Gella

Mother-In-Law is 86 and there is no internet in her sheltered housing so facetime is not an option. Anyone know cheapest way to phone? Husband does have a Saudi sim card and I will be getting one as soon as I land.

Englishmum

My mum (in England) doesn’t have a computer/tablet/internet in her home and doesn’t want to go online.

When I phone her (either on her mobile or her landline) I just use Skype. You just buy some credit, say 20 pounds - it lasts for ages - and can make phone calls from your tablet/computer/mobile phone using the Skype App, by going to the dialling pad.

There are probably other ones too, Vonage is one I think, but I’ve been using Skype for a few years now and it’s very easy and convenient.

Johnnyboy11

Skype subscription: United Kingdom 400 mins mobiles and landlines - 1 month - £5

There are others to choose from, but this one suits me just fine.

Millhouse

Seems like a punishment.

DXBtoDOH

Tell me about your mother in law, Millhouse.

Millhouse

why?

DXBtoDOH

Because I'm curious why you think it's a punishment.

archie159

Some Gulf countries (certainly the UAE, not sure about Saudi) try to block "skype-out" calls from Skype to overseas landlines. The way to get around that is to install a VPN, but best done before you depart from the UK.

Pulaski

Other VoIP services may be cheaper. The cheapest countries are generally the ones with the biggest data connections, so for the UK that'd be Europe, North America, and Oz/NZ, and typically run around 1p-2p/minute.

I am not sure if VoIP exists from Saudi Arabia (Google won't find me any service providers in Saudi Arabia, but FWIW VoIP calls to Saudi run around €0.10 or $0.10/minute), so a VPN might be necessary. If you can set up a VPN to access a VoIP service in the UK, then the cost to call a landline in the UK should be close to the minimum cost for VoIP calls, of around 1p/minute.

If you can access Skype without a VPN then it might be the cheapest option, but if you need a VPN either way, and all you need is voice call capability, then a VoIP service such as Planet Talk may be cheaper.

Gella

Many thanks to all the above including the joker - expected that.
Will get down to sorting this this week as I will be shipped out of UK the following week. Sad to leave the beauty of the UK, but some sun will be welcome.

scrubbedexpat141

Just use the husbands work phone? Surely they cover the cost?

Gella

Mother-in-law has been known to talk for nearly an hour, Scamp!!! Don't think I'll get away with that.

scrubbedexpat141

No internet in her sheltered housing either? She'd be better off in Saudi with you.

You may find good home phone deals for international calls with any landline / TV / internet package when you're in KSA.

UKCityGent

I use MobileVoip - top it up with Euro10 and landline calls to UK are free ..

nonthaburi

I use dingtone, it has the option of an internet call to real phone numbers which is very cheap, or a more costly, but still cheap calling service.

Credit seems to last for ages.