Staying in touch with home during your FKK Club Tour
TELEPHONES
Prepaid plans are your best bet to stay in touch when on an FKK Club tour. Or, you can contact your cell phone provider before you depart and ask them to set up your phone for overseas use. Remember, Europe is on the GSM system so if your phone is CDMA or not GSM compatible, your phone won’t work.
It’s possible to buy a cheap phone at the airport when you arrive or at one of the Cell Phone provider stores in Germany. Another option is to buy an unlocked GSM phone on Ebay, Amazon or another internet seller before you travel.
Once you arrive in Germany, you can buy a GSM SIM card for one of the providers below. There are also secondary providers that sell less expensive GSM SIMS cards that you can insert into your unlocked phone. Gas stations, provider stores, Electronic stores, airports, train stations and even news stands sell add-on time. How it works; you go to a location and pay 10-50 Euros for your prepaid plan, you’re given a number (like a credit card number) which you use to add time to your prepaid phone.
PHONE NUMBERS
USA Numbers
USA numbers are 10 digits for example 213-555-5555
USA numbers; the first 3 digits is area code (213)
The second 3 numbers is the prefix
The last 4 numbers is the line number
German Numbers
Dialing and cost of calls is divided by cell phones and land-line (physical address) telephone numbers.
Land line Physical Numbers
Land-line numbers have an area code, which is anywhere between three to five digits, and anywhere from four to eight digits for the actual phone number.
Area codes are by city, not area.
Cell Phone Numbers (German Providers)
(Click on the provider logos to get to their websites)
E-Plus Usually the least expensive provider, however not the best network
E-Plus Prefixes 0157x, 0163, 0177, 0178
O2 Decent prices with a much better network
O2 Prefixes 0159x*, 0176, 0179
T Mobile, if you already use T Mobile in the U.S. your phone will work in Germany, good network but higher prices.
T Mobile Prefixes 0151x, 0160, 0170, 0171, 0175
Vodaphone, Good Network and average prices
Vodaphone Prefixes 0152x, 0162, 0172, 0173, 0174
DIALING INSTRUCTIONS
If you don’t have time, use this link to determine the numbers needed to make your call
Just enter the country you’re calling from and the country you’re calling.
International Telephone Numbers
CALLING THE USA FROM GERMANY
Use the international code and country code 00+1
When calling the U.S. from Germany, you would dial 00-1 then 213-555-5555
If somebody calls a German number from abroad the 0 is always omitted
(for both land-line and cellphone numbers).
When you call somebody who is in the same area code as you are, you can omit the area code.
CALLING GERMANY
Use the international code and country code 011+49
When calling Germany from the USA, you would dial 001-49 then 174-80515XX
If somebody calls a German number from abroad, the 0 is always omitted
(for both land-line and cellphone numbers).
INTERNET AND TEXT MESSAGES (SMS)
Providers above also offer pre-paid packages with internet and SMS.
Make sure the GSM phone you acquire is suitable to handle internet or has
a keyboard for SMS.
04/05/17 J