3/17/2005

Okay guys, what, where, and how do you guys want to meet?

I'll be at the Munich Marriot on the afternoon of 3/16/2005.

I was planning to get to the delivery center bright and early, probably breakfast time when they open.

Anybody want to meet up on the 16th evening or meet at the delivery center???

Hi RChoudry -

We'll be at the Marriott on the 16th and picking up bright and early on the 17th too. I'm all for a meeting, especially since we won't be around for the festivities on the evening of the 17th.

I've sent you a PM.

TVN

hey there,

I'll be in touch with you soon by email. Definitely meet up at the Marriot.

The thread title says the 17th. I'll be arriving that day ~ 1pm and just heading for the Marriott, so will be there in the afternoon of the 17th and in the evening for a get together.

Rashad, if we don't see you on the 17th, I was hoping you might be around at Regensburg after your tour / before mine so we could meet up for a 'hello'.

Originally Posted by e36M3r

The thread title says the 17th. I'll be arriving that day ~ 1pm and just heading for the Marriott, so will be there in the afternoon of the 17th and in the evening for a get together.

Rashad, if we don't see you on the 17th, I was hoping you might be around at Regensburg after your tour / before mine so we could meet up for a 'hello'.

Same question....

My understanding was an evening get together on 3/17 at 7pm at the Marriot bar "Champions" - The American Sports Bar.

Yes,

We will definitely meet up.

It's a shame our cell phones will be off limits while over there; otherwise communication would be easy.

We should have a "bimmerfest" check-in at the hotel or delivery center and each person notes a way to get a hold of them to tell where folks will be meeting up that night.

PittBMW: Yes, Champions sports bar, Marriott, 17, ~ 7pm. Will you be able to leave a sign-in sheet at the Delivery Center?

I may have a phone # in Germany, I'll email it. I'm bringing my phone and have a Sim card which we have a # for, but no experience if it works. Right Bee?

Originally Posted by e36M3r

PittBMW: Yes, Champions sports bar, Marriott, 17, ~ 7pm. Will you be able to leave a sign-in sheet at the Delivery Center?

I may have a phone # in Germany, I'll email it. I'm bringing my phone and have a Sim card which we have a # for, but no experience if it works. Right Bee?

Yes, I will leave a 'sign-in book' at the delivery center.

I will have a phone number (planning to buy a sim card there). Will PM you guys if I get a chance after reaching there.

See you all on the 17th evening.

Originally Posted by e36M3r

PittBMW: Yes, Champions sports bar, Marriott, 17, ~ 7pm. Will you be able to leave a sign-in sheet at the Delivery Center?

I may have a phone # in Germany, I'll email it. I'm bringing my phone and have a Sim card which we have a # for, but no experience if it works. Right Bee?

Bee will probably know better. If you have an unlocked tri-band phone, all you need is the sim card. My Sony Ericcsson worked fine in the UK last Christmas. I am taking my T-mobile phones. I can use them all over Europe with my US numbers, without changing sim cards. It only costs about $1/min. Make sure you take plenty of pictures, & have fun.

Originally Posted by e36M3r

.....and have a Sim card which we have a # for, but no experience if it works. Right Bee?

Ja!!

Sounds lke you guys/gals are gonna have fun there!! If I may suggest for purpose of communication:

1) FRS radio works excellent out there and the range is pretty impressive. As long as everyone is tuned in on the same channel (say 1.0 for simplicity purpose). I know these days every household has a couple of these walkie-talkie radio.

2) Leave message with the concierge/front desk. (i.e. PittBMW, I am the fat guy sitting on the corner driking by myself wearing the America flag T-Shirt , Look for me!!! )

Have fun fellas!!

beewang

Originally Posted by Alstoy

Bee will probably know better. If you have an unlocked tri-band phone, all you need is the sim card. My Sony Ericcsson worked fine in the UK last Christmas. I am taking my T-mobile phones. I can use them all over Europe with my US numbers, without changing sim cards. It only costs about $1/min. Make sure you take plenty of pictures, & have fun.

T-mobile works great in Europe. As soon as you land your phone displays the local carrier and changes from country to country. It works out cheaper at $1/min than getting a European sim for at least $50, you can use 50minutes for the same price on your own phone. If you don't have cingulair or t-mobile then you have to buy the sim and take a world phone from here. Beware of people from the US calling you if they don't know you are in Europe and racking your phone bill, your caller ID works so you can screen the calls.

Originally Posted by yamilrx

.... Beware of people from the US calling you if they don't know you are in Europe and racking your phone bill, your caller ID works so you can screen the calls....

Sorry Yamilrx... that will NOT work!!

Pay attention here fellas because THIS IS IMPORTANT!!

Assuming that you told T-mobile to activate your phone/number to WorldClass service prior to your depature (this is very important! because your t-mobile phone will NOT work overseas due to fraud and security purpose. T-Mobile requires you to do this step here in the stateside. Otherwise you might as well leave it at home because your phone will NOT work and is as good as dead ) Your Tmobile phone will work there. HOWEVER if your phone rang and you choose NOT to answer (or force to call to goto vice mail) EACH MINUTE that person is on voicemail you will be charges at the prevailing international rate!! If its one of those accidet calls and the caller isn't is aware s/he is calling you (you know what I am talking about, you get a long a$$ message from someone who isn't aware of s/he is calling you) that could be very costly lesson.

The only way to avoid being charged at 99cents per minute on voice mail is to have your phone turned off. My point is: As long as your phone is on and someone calls you, you might as well pick it up!! it will cost you regardless.

hope this helps,

beewang

Bee,

Any suggestions on buying a sim card in Munich? Where(at the airport?) and which one?

I have an unlocked GSM phone I got on ebay and I will be travelling to Austria and Italy.

Originally Posted by PittBMW

Bee,

Any suggestions on buying a sim card in Munich? Where(at the airport?) and which one?

I have an unlocked GSM phone I got on ebay and I will be travelling to Austria and Italy.

Sorry... but no... I bought mine (which e36M3r is borrowing) at the T-mobile/ T-punkt store (which is everywhere) for 45 Euros and it comes with 15 euros of credit. Not the cheapest way to communicate, but it is the only way if you want to have a phone number that others can call you.

Originally Posted by beewang

Sorry... but no... I bought mine (which e36M3r is borrowing) at the T-mobile/ T-punkt store (which is everywhere) for 45 Euros and it comes with 15 euros of credit. Not the cheapest way to communicate, but it is the only way if you want to have a phone number that others can call you.

Thanks dude.

It also helps to have a cell phone with all the travel and ofcourse the free incoming calls. Can have the family call us anytime while we are there.

Thanks for the tips Bee. I just called Cingular... here's what I found out.

The MASTER BEE is correct!

She recommended I turn off voice mail while traveling otherwise calls that ring go thru their system and are re-routed back and charged the whole lenght of the voicemail.

Also discovered when I just recently switched from ATT to Cingular, they automatically added a $3.99 per month charge for "low cost Euro talk" @ $1.29 per minute. They have another plan for $5.99 per month which gives you $.99 per minute in Western Europe. I signed up for that, and they said I could cancel it when I get back.

Finally, in the tradition of this board I saved some $$$. My wife misplaced her phone a few weeks ago, and after not finding it for two days we suspended her #. Then she found the phone the next day We reinstated the number. I just got my bill yesterday and there was a $36.00 charge for that. Since I had Cingular on the phone, I mentioned that to her, and she removed the charge!

of course, I have Sprint!

Assuming that you told T-mobile to activate your phone/number to WorldClass service prior to your depature (this is very important! because your t-mobile phone will NOT work overseas due to fraud and security purpose. T-Mobile requires you to do this step here in the stateside.

Thanks for the info Bee. I knew about activating world roaming part, but I was unaware about the voicemail charges. I always thought that they would charge you if you accessed your voicemail from overseas, not it they leave a message and you don't bother getting it. That is a good point I'll have to contact T-mobile to see how I can turn off the voicemail function temporarily since I need to keep the phone on for family in Europe to contact me for pickup in Munich airport.

Originally Posted by PittBMW

Thanks dude.

It also helps to have a cell phone with all the travel and ofcourse the free incoming calls. Can have the family call us anytime while we are there.

They charge you for incoming or outgoing calls at the same rate, at least T-mobile does(.99cents/min)

Originally Posted by yamilrx

They charge you for incoming or outgoing calls at the same rate, at least T-mobile does(.99cents/min)

I currently have Sprint. My best alternative was to take an unlocked cell phone and buy a sim card there. This way I get incoming calls free.

Originally Posted by RChoudry

Yes,

We will definitely meet up.

It's a shame our cell phones will be off limits while over there; otherwise communication would be easy.

We should have a "bimmerfest" check-in at the hotel or delivery center and each person notes a way to get a hold of them to tell where folks will be meeting up that night.

I'll be staying at the at the Holiday Inn (no Marriott for me...) but I will certainly do my best to try and make it down to the Marriott. If the aforementioned list is at the Marriott make sure to indicate who or what to look for as I imagine the bar might be a bit crowded being St. Patrick's day and all...

bmills

Originally Posted by PittBMW

Bee,

Any suggestions on buying a sim card in Munich? Where(at the airport?) and which one?

I have an unlocked GSM phone I got on ebay and I will be travelling to Austria and Italy.

I love Bee's idea about the radios-I'll take a set as a back up. Can you guys just see it-a bunch of brand spanking new BMW's out in Munich at the same time, with all the drivers talking into radios. What a sight.

Don't know about Munich, but for the most part I've always found airports the best place to buy sims. It's more convenient in that you don't have to be out in a new town looking for a phone store. Check to see if you can get a sim with a carrier that covers the countries you will be in.

Originally Posted by beewang

Sorry Yamilrx... that will NOT work!!


The only way to avoid being charged at 99cents per minute on voice mail is to have your phone turned off. My point is: As long as your phone is on and someone calls you, you might as well pick it up!! it will cost you regardless.

hope this helps,

beewang

Bee you are 100% on the money. I called T-mobile and I was told the same thing about charges and voicemail. The best thing to do is either turn off the phone or answer the call b/c if they leave you a long a#$ voicemail message your charges will accrue. The charge is still reasonable at .99cents/minute considering you are roaming accross the world. These charges apply for most of Europe, at least the countries I'll be crossing through(Germany,France, Italy).

Originally Posted by Alstoy

Don't know about Munich, but for the most part I've always found airports the best place to buy sims. It's more convenient in that you don't have to be out in a new town looking for a phone store. Check to see if you can get a sim with a carrier that covers the countries you will be in.

I don't think you have to worry about looking for phone stores. They are EVERYWHERE in Europe. Get out at MarienPlatz in Munich and you will find more phone stores than you can shake a stick at.

you guys excited yet?

see everybody in a few days.

I leave tomorrow evening for Munich!!