International Phone Calls from the Cooks

We are traveling to the Cooks in early July for 3 1/2 weeks and then moving on to NZ for another 2 weeks. During this time my husband plans to work about 4 hours per week. He may need to be on the phone for about 2 hours to the USA each week, and a couple of hours on the internet. Any recommendations for a cost effective way to do that. When we've traveled before we have been able to take a cell phone with sim cards and call from anywhere (including the jungles of Borneo!) but all the companies I'v contacted do not offer service in the Cooks and a Satalite phone is expensive. Any idea would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Has our society really and truly come to this? You go on holidays and you still have to work? I find this very, very sad.

If I ever, ever had an employer that would require me to "work" whilst on vacation, I would tell him to hit the road.

As for an answer to your question, I couldn't tell you. All that I know is when I was in the Cooks several years ago it was uber expensive to phone out... landline or not. Internet access also was not cheap.

Maybe it would be a wonderful thing if he couldn't connect/work and could just enjoy his trip.

Well it would be nice to take the trips we do and not work at all, but as yet have not found a way to do that. We are a family of 4 and we do travel about 8 weeks a year total. This trip will be 51/2 weeks. We are very thankful to do so, as many people on this planet would love to have the "problem" of working some of the weeks for 4 hours per week. Since my husband ownes the company and supports a family he (rightly or wrongly) feels that sometimes while away he needs to "guide the ship" so to speak as his employees and their families depend on that guidance for their livelihood.

When I was visiting the Cooks last year the only way I was able to call home to the USA was using a "Kia Orana" calling card which was something like 2 bucks a minute and on sale most places on Raro. They won't even let you call the USA collect except between certain hours. I had a travel insurance issue I had to manage and the cost went sky high. I know you can get a GSM SIM but am sure the rate are even worse. Good luck

You could look into buying an IP phone. If you can find an internet source, you can plug your phone into it and make unlimited calls to the US. I use it when I travel national and internationally. It has never let me down even in the most remote locations. Bottom line is if you can find an internet source you can make phone calls. I am currently planning a 2-3month trip through OZ,NZ,and the Cooks and plan on bringing my phone with me. I also sell the phone, check out my website jtorsch.acnrep.com

P.S. This phone is perfect for any US based international travel because you can buy this phone with a US phone number and use it anywhere in the world to make unlimited calls to the US for $30 a month.

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I was in the Cooks in Dec 08. The only high-speed line I could find in Raro was at the Telecom Cook Islands office. Every other service was approx equal to a 57K dial up. Even though "high-speed" service was advertised. Same on Aitutaki Internet shops and private lines on Atiu, Mauke & Mitiaro.

I think the only possibility for VOIP in the Cooks is the TCI Internet service in Raro. I'm not sure how they might feel about you hooking up your Internet phone there.

I'd recommend the Kia Orana card.