US cell phone works in Punta Cana???

[twincactus]

Not just the iphone...any 'smart phone', androids and crackberry included included. I don't even trust 'airplane mode'. Go into the menu and disable all data roaming. No internet, no satnav, no email, no nothing. Just phone calls and texts. Leave it on the charger and check it twice daily for important stuff. A $20 Claro phone and the occassional $250RD card has kept me in the loop for years.

GF wants to phone stalk me to make sure I'm not having a good time? Go ahead, I've got free incoming and she's got a $300US bill. That only happened once LOL.

Sorry but this just isn't true for everyone. I have an HTC EVO android phone with Sprint and I use it every time I go to Santiago to see my wife. I usually stay for 10 or 11 days and my bills have been about $80-100 using the data ALL the time. I have a translator app I use very frequently when I need to look up a word and I have never had a large bill. I don't know if it's the carrier or what the deal is but just wanted to say some phones are OK. To be clear, I made very few voice calls on the phone but I DID make a few and still the bill wasn't that bad.

-Tim

 

[cobraboy]

Not just the iphone...any 'smart phone', androids and crackberry included included. I don't even trust 'airplane mode'. Go into the menu and disable all data roaming. No internet, no satnav, no email, no nothing. Just phone calls and texts.

The dirty little trick on data-which is extremely expensive-is the phone companies ping your phone to make sure it's there and then charge you for the data packet. Hundreds per minute.

I left my old crackberry on data on one trip and went home to a $450+ bill for 2 weeks. And I made like 10 calls, maybe the same # of texts, and only one to the states. I asked AT&T for a full printout of my data use and there it was, in black and white, pings every few seconds with small data packs. And BTW, this was on the old Verizon, not Orange. Verizon then was the default carrier.

No mas.

 

[curlando]

I used my US cell phone just to read my four text messages from the US last year. Verizon charged me around $10.00 just to read text messages. At one time Verizon didn't charge for receiving text messages. I just keep my cell phone off until I arrive at JFK.
I have been with Verizon for about 11 years but there are other cell phone providers that offer more for your buck. It's time to move on to Boost or Metro PCS.

 

[CaptnGlenn]

RE: all of the above. The cell companies are bigger criminals than the drug cartels. Those practices should be illegal.

 

[ExtremeR]

Not just the iphone...any 'smart phone', androids and crackberry included included. I don't even trust 'airplane mode'. Go into the menu and disable all data roaming. No internet, no satnav, no email, no nothing. Just phone calls and texts. Leave it on the charger and check it twice daily for important stuff. A $20 Claro phone and the occassional $250RD card has kept me in the loop for years.

GF wants to phone stalk me to make sure I'm not having a good time? Go ahead, I've got free incoming and she's got a $300US bill. That only happened once LOL.

I just shut them down.

 

[Los Lobos]

Find a place with free WIFI then data is free and no roaming at least with ATT which uses Orange Network. Add the international plan for $5 bucks a month and cancel when you return. Alot cheaper than the bill you would get w/o it. Two weeks in SDQ phone on all time 50 txt and a few calls to the bank and my bill was $30 more than usual. But the first time I learned the hard way no intl plan an bill was 150 more than usual.

 

[edm7583]

All I phones have a switch to turn off data roaming. There's no need to power off the phone or put it in airplane mode. You'll only get charged for calls or texts made on the roaming network. (With AT&T roaming plan $1.69 per minute and $.50 for texts.. so I don't use it that much. ) Connect to a wifi network on your i phone to make phone calls, check email, etc. with options like Google Voice, Talkatone, etc. and talk away. Free to the USA, 11 cents a minute for Dominican numbers.

AT&T gives you fair warning by sending me a free message when powering on my phone after landing in the DR:

AT&T free message. International data rate of $19.97/Mb applies. Domestic data rate does NOT apply in this location.

 

[augustus]

Find a place with free WIFI then data is free and no roaming at least with ATT which uses Orange Network. Add the international plan for $5 bucks a month and cancel when you return. Alot cheaper than the bill you would get w/o it. Two weeks in SDQ phone on all time 50 txt and a few calls to the bank and my bill was $30 more than usual. But the first time I learned the hard way no intl plan an bill was 150 more than usual.

I have always had international calling plan with AT&T and upon returning home to USA had to negotiate it down to a few hundred $'s after a 3 week vacation and when I was with Sprint prior, I was told I had international free roaming by one of their operators and came home to a 5 hundred dollar billing..............so yes I am paranoid..........and for good reasons ..... I prefer to learn from other people's mistakes,

but learn even better when they are mine..............so be careful .

Told by AT&T recently, that if phone is in DR and not cut off, I mine as well answer all calls, missed or not, because I will be charged for them, which I was..................

 

[ExtremeR]

All I phones have a switch to turn off data roaming. There's no need to power off the phone or put it in airplane mode. You'll only get charged for calls or texts made on the roaming network. (With AT&T roaming plan $1.69 per minute and $.50 for texts.. so I don't use it that much. ) Connect to a wifi network on your i phone to make phone calls, check email, etc. with options like Google Voice, Talkatone, etc. and talk away. Free to the USA, 11 cents a minute for Dominican numbers.

AT&T gives you fair warning by sending me a free message when powering on my phone after landing in the DR:

AT&T free message. International data rate of $19.97/Mb applies. Domestic data rate does NOT apply in this location.

That's effing outrageous...

 

[JennK]

I had TMobile and it was quite expensive on roaming.

 

[Zap28]

I'm from Canada & was in Punta Cana this past January. I used my phone once to call home to say we had arrived & tell my kids I loved them. I made 2 calls back to PC when I was back home & the three calls combined (total of 35-40 mins total) cost me about $75.00 (Canadian Dollars) which blew MY mind b/c it seemed outrageous. But I guess I was kinda lucky? lol

I brought my daughter's notebook with me and emailed rather than call b/c it was free WiFi in the lobby where I was staying & it fit perfectly in the in-room safe.

 

[windeguy]

Next time sign up for Google Voice and call back home for free if you are from the US and Canada using your computer.

NetTalkDuo and MagicJack are other money saving alternatives.

 

[william webster]

What is the rate on CLARO for calls to the US/Canada from RD?

I just dial from my RD phone (prepaid SIM) and don't find it too expensive.

As was mentioned here earlier, just get a prepaid card and dial out.

Bring an old, unlocked phone from US/Canada or buy a cheapie-cheapie when here.

 

[SKY]

What is the rate on CLARO for calls to the US/Canada from RD?

I just dial from my RD phone (prepaid SIM) and don't find it too expensive.

As was mentioned here earlier, just get a prepaid card and dial out.

Bring an old, unlocked phone from US/Canada or buy a cheapie-cheapie when here.

The rate to call the US with a cell phone card is the same as the rate for a local call in the DR. It is about 7 pesos per minute with Claro.

 

[william webster]

The rate to call the US with a cell phone card is the same as the rate for a local call in the DR. It is about 7 pesos per minute with Claro.

Thats what i thought.
I don't find that expensive, especially compared to these roaming charges that appear from nowhere.

5 minutes is about 35 pesos = ~$1