is fine, it has some real WWII vibes and you probably wouldn't want to hang out there for 8 hours but I mean it's a fully functional airport it's just old and small.
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Feb 23, 2020 17:30
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It's cool, I was more worried about alleged issues with capacity and planning.
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Feb 23, 2020 17:36
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Ah fair enough. I didn't see any of those problems, but I can also understand how it could be a problem if they have too many flights coming in. It really is a small airport. It has way more character than basically any other airport I've ever been to, though, and I have been to airports that are way worse in every way than TXL.
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Feb 23, 2020 18:15
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HookShot posted:TXL is fine, it has some real WWII vibes and you probably wouldn't want to hang out there for 8 hours
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Feb 23, 2020 22:05
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Shy posted:It's cool, I was more worried about alleged issues with capacity and planning. No real issues, especially since you’re not transiting there. It’s way over capacity but if you have direct flights even that doesn’t really matter. It is a super weird airport layout, I’ve been to a lot of airports and I’ve never seen anything like it. It is a bad design for modern flying which will be immediately evident when you see the way the gates are structured (no terminals, but interesting enough and maybe made sense back in the 60s when flying was exotic, expensive, and way less crowded. vvv: i think the DB put paid to stereotypes of German transport efficiency years ago. German trains are now a regular joke I hear from many people independently telling me what a disaster they are, which has also been my experience. If you have to make a < 30 min connection in intercity trains then you’re screwed, better make sure there are more trains that day you can connect to. Saladman fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Feb 24, 2020 |
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Feb 23, 2020 22:08
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My Lovely Horse posted:bad news for anyone who checks their luggage then Has it really gotten that bad in the last few years? So much for German efficiency with the new airport that's now like fifteen years behind schedule or whatever.
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Feb 23, 2020 22:48
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It does have a reputation for being very slow with luggage returns and from my own experience on two separate occasions it's well deserved. Not literally 8 hours kind of slow, but definitely bring a book and maybe don't make appointments on the day you arrive.
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Feb 24, 2020 14:14
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The German train system was shockingly bad when coming from the Netherlands. I had never seen trains with a delay of over an hour before. I was used to trains running every 15 minutes between cities and towns, or every 30 minutes at worst, and every hour through the night, with the trains usually arriving on time or with only minor delays. When I was living in Saarland and travelling to various places like Frankfurt and Karlsruhe I regularly had 2-3 hour delays on these 2 hour trips. I remember arriving back almost at midnight due to having to take a local train that took twice as long because I missed a connection for some reason there were no more intercity trains in the evening or not at the time I needed. And just forget about the idea of night trains. No wonder everyone uses cars there. These days whenever I go to Germany I drive, unless it's something like Berlin. Missed connections due to delays were very frequent when traveling long distance too, but usually they let you take another train in that case which was sometimes a nicer and faster train, as long as you have a note from the conductor on your ticket.
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Feb 24, 2020 14:58
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Nice to see that Germany is taking a leaf out of the UK's railway book!
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Feb 24, 2020 15:53
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Hi, American here What is a "train"?
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