TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Phoning Home with no plan

Can I just code unlock my flip phone on verizon or do I need a local sim or a temporary vacation verizon plan? My cell is not a smart phone although we do have an Apple I phone with us. This is for 1 or 2 minute talk maybe 2 times, so dont want a plan just pay the rate. Or should go for a local plan. We have tried to research it but we are very tecky deprived from the phone booth era. Our room has wi-fi- does that help?
Calling our vendor doesn't help. Any help on this is helpful. -

Text the party you wish to speak with, ask them to call you. In most places there is no charge for the caller or the recipient.

even from bvi to usa? what about a voice call

Verizon has an international plan that is only $10 per day and only activated if you use it.

Thanks- yes I've researched and don't need much time or many calls. Over the years , the Verizon on VG was not available. If it were do I need to unlock my cell with their code? Does wi-fi help? Thanks for the assist.

Maybe tangential, but once we left the base, we are not getting any wifi. Apparently moorings has changed providers and there have been problems for weeks with no resolution in sight. Renport is gone from the base, and moorings acts like they never had any connection. And no one thought to mention any of this.

If you have WiFi simply enable WiFi calling on the IPhone. Keep the phone in airplane mode and call all you want.

A lot of the restaurants and stores have free WiFi. If you can be near one of these when you need to call, you can WiFi call.

Just download WhatsApp and have those you want to call in the US to do it also. Everyone in the BVI uses it and you can both call and text without cost (locally or internationally). Again, it's a closed system, so you can only communicate with those who are also on the app, so those that you wish to call will have to be on it as well.

Thanks GeorgeC1, Will give it a try- does the business with the wi-fi have to pay for my calls ?

Thanks Fitz- but the person in the States only has a land line- so I guess I will see if a wifi-call can come to him ???

If they have a public wifi I am sure they have unlimited data so no cost. I suspect you use less data than streaming video. If you have boat wifi it will also work in most anchorages.

Do I need to lock or unlock my cell , do I shut off or on roaming??? Thanks George C1

I would turn roaming off but as long as you are in airplane mode it doesn’t matter. Once in airplane mode log into your boat wifi or other wifi source. Under cellular in settings select wifi calling on. Place calls just like you always do with the phone. You can try it from home.

Just try wifi calling from home. Put your phone in airplane mode, turn on wifi calling, and make the phone call. Have the other person call you. While you are on your trip, the other person can call at any time. If you are not in a place that has wifi when they call, they will not be able to reach you.
Just spent 2 weeks in St Maarten using only wifi calling. My clients didn't even know I was there.

Thanks - I tried to call my friend in usa from usa and it said I can't make a call with airplane mode on- maybe it wants me to but in the network password with airplane mode on/ maybe off Not sure. Maybe this usa call from usa is not a good test for the BVI idea calling of wi-fi- maybe it is the same and maybe not. Any thoughts about this airplane mode and password thoughts? Thanks again.

George- the phone said to shut off airplane mode???? Do I need to give wifi password may be problem?

Try it with cellular turned off but leave airplane mode on. I think I gave you bad advice on the airplane mode. The key is you must disable cellular data and voice. I put my phone in airplane mode anytime in the BVI to avoid outrageous data charges so figured that would be the easiest to kill cellular. Forgot they don’t want people making calls on airplanes!

Thanks- I will try again today and report back.

Just got back from the Verizon office. Your suggestions and processes were right. Turn on Airplane mode, and put in the password for your wifi from where you are calling from. Thanks for all the consult. It looks like the land line I am calling will probably not get my wifi call even tho' that is through the uverse net on the server. Do you all know if the calling on the land line is copper or fiber and wont work? Thanks again for the great help.

I am currently in Nicaragua using wifi calling. I just called my home land line (which we don't usually use) that is part of our Verizion Fios package. The call went through fine.

You can download a VOIP app such as Vonage (then use vonage extensions for mobile) I use vonage to make calls to/from my villa on VG. Calls are free. Vonage Extensions uses your mobile phone to make calls again free.