Best Way to Call Abroad from UAE | International Calling Guide

Written by Morgane Gaillard – Digital Marketing Specialist at Virgin Mobile

If you’re searching for the best way to call abroad from the UAE, I searched for exactly the same thing when I first moved here five years ago.

Like many expats, I was used to calling my family and friends through WhatsApp. Then I moved to the UAE, realised WhatsApp calls weren’t working, and suddenly had a very simple question:

How do I call home from the UAE?

So, naturally, I Googled “best way to call abroad from UAE.”

The problem? I couldn’t really find a simple answer.

Five years later, I know what works best for me: having international minutes included directly in my mobile plan.

Here’s why.

What is the best way to call abroad from the UAE?

There are different ways to make international calls from the UAE, from calling apps to standard international calls.

Personally, I wanted the simplest option possible.

I didn’t want to check which calling app my family had, ask them to download something new, or think about the cost every time I wanted to call home.

I wanted to open my contacts, tap my mum’s name and call her.

That’s why I chose a mobile plan with international minutes included.

For me, it’s one of the easiest ways to call internationally from the UAE because there are no extra apps or steps involved. You simply make a normal phone call.

How can I make international calls from the UAE?

With Virgin Mobile UAE, you can build your own mobile plan and choose how many international minutes you need.

That means your plan can actually reflect how you use your phone.

If you mostly use data and rarely make international calls, you can build your plan accordingly. If you regularly call family or friends abroad, you can select more international minutes.

But if most of your international calls are to the same country, there’s an even better option.

Get 500 FREE international minutes to your favourite country.

Virgin Mobile UAE plans with 14GB of data or more include 500 FREE international minutes every month to one country of your choice with One Country Calls.

And for me, this is a game changer.

Most of my international calls are to my family back home, so having 500 minutes included means I can simply pick up the phone and call them whenever I want.

There’s no need to think, “Is this international call going to cost me a fortune?”

And when a five-minute call with your mum somehow becomes a 45-minute conversation, that matters.

You can choose your favourite country from 25 eligible countries and get 500 FREE international minutes every month.

Even better, you can change your chosen country every month, so if the people you need to call change, your plan can too.

Can I call abroad from the UAE without using an app?

Yes. And this was one of the biggest reasons I chose international minutes.

With international calling included in your mobile plan, you can make a regular phone call from your UAE number to an international number.

No additional calling app. No asking your parents to download something. No “Can you hear me now?” while trying to figure out someone’s Wi-Fi.

You just call.

For anyone looking for a simple way to call family abroad from the UAE, this makes life much easier.

Is it cheaper to use international minutes in the UAE?

The best option depends on where you’re calling, how often you call and how long your conversations usually are.

That’s why I like having international minutes included as part of my mobile plan rather than thinking about the cost of every individual call.

And if you regularly call one particular country, having 500 FREE international minutes every month as part of an eligible Virgin Mobile plan can give you even more value.

For frequent callers, 500 minutes is more than eight hours of calls every month.

That’s a lot of catching up.

How to choose the best international calling plan in the UAE

If you’re comparing mobile plans and want to make international calls from the UAE, don’t just look at the amount of data included.

Think about how you actually stay connected with people back home.

Which country do you call most? How often do you make international calls? How many minutes do you realistically need each month?

With Virgin Mobile UAE, you can build your plan around your needs and choose the amount of international minutes that works for you.

And with 14GB+ plans, you can get 500 FREE international minutes every month to one of 25 eligible countries.

Five years later, this is still how I call home.

When I first moved to the UAE, I genuinely Googled “best way to call abroad from UAE” because I didn’t know what my options were.

Five years later, my answer is pretty simple.

For me, the easiest way is having international minutes included in my mobile plan.

I can call my family directly from my phone, I don’t have to rely on a separate calling app, and with One Country Calls, I get 500 FREE international minutes to my favourite country every month.

Because when you live abroad, sometimes you don’t need another app.

You just want to call home.