Stay Connected to Germany During Oktoberfest
 | October 27, 2020 | 3 min read |
Every fall, Oktoberfest celebrations bring German culture front and center. However, the biggest festival in the world is in Munich.
Dating back to 1810, the Oktoberfest tradition began with a daylong festival honoring the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig. More than 200 years later, the festival has evolved into a global phenomenon. Celebrations happen around the world, and in Munich, the two-week festival typically draws about 5.6 million visitors.
Whether you’re planning to travel to Germany or calling relatives in Germany while you celebrate Oktoberfest closer to home, learn more about which phone apps can keep you connected.
Phone apps for traveling to Germany for Oktoberfest
For those visiting Germany, the right phone apps can help you experience smooth travels so you can spend more of your time enjoying German culture and Oktoberfest traditions. Must-have phone apps for international travels included Google Translate to help you navigate the language barrier and Uber to help you get from the Munich airport to your hotel with ease.
Oktoberfest in Munich is canceled for 2020, but in future years, the official Oktoberfest app can provide festival navigation information and details about local activities.
The other essential app to use while traveling is Ooma’s free calling app. The app lets you use your Ooma phone service from your cellphone via your device’s internet connection. Making calls over Wi-Fi can even help you avoid needing an international data plan.
With the app, you can take your Ooma phone service with you while traveling abroad. There’s no need to change to a European SIM card or other complicated tactics to stay connected.
Using the app when traveling internationally lets you access Ooma’s great calling rates from anywhere. Subscribers to Ooma Basic or Ooma Premier can use the app to make unlimited outgoing calls to the U.S. Ooma Premier subscribers have the additional functionality of being able to accept incoming calls on the app too.
When using the app to make calls to German phone numbers, you could pay as low as 2.2 cents per minute. You’ll have the same rates and connectivity no matter where you are. This makes it easy to use your Ooma phone number to make hotel reservations while you’re still in the U.S., and you can continue to use the same number to make affordable international calls while abroad.
Can’t travel to Germany this year?
If you aren’t making the trip overseas this year, you can still celebrate Oktoberfest locally. After all, travel restrictions can’t stop you from enjoying one of your favorite Oktoberfest beers. Users of the Ooma Telo home phone service can also stay close to German culture by calling friends and family members who are in Germany.
Calling Germany from the U.S. is easy. Whether you’re using an Ooma-connected home phone or Ooma’s free calling app, you’ll have the same access to Ooma’s low international rates. For even more access, unlimited international calling plans give you the freedom to call as much as you want.
With Ooma World, you can call Germany from U.S. for just $9.99 per month for the first year. Included is Germany’s landline numbers as well as landlines in over 60 countries and to mobile phones in over 10 countries.
For globetrotters who want even more international connectivity and broad access to the European Union, the Ooma World Plus plan includes unlimited calling to all of Germany’s phone numbers and area codes including landlines, mobile phones and special service numbers. In total, subscribers get unlimited calls to landlines in 70 countries and mobile phones in 40 countries.
How to call Germany from the US
The best international phone service starts with Ooma. The high-quality VoIP phone service can be accessed from anywhere and provides an affordable way to make international calls.
To call Germany from the U.S., first dial 011 to exit the U.S. telephone system. Next dial 49, which is the country code for Germany. Then dial the local German phone number, which can be between five and 12 digits.
Interested in using Ooma for international calls to Germany? Find out how you can save money with Ooma’s international plans.
Dennis is the vice president of product management and technical advisory board member of Ooma and is responsible for creating an intuitive, compelling user experience.
Prior to joining Ooma, Dennis worked at Cisco Systems for 11 years where he began his career as a customer support engineer. He later joined the Escalation Team where he focused on fixing the most technically challenging problems, as well as supporting the design, rollout and operations of the largest remote access and broadband aggregation networks worldwide. He was honored with the title of Distinguished Support Engineer because of his expertise in networking protocols, isolating and fixing highly complex issues, and leadership among his peers.
Dennis holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
