Can someone suggest a good US cellphone plan to call and text to Philippines?

[X Factor 1,112]

My vote would be Viber.

We use that to call and text family in the Philippines...for free. The app uses our home wifi internet connection. It does not affect the minutes allotted by your cell phone carrier. The receiver in the Philippines doesn't even need to have load on the phone to receive calls/texts. The quality of the calls are even better than most calling cards I have used in the past.

Our cell phone plan is prepaid with Virgin Mobile ($35/month). IMHO, I believe they offer the most for the price...300 minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data (2.5GB, actually). Best of all, no contracts. I do hate contracts...

As long as Viber is free, I'm never looking back to calling cards.

This looks like an awesome option. So my mother-in-law in the Phil has download viber to her phone for this to work?

[Markieboy 104]

This looks like an awesome option. So my mother-in-law in the Phil has download viber to her phone for this to work?

Not necessarily. If the person you're calling does not have Viber, then the call will be placed as a regular call. Meaning, the caller will be charged (rates depend on the cell phone plan). However, it will be free for the receiver in the Philippines.

Best option...would be both caller and receiver have the app on phone. Then, use wifi. That way, it will be completely free (assuming you're within data caps ).

[Mogambi 96]

For texting at least, I switched my cell phone plan to MetroPCS. For $50 a month flat, including taxes, I get unlimited US calling, unlimited data, and more importantly, unlimited international texting! I have two OFW Sim Cards I got in the Philippines that I have in a cheapo $30 eBay cell phone. One is Globe and the other Smart.

This way, my fiancé can send a free text to either my Smart or Globe (she has both in her dual dim phone), and I reply on my US phone, which has free texts to her. Maybe not the most elegant solution, every few months she loads p100 onto my cards there just to keep them from expiring.

As for voice, it seems most plans are about the same, Skype 'Phone' calls, Ooma, Vonage, Pennytalk, all seem to charge around .20 a minute US for calls. I use Ooma, and it's marginally reliable. Connects about 75% of the time to her cell phone.

If we figured out the cost per minute, I'm certain it would be cheaper for her to just call me on her cell phone from there, the prices are a lot less than .20 a minute I'm sure.

But she'll be here in a month, so once she's here, I'll set her up on MetroPCS so she can send unlimited texts home, and then I'll switch back to Verizon and get a spiffy new iPhone

[AbbynSheryl 0]

Hey if u get a plan with cricket they have unlimited text to philippines free and the plan is only $55.00 with unlimited talk, u can check the website for cricket. and the long distance to philippines i use the magic jack and i registered the magic jack with my local phone number and area code and now we use it in philippines and all the call are free and i also use the boss revolution card for philippines calling it is about 2 hours for $10.00 and now matter how many calls you make. good luck.

[RyRo 47]

For calling me use Magic Jack it only cost about $70 good for 5 years and for texting they can use Chikka for smartphones in here in PI they offer an unlimited text for 24 hours for only 20 pesos

[A and T 82]

Its almost cheaper to get her family back home internet access , and then use skype to skype

[Dolly&Dan 11]

I bought my fiance magic Jack plus and a laptop for her home. Depending on where she lives you can get her and yourself a Android Phone or IPhone. I have unlimited data with sprint. I bought her a smart Bro stick with WiFi. Some areas the globe tattoo stick with WiFi works better. You can also just buy the non WiFi stick which is cheaper and place the sim in her android phone.When around WiFi at home or mall you can just connect to it also. We use Skype , Yahoo, and Viber. You can text back and forth on Viber or message on ym or Skype all day free. It is amazing how you can talk and text for free all day long. Viber is amazing but the app does crash a bit but we just call right back.Works awesome for us. We literally call and text all day long for free. There is the occasions when her internet is a little sketchy but can't beat it for all the free calls and text.

[sparkygirl 6]

Hi,

My wife needs a new cellphone and plan to talk and text back home. Can anyone give me a little information about a good plan? Thanks!

my husband is using AT&T's prepaid plan, pays $50 a month and has unlimited mins, text (local and international) and data service. I use globe duo international promo, i pay 999 pesos a month. globe provider assigns me a US local number. and since my husband has unlimited minutes, he doesnt get charged for it and we can talk like forever till the phones burn our ears. however, if i call him i get charged international charges. so what we do is he just call me whenever wherever and the signal is pretty clear, and the plus point is theres no need for an internet connection for it to work. I use globe's text all promo, i get 100 international text msgs for only 30 pesos so my husband doesnt really get charged anything extra for the international calls or international texts he sends and receives.

Edited July 4, 2012 by sparkygirl

[X Factor 1,112]

my husband is using AT&T's prepaid plan, pays $50 a month and has unlimited mins, text (local and international) and data service. I use globe duo international promo, i pay 999 pesos a month. globe provider assigns me a US local number. and since my husband has unlimited minutes, he doesnt get charged for it and we can talk like forever till the phones burn our ears. however, if i call him i get charged international charges. so what we do is he just call me whenever wherever and the signal is pretty clear, and the plus point is theres no need for an internet connection for it to work. I use globe's text all promo, i get 100 international text msgs for only 30 pesos so my husband doesnt really get charged anything extra for the international calls or international texts he sends and receives.

This is an exciting option if there is no internet. My fiancee's family live in Kidapawa - South Philippines. Is the Globe duo international promo available in that area? Just curious.

[sparkygirl 6]

This is an exciting option if there is no internet. My fiancee's family live in Kidapawa - South Philippines. Is the Globe duo international promo available in that area? Just curious.

as long as there is a globe signal in their area then it should have it

[cardilene 26]

Invest to an apple product like iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you can install Viber on them, not to mention FACETIME, as well as iMessage, if you are not a fan of apple, then invest to any android unit and have Viber installed,.. Good Luck

[X Factor 1,112]

as long as there is a globe signal in their area then it should have it

Thanks

[X Factor 1,112]

Invest to an apple product like iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you can install Viber on them, not to mention FACETIME, as well as iMessage, if you are not a fan of apple, then invest to any android unit and have Viber installed,.. Good Luck

I am not an apple guy but an android unit will be fine for me. Great tips provided in this thread.

[journey4life 0]

Sprint also has unlimited text to philippines in and out going. They also have calling plan .

[Mark&Fatima 14]

I've used Americacalls.us for over a year and a half now. It's $40 a month. They sent my wife a sim that she put in her phone and I call a local number. It's then forwarded to that sim. It's unlimited calling so it's saved us a lot of money. If we were always at our computers then I would go with what others have mentioned (skype, google talk, etc). For texting, I added unlimited international texting through Cricket for an extra $5 a month to my plan.