S2 will be attending Oxford for a Masters program in the fall and last night we were discussing cell phone options. There are some internet discussions on the topic, but I would love to hear from any CC folks with experience in this area.
He has iPhone and is currently on our AT&T account. He will be in the UK for about 10 months.
We are just starting to think about this upcoming adventure, so other tips also welcome. (banks, train/bus cards, etc)
He’ll need to get a UK phone number - literally no one is going to call a US number because it’s so expensive. Get the phone unlocked (so he can put a SIM card in it from any network). I’d recommend giffgaff, which does very cheap deals on a rolling 30 day basis, which avoids any problems with a 12 / 18 / 24 month contract. Giffgaff is very popular with students.
If he has any plans to see other parts of the UK while he’s there, I’d strongly recommend getting a 16-25 railcard, which gives a third off all rail fares, and it will easily pay for itself. There is a coachcard equivalent, but that’s only valid with one company (National Express, which is a bit like Greyhound, minus the stigma) and coaches take substantially longer. Trains in the UK are generally very good - if you want to see times and fares, see www.nationalrail.co.uk
On the subject of travel, he’ll want to buy a bicycle when he’s in Oxford. It’s the main mode of transport for most students in Oxford (and many others e.g. 17% of working people in Oxford commute by bike), and with good reason. I’d suggest buying a reasonable second hand bike and selling it on when he leaves.
This is a good guide to UK student bank accounts http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/Student-bank-account (some will even give you a free railcard).
@boomting - Thanks for the great advice and for the link on banking. So much to think about.
@Kajon no problem - I’m happy to help 
Just go and purchase a cheap phone on arrival. UK phone costs are generally much cheaper than the US because the receiver does not pay anything. There is a branch of “Car Phone Warehouse” in Cornmarket street for example.
I am really not sure a bicycle is a good idea. A student died in a cycling accident in my first few weeks at Oxford and I decided that cycling was not for me. Think about cycling on the other side of the road in very heavy traffic with lots of buses and roundabouts. Unless the student is living very far from the centre (which is pretty unlikely) cycling will probably not be necessary.
Thanks @cupcake
As for the bicycling…he has very long legs so doesn’t need to take as many steps as most. He is probably too long for the college beds. (he is 6’6" / 198 centimeters!)
DS just got back from undergraduate admissions interview at Oxford. In preparation for the trip, we bought a UK SIM card on Ebay. The brand we bought, came with 10 Pounds credit on it, and we were able to activate here in the US before he left. In that way, we already knew what his UK telephone number would be in advance. We bought on the Three network; they have a 30 lb/month rate which gives unlimited phone/text/data with no contract required. Top Ups can be bought at any tobacco/convenience store–like our Seven-Eleven or equivalent.
He was able to Facetime us using his Apple device using the college’s free Wifi without using any data allowance.
One additional issue, suggested by boomting’s first post on this thread–is tranferring money to your student may be easier if you deposit money into a bank that has both US and UK operations. HSBC may fill that bill.
Congrats to your son!
fyi, if gets/makes an offer L30/month will seem like way too much- ours has been on a L7/month no-contract plan for the last 2 years. With city-wide wi-fi and skype they don’t use much data or phone.
Second the recommendation for HSBC, but if you don’t already have an account there it’s really not hard to do the transfers.
More good ideas…thank you! @JesusWept - good luck to your son.
First on the bank. There is no HBSC or Barclays in our state so am trying to learn if we can have an account in a different state.
On Friday we tried wiring the deposit (15% for his program - yikes) via the Western Union Oxford link. Our bank (US Bank) would not allow it to go through because of a policy limiting wires from their bank to $7000 per transaction. (Terror risk related) They told my H he could take the $8000 cash to a less than desirable part of town to the main Western Union location. He opted to not take that walk and therefore skip the Oxford wire transfer link. So setting up an account with a UK bank is at the top of our list.
Phone - I am due for an upgrade on my iPhone and am wondering if I can give him my iPhone 5 and have the sim card removed. Sounds cheaper than getting him a smart phone. Since he sill only be there for a one year, he wants to keep put his current number “on hold” with AT&T.
Over winter break, he and I are going to Oxford to get a feel of the place and to narrow down which college he wants to apply to. I am looking forward to this mother / son adventure.
When you travel to Oxford, you may want to get the Airline Bus from Heathrow to Oxford. Very convenient and easy. Also, if you are traveling between London and Oxford, there are both trains from Oxford to London Paddington Station and buses from Oxford Gloucester Green bus station to several stops in London. Actually, just Google your “point A” to “point b” and you will get accurate and usable directions for buses, trains, subways, and various combinations thereof.
Regarding the cell phone, if ATT is requested to do so, they can unlock your iPhone so that it can be used with the appropriate sized SIM card from another carrier. Then you can buy SIM card in advance as I suggested, or pick one up during your upcoming visit at one of the brick and mortar stores in Oxford. They also have a SIM card store in the arrivals hall at Heathrow, but they will charge you for SIM cards which are given out for free at various cellular network stores in the UK.
This is poppycock- if your bank isn’t letting it through it’s their own decision- and ‘terror risk’ is just silly. I wire more than that through our usual bank- USAA- with no trouble. Obviously, if they don’t want to do it you can’t make them, but know that there is no external basis for their policy.
As for phones, we do exactly what you are thinking of doing- swapping SIM cards- and your iPhone 5 is perfect for that. We keep a little case and just swap the SIM cards back and forth depending on where we are. As @JesusWept said, all you have to do is contact your provider and make sure that they have unlocked it. fyi, student consensus is that of the main carriers, Vodafone and Virgin have the best signal coverage in Oxford, O2 and Orange have poor coverage in Oxford.
Out of curiosity, what program is doing that he is accepted without a college?
Finally, to open a UK bank account he will need to be an enrolled student and to have a (UK) address.
Regarding the money situation, you may wish to read this thread from about 6 months ago. Full of helpful information.
@JesusWept - great link!
@collegemom3717 - he will be doing the Master of Financial Economics (MFE) which is run through the business school. http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/programmes/degrees/mfe/welcome He is admitted to the University, but still needs to become a member of a college and has been asked to select one for housing, food, etc. I believe he is limited to 18 colleges which accept the MFE students. He has an engineering background and is thinking he would enjoy living with a group of similar interests while finding a daily break from his group of 75 with whom his will share 6 1/2 hours of daily lectures. He prefers a traditional setting.
Ah- that makes more sense.
You can be sure that the most traditional and best known colleges- will fill up first (Christ Church, Balliol, Magdalen). Has he found [url=<a href=“http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Oxford_College_Pros_and_Cons%5Dthis%5B/url”>http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Oxford_College_Pros_and_Cons]this[/url] list of pros/cons?
It’s too bad that Worcester isn’t on the list of colleges- it’s the closest ‘traditional’ college to Said. From the list Peter’s is probably next closest, then Balliol and Johns.