Cell Phone Tips
More and more travelers are using mobile phones in Europe. How does your US phone work in Europe? Have you found any great deals for buying or renting a phone once you arrive?
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cellphone
Hello, I just came back from Italy and I ordered the BrightRoam cell phone for the trip. The phone was great, I had service everywhere we went! I set up international calls on my home phone so that my family could call me from home and all calls received by the brightroam cell phone were free. I purchased the phone so that if i travel again i could use the phone again and buy a new sim card for $ 25.00 for the trip. caio!
Marie <email>
Hawthorne, NY USA 11/15/2008
Range Roamer is AWFUL!!!!
While travelling in Europe for 30 days, I thought I would try the recommended Range Roamer cell phone. Let me tell you just a few things about this horrible company!
I experienced $2.99 per minute and a random $170 charge that they could not explain. Completely false advertising about the fees incurred and the wonderful service that one is supposed to be getting. The majority of the time the phone did not work. After that entire frustrating experience, I came home to a $1000 bill! I could never receive any calls or text messages, yet I was charged for the attempts. When I wanted to make a call or send a text I got charged one minute even for an unconnected call. They would continuously charge my credit card up to $100 per day-for recharging minutes. This was absolutely absurd, considering that I wasn't even able to get service to complete a call or text message!! Each time I went to another city I had to play a guessing game of which network to manually switch the phone to. When trying to make sense of the online bill, it cannot be done. For the reason that each time a phone call or text message is incoming or outgoing it must go through a call center first; which means that the phone numbers are random each time, making it impossible to trace who the calls were made or received from. Everything was horrible with this company and I would not even wish my worst enemy to endure this kind of torture. I would suggest getting a calling card, except when in Greece!!
Ashleigh
Santa Barbara, CA USA 10/28/2008
International SIM cards
We just returned from Germany. i had purchased an unlocked phone and a GOsim card for our trip. The GOsim service was easy to use and we could call the customer service to get some international dialing codes. we were able to make lots of calls back to the states to update our family although they had a toll free number for our SIM card. I have Verizon at home in the US so couldn't use my phone in Germany.
George
Houston, Texas USA 10/15/2008
Avoid Cellular Abroad
Just got back from Europe. Decided to take along one of their phones. It's sponsored by National Geographic. How bad can it be ? The phone didn't work in London. Their support people suggested we 'experiment' with it to get it to work.This was NOT what I wanted to hear when I really needed to make some phone calls. The instructions are totally outdated. You call, then you get some type of error message, then you hang up, and then it's(?) supposed to call you back. Good luck !
Lutz Moeckel <email>
Garden Grove, Ca USA 09/28/2008
Verizon Global Travel Program
I’ll just “freshen” Leonardo’s post of 6/17/08 about the Verizon Wireless Global Travel Program. For ~$15 (~$10 shipping & ~$5 calling plan rate deduction of 0.30/minute) they shipped me a dual mode CDMA/GSM phone that works in the US or in Europe. When you receive it, just give them a call and they TRANSFER your existing phone number over to the new phone for the duration of your travel. The voice plan is ~$1.00 per minute (incoming & outgoing) for France (where I was traveling). At the end of the trip, you call them to transfer your phone number back to your old phone and ship their phone back with a prepaid mailer.
PROs - No daily rental fee for the phone, very smooth ordering process, you keep your existing number so folks can reach you easily, cost effective if you only plan on making a few calls.
CONs - Not worthwhile if you are not already a Verizon Wireless customer, only a mediocre voice plan rate which could eat you alive if you are making or receiving lots of calls, must return in 30 days or they will hit you with a big fee
Eric
Seattle, WA USA 09/11/2008
Cell Phones in Italy
Just ret'd from a 2-week stay in Italy. Lived there for 12 years until 1999. Thought there would be a phone in my hotel room or that I could buy phone cards and use pay phones. No phone in the room and very few pay phones in either Piemonte or the Veneto. A friend used his Codice Fiscale to help me set up a TIM account. Of course, I should have know that pay phones would be extinct ~ Italians love their 'telefonini'. With the massive influx throughout Italy of immigrants (most illegal), the gov't has instituted the necessity of having a codice fiscale which one can only get through being a citizen or having the permesso di soggirono (Visa). It is the govt's hope that by making life difficult for illegal immigrants, they will return to their home ~ not likely since many probably have no home to return to. As for travelers to Italy, don't leave home without your mobile phone.
Mary B.
Cincinnati, OH USA 07/28/2008
Consider United Mobile or T-Mobile UK
United Mobile is a relative new entrant into the "global" SIM market that is worth considering for those who don't want to bother getting new cards for their phones in every country. It's 29 euro-cents per minute, and about EUR1.49/MB for data. Sure, you can do a bit better with local SIM cards, but $0.50/minute sure beats $0.99 or $1.29 from the US carriers.
Another option for those in the UK is T-Mobile UK. The upside is that, unlike in most EU countries, you can buy SIM cards without IDs in the UK (there's even a vending machine at the Heathrow arrival terminal that takes GBP10 notes). I've found T-Mobile UK the most reasonable for UK data and calls from outside the UK, while all the major UK carriers are pretty reasonable for voice calls within the UK.
KPO'M <email>
Chicago, IL USA 07/26/2008
CELL PHONE TIPS
We just returned from a trip to Sweden. The first thing we did when we arrived was buy a phone card (which we have done many times successfully). The difference this time: the small hotels we stayed at did not have phones in the rooms and many of the street phone booths were gone (we were told because most people have cell phones). When we did find a phone booth and tried to use the phone card, it wouldn't accept the card.
Sharon <email>
Santa Rosa, ca USA 07/23/2008
Cell phone in Europe
I brought my T-Mobile cell phone and before I left I just had to call them and tell them I was going to be in Europe and they turned on the World Travel feature. Having my phone turned out to be a life saver since most of the phone cards we were buying weren't working for some reason. I did end up paying $.99 per minute but it sure did get us out of some sticky situations when we hadn't reserved accommodation in advance. My phone bill was ridiculously expensive but it was worth it. Next time I will still bring my phone but I am going to look into getting a phone card that I know works and just keep reloading it.
Anna <email>
Marysville, WA USA 07/22/2008
cell phones in europe
We have traveled about 6 times to different parts of europe and have never used a cell phone. I have never heard anything but problems with cost, service issues or outright fraud. Instead we use email at hotels or internet kiosks, telephone calling cards (costco/mci/sprint) from payphones and lately telephones at internet kiosks that run about 25 cents or so a minute to the u.s. And we have never really had any problems. The other thing we do is give out our hotel numbers if we know where we are going to stay prior to leaving the u.s. and have one of our kids call there at predetermined times every few days and at anytime for emergencies to leave a message and talk for pennies a minute using our cheap onesuite.com calling plan. This might not work for those who need to be in constant contact with someone, but for the one or so time a day caller, it should work fine.
brian
USA 07/21/2008
cell phones
We just returned from Italy. i had purchased 2 unlocked phones and 2 GOsim cards for our trip. The GOsim service was difficult to use and we had very inconsistent availability of service. we were able to make a few calls back to the states to update our family but it was not wortht the money and hassles. I'll try to find an alternative next time. btw, I have Verizon at home in the US so couldn't use my phone in Italy.
Tony
Atlanta, ga USA 07/20/2008
Cell Phone SIM Card for Italy
I would highly recommend that anyone planning a trip to Italy, NOT use Telestial as a resource for an Italian TIM/SIM card. In 2005, for a trip to Scotland, I had acquired an unlocked multi-band GSM phone and a Virgin Mobile UK SIM card from Telestial, which performed as advertised. In planning for a trip to Italy, I contacted Telestial, first by email and then by phone to confirm their Italy SIM card would work with my phone. I was assured that it would work, but was also informed, that I could only order the card online. I placed the order on 7 March and the card arrived about 10 days later. Included with the card were detailed instructions for registering the phone number via email or fax. These instructions required you to email or fax a copy of your passport, SIM card phone number and ICCID number, street address and send it to Telestial. I complied with these instructions and was notified via email on 5 April that the information had been forwarded to Italy. When I arrived in Italy on 5 May, I was unable to use my phone with the Telestial supplied TIM/SIM card. The phone display said the card was “rejected”. After about 3 days without service, I was able to locate a TIM service center in Siena and learned from them the card had been cancelled. They could not explain why the card had been cancelled. For 10 Euros, I was able to purchase a TIM/SIM card and was able to use my phone. If you are planning to go to Italy, just take your GSM phone with you and purchase a card at a TIM service center. Be sure to have your passport with you. On 19 May, I send the cancelled card back to Telestial, with a detailed explanation of what had occurred and requested they refund my $47 dollars. I have yet to receive a response or a refund from them and I suspect I won’t.
Dave
David D.
Fairfax, VA USA 07/06/2008
Cell phones and computers in Italy
I tried to buy a cell phone and a SIM card in Italy. First, unless they have changed their rules you cannot buy either unless you have a friend willing to put it in his or her name and provide their personal info like social security number (or whatever they call it). Italy keeps a very tight rein on cell phones. Probably makes it harder for terrorists to use them. Once I got the phone I was sold a expired SIM card. This is from a long established shop in Trieste. It was like pulling eyeteeth to get another one and this within 24 hours after they sold it to me and when they looked in their desk, all the other SIM cards they had were expired. Last year, in the Rome airport, I paid to have minutes added (once you get it you can do this without an Italian to sign for you). They took my money but didn't enter the info to add the minutes. Ripped off again by the Itals. Anther Italian story. My 85 year old Italian friend wanted a laptop. We went to the biggest electronics store in Trieste. She bought a computer and we took it home. Would not work with the internet. We took it back the next day. They couldn't get it to work either so they offered to repair it. I said no, we needed it now so I could teach her how to use it while I was there. So we were allowed to pick out another. We were told to come back and pick it up in an hour. We did and she picked it up. When we got it home I saw it was a reconditioned laptop. She had paid well over $1,000 Euro for this thing. However, it worked and she still has it two years later. Always watch your change, even in the best of shops and hold onto your purse wherever you go in Italy.
Mary Small
Waikoloa, HI USA 06/28/2008
Receive only
I bought two tiny unlocked cell phones on eBay. Bought cards (chips) for each in the UK ($30) and France ($20). The cards contained 10 very expensive outgoing minutes. But incoming minutes were free. My daughter and I could use the outgoing minutes if we got separated (we never did), and my wife called us regularly via Vonage from the US for several pennies a minute.
J. Sinclair
Vallejo, CA USA 06/20/2008
Cell Phone Alternative - Onesuite
We took a quad-band cell phone with us to Paris & Normandy, but after seeing the 30 euro price for a sim card, and then the rates/minute for US calls, we decided to pass. Instead, we used local pay phones and a service called www.Onesuite.com. You can prepay minutes, and they have toll free numbers for several European countries (as well as the US). The rates were between 12-20 cents/minute when calling back to the USA. Great price, but you have to find a pay phone or have free access to a phone at the hotel. It worked great for us.
Doug
Altanta, GA USA 06/18/2008
Cell phone tips
0. Find out if you have a quad-band GSM phone; 900/1800Mhz in Europe and 850/1900 North America.
In the US, AT&T, T-Mobile and Alltel use GSM. Not all phones are quad-band, make sure yours is.
1. Call T-Mo or AT&T and they'll unlock your phone. Tell them you're going to Europe and you need to be able to have a local number. AT&T won't unlock an iPhone.
2. www.prepaidgsm.net is your friend to find a good local Sim Card. As a rule, in Europe, incoming calls are free.
3. Specific country tips: U.K.: T-Mobile; get a SimCard. It should be free, or close to free from a real T-Mobile store; Buy a bundle http://tinyurl.com/68hlhv (text C1 to 879)
Germany: Get an ePlus+ sim card. Cost is €20 with a €10 credit; To call the US at good rates, call 0180-5151051, wait for voice prompt, 00-1-area code+ phone; Fees: Mo-Fr 8pm-7am, Sat-Sun all day ~50 eurocents; Other times close to a euro
CZECH REPUBLIC: VODAFONE; get a prepaid card; prices are for direct-dial calls US$0.60 to US$0.75 depending on time of day;
Palal <email>
San Francisco, CA, CA USA 06/08/2008
Telestial sim cards
I have also had problems with Telestial global sim cards. On a recent trip to Australia, the service was down for 5 of the 12 days we were there. When trying to make calls, we received only a cryptic, numeric error code. After numerous calls to tech support, they finally admitted that the service wasn't working and they didn't know when it would be. I had to buy local sim cards so that my wife and I could make calls. I never received any credit for the unused minutes. Save yourself a lot of money and hassle and use a different vendor.
Kelley
Minneapolis, MN USA 01/28/2008
More Mobal
I used a Mobal SIM card in an unlocked phone on a recent UK trip. Mobal is that it's pay as you go, which is a plus. The $1+ per minute is tolerable for limited use, and for me it's more than offset by the fact that incoming calls are free.
I don't know anything about Mobal's phones.
Jonathan Lundell
Lobitos Creek, CA USA 01/16/2008
Mobal Cell Phone Service
Mobal is a good option if you just want a phone for emergencies, short trips, etc. Calls are expensive, but their customer service is good, with Fedex delivery to your home before you go. Buying their phone is cheap, $50 or $100 depending on the phone. Calls went through quickly from Italy and sounded good.
Conifer, CO USA 12/14/2007
Range Roamer
I don't know who the previous poster had as their phone company, but when I traveled people were able to call me! They did pay extra to call to a cell phone, true, but anyone who it cost more than 69 cents I just told to use my toll free number and I'd pay for it.
I went to 6 countries, and had no problems at all. The ringback was a little weird, at first. Dialing was tricky from a European phone!! Once I got used to these, I was able ot call my family when I wanted. to each his own, I guess...
Mike Leonard
Lawrenceville, GA USA 12/11/2007
Don't use Range Roamer
Do NOT use Range Roamer SIM cards. They offer a per minute rate of X amount for each country for incoming calls (in my case it was $.29), but no one from home will ever be able to get through. That means that you are always paying the step price of an outgoing call. Combine that with the fact that the number they give you to pass out to your friends and family to call in to you (assuming they are lucky enough to actually get through) is in Estonia and costs the caller $5 USD per minute and you are looking at a fortune. I learned his the hard way.
Experienced traveler
San Francisco, CA USA 11/06/2007
Dual SIM card cell phone
Dual SIM card cell phones such as the P-168 (an iphone clone) by CECT (a Chinese cell phone maker) are now available in China and Hong Kong. One can buy them on e-bay for about US$200. These cell phones allow a user to send and receive phone calls from two different cell numbers. Great news for those travel overseas frequently or simply maintaining an active social life. They no longer need to change SIM card or logging two cell phone units around. I am not sure if the phone quality is good.
Terry <email>
Santa Monica, CA USA 10/28/2007
ATT/Cingular
I don't have first hand experience with this, but if you have ATT/Cingular service and a quad band phone, all you have to do is call ATT/Cingular, tell them you will be in Europe, and they will make it possible. One of the members of our tour group did this, and I ran into a New York lawyer in London who also said the same thing.
Susan
USA 10/14/2007
Skype is a great alternative
Before I traveled to Europe I wanted to make sure that I could communicate with family and friends back home. This was especially important as I planned on proposing and I wanted my girlfriend to be able to call family and friends afterwards. I looked in to several different alternatives. I had my GSM Razr Cell Phone unlocked, I looked into the different calling card options, and I got a Skype account and paid for $10 worth of SkypeOut minutes. (This lets you call regular phone numbers with skype for around 2 to 3 cents per minute). I was always a little nervous about dialing international long distance because of the costs involved and the different codes to call. The Skype application made that easy and I was able enter all of my important numbers into a contact list. If I made a dialing mistake it was only a 2 cent mistake instead of a $2.00 mistake and I quickly figured out how international phone numbers worked. I put in the numbers of most of my family and friends in addition to things like the european hotel phone numbers, the reservation phone numbers for the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence. Being able to call saved me a lot of time from standing in lines and gave me piece of mind for my hotel reservations. Every internet cafe that I went to had Skype already loaded on the machine and most had headsets (I brought my own microphone and headset but didn't have to use it very often). I found that the smaller internet cafes had the better connections and were quieter for phone calls. After I proposed my fiance must have called ten of her friends and I was so happy that it was so easy for her to make those calls. Her family and friends loved to hear from her as well as mine did. My advice would be to get Skype installed in advance and learn how to use it. Once you understand it using it in Europe is easy! I never had to bother with my cell phone (Although I had it with me as a backup plan).
Jess Williams
Honolulu, HI USA 09/14/2007
Travel with Cell Phones
I always travel with my home Cell phone in Europe and elsewhere, and find that it's much simpler and less complicated to simply use roaming with my regular (GSM) network as opposed to "SIM swapping".
The problem with using different SIM cards, is that the number and often the rate structure changes with each one. That means one has to constantly let people back home know what number they can be reached at. It's much easier for family and friends to simply call my regular number, and the network locates my phone (although this method is more expensive for voice calls, as the rate for incoming calls is higher).
My phone handset is unlocked, so I certainly have the option of using other SIM's, but haven't needed to resort to this so far.
In addition, if one buys a Euro SIM in Italy (for example) and then travels with this in France, the roaming rates can be steep! The E.U. and the Euro Cell networks are currently "discussing" the roaming rates, but nothing is settled yet (the E.U. is threatening to regulate these).
Using "travel" SIM cards are certainly another option (Cellular Abroad, Mobal, United Mobile, etc.) but I've looked at their rate structure and don't feel they offer any cost savings in my case.
To those people who mentioned the RAZR line of phones, it's important to make the distinction that one is using a GSM RAZR (T-Mobile,AT&T,Rogers,Fido) as opposed to a CDMA RAZR (Verizon,Sprint,Telus,Bell) which will NOT work in Europe.
I generally use voice calls sparingly and try to limit these to "in-country" calls, which are cheaper. Much of my communication to family back home is via SMS/text, which is very inexpensive. One caution though, make sure one has the correct dialing sequence, or the message will disappear into cyber space!
One final note of caution to those who are using I-Phones, Blackberrys or other models capable of E-mail or web surfing. Call your network provider and be VERY CLEAR on what the roaming rates are for data useage in Europe!!! Otherwise you might get a huge surprise when you see receive your bill. The charges for roaming in Europe will likely be different than those charged at home.
For those who are currently using a quad-band GSM phone (locked or unlocked) in their home area, it's relatively easy to travel and stay in touch with family at home. There may be a few changes coming in the next year or so, as the North American networks roll-out "3G" service to more areas, as this may be slightly different than Euro 3G which uses a fifth frequency band (as usual, the Europeans are ahead of North America!).
Ken <email>
Vernon, Canada 09/07/2007
Getting a Cell Phone for Use in Europe
(Also posted in TYechnology Tips)
You can rent phones for use in Europe or even take some active U.S. phones over there and pay roaming charges but if you want to save money, you buy a used phone here that can work over there and buy local country or multi-country SIM cards in Europe. This is 1. The least expensive 2. Safest (no charges for lost phone or if it is used by someone else after being stolen) method of getting a phone for use there. It takes a little work but you have a phone you can use anywhere in Europe and use here for Pay-as-You-go or pre-paid or emergency service in the U.S.
Step 1 – Look for a used phone.
If you have or have had phone service with T-Mobile, AT&T or Cingular and you still have that phone or a friend has an old unused phone lying around from those services, you may be one step ahead. There are other carriers (but not Verizon or Sprint) whose phones may work (see step 2 below). The phone must use GSM communication and Verizon, Sprint and some others do not. GSM phones us a little “SIM” card (under the battery).
If you don’t have a qualifying phone: 1. Look in the local paper for people who are selling phones 2. Look on Craigslist (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/, then find nearby cities or states) and search in Electronics for sale 3. Look on Ebay
You need to ask the seller before buying: 1. For the model number of the phone for step 2 below 2. How old the battery is and if they had problems with it. Beware of battery condition (after you buy the phone, you may find that the battery needs replacement 3. If the charger says 110V-240V 50-60Hz (or you will need a different charger or power converter in Europe). Note that if the charger works on 240V, all you will need is an adapter to the U.S. style plug, much cheaper and more convenient than a converter.
Step 2 – Check if the phone is usable.
There are two GSM frequencies used in the U.S. and two different ones in Europe. They are not interchangeable. Some GSM phones are quad-band covering all the frequencies. This is best but those that are tri-band will have at least one European frequency and will work but in buildings and places where one band is weak or blocked, you may lose a connection. (Can you hear me now?)
Go to http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/home.php and put the model number of the phone in the search window and hit enter. It will show that model. Select it and look for the band information (and rating of the phone). If it is a quad or tri band, and the phone has the characteristics and rating you want (beggars can’t be choosy), you can then proceed to step 3. Otherwise, keep looking.
Step 3 – The phone must be unlocked
Generally, phones in the U.S. are “locked” to the service provider because they want you to use only their service in return for selling you the $300 phone for $29. This is NOT the locking you can do to prevent others from using your phone but is called a Network Lock. To use a phone in Europe, it must be UNLOCKED. There are four ways of accomplishing this: 1. Buy an unlocked phone. This raises the asking price but is the simplest. 2. Get the service provider to unlock it. If the person who is providing the phone still has a contract with T-Mobile or Cingular/AT&T with another phone or with that phone, ask them to call their provider, tell the provider that they are going to Europe and ask that the provider give them the unlock code. A good site is http://forums.mobiledia.com for searching for unlock information. 3. Find the “secret” unlock code on the internet. Some phones, particularly older Samsung phones can be unlocked with a series of codes. Search the internet for the manufacturer and/or model number and the word “unlock”. 4. Pay a third party to unlock the phone. The above search will not only show sites that will tell you whether you can unlock the phone but will list sites that will do it for a fee of $5 to $10. If the phone can’t be unlocked or is too expensive to buy and have unlocked, then look for another one instead of buying it.
Step 4 – Buy the phone
Borrow or buy the needed phone, verify it works, get it unlocked and you are ready for the next step.
Step 5 – Get a manual
Go to the manufacturer’s web site and search for the user manual and download it if the seller has not provided you one. Read it for information on inserting SIMs as well as how to use the phone.
Step 6 – Verify the phone works in the U.S. and is unlocked.
After getting the phone unlocked, verify it with a U.S. SIM card. Purchase a pre-paid SIM card from T-Mobile, Cingular/AT&T or other provider of prepaid services. You can often find these inexpensively on EBay. However, you only have 90 days to use the minutes after activating the pre-paid SIM and most EBay SIMs are pre-activated and may have unchangeable out-of-state numbers. That shouldn’t be a big problem as you can extend the time by buying more minutes and don’t care if you don’t need them. However, be sure and buy a SIM with sufficient usage time so you can test your SIM and phone and use it before arriving in and after returning from Europe. This way you don’t need your regular phone with you to tell people you are returning or in case of problems before leaving the country.
Step 7 – Put in your U.S. Phone Book
The address book is stored on the SIM. Put your needed phone numbers in the phone and they will be stored on that SIM. You will not have them when you put the European SIM in your phone but if you need them to call home from Europe, you can pop out the European SIM and replace it with the U.S. SIM to view the numbers you saved. However, it is far cheaper to use the European SIM to call home than it is to use the U.S. SIM, if indeed it works there at all.
Step 8 – Find Which European SIM(s) you want
Go to http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/operators.html , select where you are going and view the available providers, costs and other information on your choices. Then you know what SIM you will want and understand costs and more. Buy your SIM in that country. For multiple countries, compare the price of buying and USING a SIM in each country vs. buying a multi-country SIM.
John Pezzano <email>
Hendersonvlle, NC USA 09/06/2007
International cell phone service
Verizon offers international cell phone roaming for $3.99/month plus $.20 per minute from Spain and Germany. Better than AT&T?
Jorge
Healdsburg, CA USA 09/03/2007
ATT/Cingular international cell
Just returned from Germany and France and the international plan for my cell worked perfectly. Cost is $5.99 per month plus 99 cents per minute. I was able to send and receive calls with no problem. Best use was calling from the top of the Eiffel Tower:)
Melanie
Columbus, OH USA 08/23/2007
skype-netgear wifi phone
I use skype at home in the u.s. So I bought a skype/netgear wifi phone that connects to any open wifi system and use it around the house to make skype calls. Does anyone have any experience outside the U.S. for using one of these skype wifi phones (does not require a hookup to any computer, just an open wifi signal)?
Brian
USA 08/14/2007
T-Mobile Cell Phone
The SIM card in my T-Mobile garden variety Razr phone is good to go for making calls in Europe. The roaming charge is 99 cents/minute. If you just want a phone for emergencies or short calls, this might be preferable to messing around with different SIM cards. Please note that though T-Mobile phones offer this option for free, you need to activate this feature before you leave. You can do this by logging in to your account at the T-Mobile website.
Neil
Lake Forest Park, WA USA 08/13/2007
Calling Cheap Back Home
There is a GREAT mobile company "Mobile World" that offers really low per minute rates calling to USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, etc. The phones and packages are avilable from Carephone Warehouse in the UK, I'm not sure where (or if) you can pick them up in continental Eruope. You buy the phone outright (cheap as 20 pounds) and can just top-up with a voucher when you need it.
http://www.talktalkmobile.co.uk/commerce/servlet/gben-server-PageServer?ARTICLE=MAIN.UK.INTERNET.PORTAL.TTMOBILE.STATIC.TTMOBILE.HOME.MBWLD
Sue
UK/Canada 08/05/2007
free phone calls
I don't know if anyone else has heard of this service, but its great! Dirt cheap or FREE international phone calls. I had been living in Europe for the last year and moving back soon, and its one of the only reasons I am still in touch with people from home. http://www.rebtel.com/en/Home/
Clare <email>
Santa Barbara, CA USA 08/04/2007
International Mobile Calls
Once in Europe, you can make cheap international calls from your cell phone using Global Call Connect.
Mark Pleasence <email>
Delray Beach, FL USA 08/02/2007
Cell Phones in Europe
We use T-Mobile world-wide service. Never had a problem in any country in Europe or the Caribbean. You just have to make sure that the phone you purchase can accommodate this service.
Sherrie
Brentwood, TN USA 07/27/2007
Stop the SIM swapping and go AT+T
I work for a company and we all travel all over the world.
We use Cingular (now AT+T) and never have a problem. Make sure to spend the extra $50 when getting a phone to get a quadband Motorola Razr or Nokia phone. The free phones are dual band and will not work outside the US.
The rates are average but you have YOUR USA number at all times for people to call and text to. And no SIM swapping.
Mike
Gloucester, MA USA 07/14/2007
chip
Got an unlocked phone on eBay before trip ($40). Bought a chip (comes with a phone number) in London ($40) and then Paris ($30). Cheap to use locally. Expensive to use long distance. But no charge for receiving calls.
My wife called (on Vonage VoIP) from States, and we talked a long time at a reasonable cost (0.22 cents per minute). High quality sound. Vonage would have been much cheaper for a normal phone (not cell phone).
J. Sinclair
Vallejo, CA USA 07/12/2007
Tim
What happens if your rented phone is lost or stolen?
USA 07/11/2007
Verizon Global Rental
If you already have a Verizon domestic plan, they've recently partnered with Vodaphone to provide "Global Rental" of GSM phones that work in Europe and elsewhere. The best part is, Vodaphone has waived the $4/day rental fee, so you pay shipping ($21) and $1.49/min air time (both incoming and outgoing). We mainly want to be able to connect with one another in Europe so we'll essentially be paying $3/min, but since the phones themselves are free, not a horrid way to go. The nice folks at Verizon charged only one shipping fee for both phones, so that made it even more satisfactory.
Leonardo
San Diego, CA USA 06/18/2007
Verizon Global Rental
Forgot to mention, Verizon customers have to be "distinguished" to have the daily rental fee waived. Not sure what that means, exactly, but we're pretty ordinary Verizon Family Plan folks (4 lines).
Leonardo
San Diego, CA USA 06/18/2007
SIM Cards and Mobile Phones
I have taken an unlocked Nokia to Europe twice in the past, and each year I go shopping for the best deals on roaming SIM cards. I always hope that the major players (Cingular, Verizon, etc.) will start to have pay as you go mobile available for outside the US - to no avail. This year I found a gem after a lot of surfing - you owe it to yourself to check out www.ldpost.com and 1sim.com (same company) for SIM cards, unlocked phones, and European phone cards.
Mike Lee <email>
Eugene, OR USA 05/08/2007
World and UK Sim Cards
We are going on a Baltic Cruise and then going to Scotland for a week. I bought an Unlocked new Motorola GSM Quad Band phone for about $90 (a very good phone, not a cheap one.)
Then, I got a World Sim Card from Mobal. It was FREE and I only had to pay for shipping. And, you register the card with your credit card and ONLY pay for the calls you make. I have a UK Phone Number. There is NO expiration. No Minimum usage. And No Monthly Fee. Example: Last month I sent one text message from Los Angeles and my entire monthly bill was 80 cents.
The phone will work in 160 countries, including the US. The calls run about $1.95 for calls to the US and about $1.50 for local cell calls in most European countries. The Mobal website gives the call rates for each country.
OK: That's pretty expensive for calls.
SO: I also bought a UK Sim Card from 0044. It cost me about $25 for the card, including shipping. This one requires you to buy time on the Sim Card. And, it DOES expire if you don't continue to use it. So, unlike th MOBAL World Sim CARD, it is really only good for a fixed period of time.
But, the good thing is that calls to the US from the UK cost less than 10 cents a minute. That is incredible. So, that means where I would have spent $1.95 per minute using the Mobal Sim Card, I can talk for almost 20 minutes on the 0044 Sim card.
I figured that saving $1.85 per minute paid for the 0044 Sim Card in just about 15 minutes.
So, we will use the World SIM CARD during the cruise, but when we get to Scotland, I will put in the 0044 UK Sim Card and we can call home for what is really less than what it costs to use our regular Verizon cell phone for calls in the US.
Also, on BOTH the MOBAL and 0044 Sim Cards, INCOMING calls in the UK are FREE.
Incidentally, it turns out that the Mobal World Sim Card can be used on the cruise lines that have a new service called CINGULAR AT SEA. Since the Mobal Sim Card uses Cingular in the USA, it will work with Cingular AT SEA on cruise ships.
I am trying to find out how much it will cost per minute on the ship, but am still checking. The cruise line charges $6.95 per minute, so I am SURE that Cingular AT SEA is going to be less expensive, in order to be competitive.
Have fun.
Larry
Sherman Oaks, CA USA 05/02/2007
France and GSM
I recently returned from France. While there I purchased a prepaid SIM card from Orange (France Cell phone company) to use in my unlocked gsm phone. I also have an unlocked Blackberry that I purchased a sim card from Locus Mobile. My wife was able to call me at the Hotel in France using the Blackberry. She dialed a special number locus mobile provided then she entered the hotel number. It only cost 0.15 for first 5 minutes then 9 cents a min. She used the Balckberry to text me and I was able to call her aswell. I was also surprised that the SIM card from France worked in Amsterdam as well as in US. I was able to receive calls by using yahoo voice which was only 20 cents/min to call a French mobile phone.
John Zq <email>
rosemount, MN USA 04/27/2007
Cell Phones
Get a Tri/Quad band phone from T-mobile, get it unlocked and buy a SIM card for the country you will be. Then you can add time locally by purchasing at a local shop such as tobacco. Mine worked well in Australia. Buy the SIM card before you go (just Google xx country SIM card and it will come up.
You can get voice mail on your US phone and check it while you are gone BUT be sure to get the number to dial in form overseas to check it!
Gerry
Long Beach, CA USA 04/23/2007
Telestial Customer Service
I've had problems with Telestial customer service as well. My wife is traveling in several countries, and wanted a single SIM card and minutes package to get her through the trip.
When she burned through her original package, I bought another $200 worth of minutes via the Telestial web site. I am now in day three of trying to get those minutes credited. Telestial has not responded to my email nor to my phone messages.
I decided to throw another $25 at the problem, but their online server told me I did not have a secure connection (a problem I have never had before with this connection). I then decided to call them to buy the additional time, and discovered that human beings do answer their sales calls. It took a lot of work, but I finally got them to tell me the reason the minutes have not posted to her account is that they do not yet have the required "codes" from their vendor.
In other words, they are selling air time they do not have. They have promised to call me back, and I now have an extension where I can reach a human being instead of their voice service, but at this moment I am not camping happily.
Phil <email>
Washington, DC USA 04/23/2007
That does not work for her
My wife's business will take her to five countries in two weeks. She does not want to look for a new SIM card for each country, or even to learn how to change the card, for that matter. Neither does she want a new phone number every time she changes her SIM card.
The Telestial model makes great sense for someone like her. Unfortunately, if they can't deliver on their promise to recharge her card (they've already taken our $200 and acknowledged the purchase repeatedly), we are going to have to look for alternatives.
Phil
Washington, DC USA 04/23/2007
Resolved, sort of
Telestial has finally delivered the minutes they sold me last Friday. I still don't appreciate the runaround I received, nor their willingness to sell something they did not have, but the problem is resolved, for now.
Phil
Washington, DC USA 04/23/2007
Mobiles
I am Canadian and live in Spain for past 10 years. I am in the telephone and internet business and my advice is dont use your mobile unless you absolutly have to. In europe you can pay a lot for calls and recieving is almost as much. There are many shops near most hotels you can call from land line not internet based for very cheap. €1 will get more than 5 min in most. Even cheaper than sending an email.I have seen many people from all over the world here at various time of year and there foreign mobiles are expensive. If you have to get a spanish sim card some can recieve free even with out credit. Remember Mobiles are a convienience and you pay for that no matter where you go.
Mike <email>
Torremolinos, Spain 04/21/2007
Cell Phones
I used a Range Roamer rental last year & it worked fine. They have several packages or you can buy a phone or a sim card. You get a toll free number for stateside folks to call you, and they give you cards you can pass out to family or friends. I had to call with a question and got a human to answer and help me out.
Pam <email>
jacksonville, FL USA 04/19/2007
CELL PHONES
I bought a Vodafone in Amsterdam, The International Cell Phone and not one Vodafone office in the rest of Europe, including the UK, could add new time to it. The instructions were in Dutch and I could not even get the Dutch to change it. Canadians use Call Canada Direct instead for calls home.
PETER K. MACLEOD - Travel Agent <email>
OTTAWA, ON CANADA 04/15/2007
global mobile cell phone cards
Interesting thread on global cell phone calls. If you have a GSM phone, you shouldn't have a problem getting service globally. The only issue is that your current telecom provider will try to get you for doing something outside of your monthly plan. You can try to change your plan for a month while your traveling OR consider getting a virtual mobile prepaid phone card that works on your cell phone. Pingo.com offers this with an offer for five dollars in free calls when you sign up. Here is the page that explains using it for mobile calls http://www.pingo.com/en/mobileusers.do
hope this was helpful. enjoy your trip!
Traveling Bob
Boston, MA USA 04/10/2007
UK traveler
I am going to London and have no idea what is teh best way to get cellular while there. I really only want to ber able to call back to the US and around London. Any great experience or ideas out there?
phyllis
raleigh, nc USA 03/30/2007
Canadian Traveller
Although this discussion is primarily about U.S. cell phones, I'm hoping someone out there will have some suggestions for Canadian cell phone customers heading to Europe. I own a Motorola Razr V3 on the Telus Mobility network, and my European travels this summer include the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria and Italy. Any ideas?
Barbara
Victoria, BC Canada 03/24/2007
Free Cell Calls in Europe - Outgoing (sort of)and Incoming (not overseas call for friends)
Ok! I haven't done this, but it should work.
Step 1. Set up an account with Grandcentral.com. Using this service, you can route calls to any number you choose. Your friends back in the U.S. will only have to remember 1 number as you change Sim Cards throughout your trip.
Step 2. Set up an account on Jaxtr.com. This service allows calls to anywhere in the world. Free for Jaxtr to Jaxtr users. This is not computer based per se. You have to initiate the call via computer, but the calls go to whatever phone you choose, anywhere in the world. (See what I am getting at here?)
3. If you place calls (outgoing) you must initiate call through the web, but both parties receive "incoming phone calls"
4. To receive calls (incoming) your friends will call your grandcentral.com number that you forward to your Jaxtr.com number that is forwarded to whatever number you choose.
5. You could do this I suppose by using Jaxtr only, however it is not as robust and you can have friends leave voicemails via the web on Grandcentral.com.
Let me know if this works,
Marshal
Marshal W.
Napa, CA USA 03/17/2007
Cell Phones
FYI
T-mobile is owned by Duetch Telecom, sorry for the misspell, but in plain english, T-mobile is owned by a the German Telephone Company, so the european service is wonderful. Just remember to be using a tri or quad band phone. A basic quad band phone cost less than $25.00, and you just call T-mobile before you leave the USA and they activate your international service. The best thing, my mom-in-law lives in the UK and since she and I have the same cell phone carrier, the UK calls between us were free.
Anna <email>
Chicago, il USA 03/11/2007
Ireland cell phones
has anyone used a prepaid phone in Ireland. We fly in and out of Dublin. Staying for 2 weeks.
TQ
Christine <email>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL USA 03/11/2007
re: T-Mobile
I had Tmobile a couple of years ago and had no problems roaming in several countries. The cost was less than Cingular which I now use.
MP
USA 03/01/2007
GSM Coverage
To find which cell phone services are available at your destination, try www.gsmworld.com/roaming. It has coverage maps for each service in each country.
CD
Conway, AR USA 03/01/2007
Sim Card Rental in Europe
Beware. In 2006, I rented a SIM card from a Rent-A-Cell representative operating in the Frankfurt Airport car rental area. Without being told by the representative and without my authorization, Rent-A-Cell used the VISA authorization for the rental to bill me another 800 euros for a security deposite. Also, When I finally received a detailed invoice from Rent-A-Cell, I learned they had charged me 250 euros for calls made from Italy after I had returned the SIM card to Rent-a-Cell. P.S. We were not anywhere close to Italy during our visit. Calling cards for me from now on!
Hank Wiedle <email>
Anchorage, AK USA 02/28/2007
Do I have to activate it anyway??
I had a cingular motorola Pay-As-You-Go phone. My lab got hold of it yesterday and completely rendered it useless. I saved the SIM card, and made sure it worked. But I was wondering if I could buy a phone from Cingular without having to activate the account and put my SIM card back into that one? I don't want to have to activate the stupid thing just because my dog thought it was a poisonous chew toy.
Cai Cloud
some place in, La. USA 02/27/2007
T-Mobile Cell
I have service through T-mobile. I will be in France and would like some info as to where I can purchase a SIM card. Does T-mobile exist in France?
Maricela
La Verne, CA USA 02/23/2007
Cell Phones
My husband is a Brit and after several trips to England I found the best advice is to just buy a UK sim card. The first time I went I had my GSM phone unlocked at a local phone store (1 that offers several different types of vendors); I got a sim card and a ten pound credit for around $20. The best thing is, as long as I send a text message every 6 months (just pop card in and send message to yourself) my number stays valid. You can also buy a VERY inexpensive prepay phone just about anywhere, the Brits are text messaging fanatics. Oh, and it can be used anywhere in western Europe as well.
Kate <email>
Columbus, OH USA 02/14/2007
re: Keeping contact by cell phone
I used a United Mobile card in four countries last summer. There are a couple of tricks to dialing out, but overall, it is a very good option. Before, I had a German sim card, but the UM card roams almost anywhere including in the US.
United-mobile.com
Ala USA 02/11/2007
Keeping contact by cell phone
I have a quad band, unlocked cellphone I will be taking to Europe. We will be travelling in vehicles with another couple who have a similar cellphone. We want to be able to contact each other in Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Rep, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. Can I get 1 sim to do all? or 1 SIM per country or??? Thanks
Gord Pope <email>
North vancouver, BC Canada 02/05/2007
Do Not but SIM cards fromt the USA
Do not by a SIM card before going to Italy. Wait until you get there. In the US, they are sold for $49 to $69. I purchased a SIM card at a Vodaphone store in Venice for € 10, and this included € 5 of outgoing airtime. All incoming calls are free. You get to keep the telephone number as long as you keep the SIM card active. The salesman tested my GSM phone before getting a SIM card to be sure it would work. He then got a new SIM, inserted it in my phone, while carefully saving my USA SIM card, and explained how to use the phone in Italy.
I would, however recommend that a Quad Band phone be used. I used my USA Tri Band phone (850, 1800, & 1900 MHz) and found it wanting. By not having the 900 MHz frequency, I was truly limited in where I could use the phone. I had thought that I might experience loss of signal as I went between cell towers. Instead what I found is that as long as I was in a city or town, I had a signal. As soon as I went into the country, I had no signal. Get either a Quad Band phone or a European Tri Band (900, 1800, & 1900 MHz) before you leave or buy a cheap European Tri-Band phone when you get there
Barry
Denver, CO USA 01/21/2007
Skype if it's an option!
If you are bringing a laptop, I highly recommend downloading and using skype. It's a great service, and very affordable. Good for long calls home or abroad to friends and family. But it can't be used for all communication as it isn't touch-tone and not compatible with automation phone menus.
mcgregor
USA 12/06/2006
Mobile phones with local SIM card - most flexibility
I have a quad-band unlocked phone with T-Mobile service. For countries where I'm not challenged with the language too much, I stop at a local phone kiosk and buy a prepaid local SIM card. Their rates are relatively cheaper to call the US and often they have deals where they throw in free minutes (got 120 free minutes one time). Where I'm more "language challenged", I go ahead and pay the higher roaming with my US plan. At least T-Mobile does not charge you an extra monthly fee (unlike Cingular) to have world-wide roaming rates. The advantage of either of these over relying on calling cards or Skype is if you are trying to book things as you are traveling. Using a mobile phone, people can call you back (and its a local number if you buy a local SIM card) when you're on the train or wherever. Much easier to book things on the fly.
Beth
Denver, CO USA 11/29/2006
Cell Phone Troubles
Had some problems with using my cell on recent trip to Europe, so in hopes of helping others, here are the issues I ran into. 1. Could not get a network. Then I found out I had to manually change the band on my new cell. 2.Phone would not charge no matter what configuration of adapters I used. I bought a european charger for my motorola v66 and then it charged. 3. The calling card I bought my family so they could call my liechtenstein number did not work with their AT&T service, so they were not able to call me. Ended up using Skype to contact my family via wireless laptop - free & convenient!
Ginny <email>
USA 11/12/2006
Mobal network for Italy
Just got back from Italy. Bought the $49 Mobal phone (Motorola C117), quick service and reliable. Problem is it's a phone number in England and I'm in Italy paying high long distance rates to call locally. Would have been cheaper to have an unlocked triband phone and purchase SIM card for Italy(they have 2 networks)- you can order it on line and it will be sent to you. Mobal is too expensive a way to go and they won't unlock the phone after using it (even if they quote Rick Steves as endorsing it; I would question his endorsement).
David <email>
San Francisco, CA USA 11/07/2006
SIM Chip for phone in Italy
I ordered a sim chip from Ekit and used it in my unlocked quad band Motorola phone that I use here in the states. It worked everywhere, including in the Dolomites. It also gives you a number that you can receive 60 minutes of free incoming calls. I used this to have my 2 college age children call us twice each week while we were in Italy for three weeks. It all worked out well and was nice the have the phone when we had a problem with one of our hotels.
Nancy
Petaluma, CA USA 10/23/2006
Cingular
I also used my regular Cingular Motorola V400 in Italy for two weeks. I did sign up for the $5.99 because it would pay for itself after only 20 minutes usage. BUT, I was distressed to find out that voicemail messages take as long as 2-3 days to get transferred, which was bad because we had 4 couples traveling together and there were several times unfortunately when we needed to make contact, left messages, but did not receive them until way too late to make decisions. And, we had trouble with the phone beginning in Chicago when our flight was delayed and one of the other couples had their flight cancelled entirely. I was trying to call them and they were trying to call me and we did not get each others' messages until after we were already in Italy. I talked to Cingular about this and they just said it was normal. HUH?
gayle Wehrli <email>
st louis, mo USA 10/21/2006
Cingular
Just back from Switzerland. I used my US Cingular Raz'r phone with no problems.
I did not sign up for the $5.99 monthly international fee, so I paid about $1.29 a min.
I did not have to go out and purchases a new phone, sim card - or get a new phone number for this one week trip.
I figured that if I kept my use under about 20 min, I'd pay the same as if I'd paid the $5.99 and got the $.99 a min fee.
So easy to use, and my cell service in Kandersteg - a TINY town in the Alps was amazing.
My daughter text messaged me...so that's even cheaper per use.
So ---my advise, don't spend $$ buying a new phone for a one week or two week vacation.
Check with your service provider for their international service plans, and check to see if you phone will work abroad.
Save $$$!
USA 10/16/2006
International SIM card sale
Hey fellow travelers! I was researching cell phone options mentioned here and noticed that Zengo Wireless (www.zengowireless.com) is having a great sale on their international phones and SIM cards.
The international phones are $65 off and the international SIM cards are $30 (original price $49) and $45 (original price $69). The SIM cards are cheaper than even most local cards and you can use them in 120 countries with one number. From what I understand, you don't get a US number, which sucks, but at least you'll get your number before you leave and you won't have to buy a local card in every place you visit.
Happy travels!
Kim Peck
Los Angeles, CA USA 10/13/2006
To Mary from Bloomington, IL.
You can purchase a cell phone in Ireland to use over there. Go to any cell phone store or kiosk. It must be an UNLOCKED sim card phone. Then you can put in different sim cards depending on which European country you are traveling in. You then purchase additional minutes as you need them. Simple and less expensive for calls within the country. Calls from home are free because you don't pay for incoming calls.
Bruce Grabowski <email>
Barrington, IL USA 10/09/2006
purchase a cell phone in Ireland?
I am going to Dublin, Ireland this summer and want to know if you can buy a cell phone once you are in Ireland? Where would one purchase it? I do NOT want to call the USA just need it for on the road car assistance and medical help in Ireland. Thanks for any ideas!
Mary <email>
Bloomington, IL USA 10/03/2006
I would be very surprised if your cruise ship didn't have high speed internet available for passenger use. So, I wouldn't bother with a satellite phone which is likely to be VERY VERY expensive.
Kate
Scotland 10/01/2006
Sat Phones
Does anyone have any experience renting a satellite phone for England and the Atlantic....am goin on cruise out of Southampton for 12 days....want to assure coverage...others have advised me the cell phones will NOT work at sea away from land! HELP!!
editors note: questions must be posted to Traveler's Helpline
Frank Atterbury <email>
Kenvil, nj USA 10/01/2006
cell phone in Turkey
Beginning this summer you can no longer use a sim card from Turkey in a phone not purchased in Turkey, without going through a long, arduous verification process. They are trying to cut down on illegal imports of phones. If you have a sim card already you can pick up a used phone for about $20 at a phone store that is on about every corner in any city. Just make sure is works before leaving the store.
Jay
AZ USA 09/27/2006
Mobal
On my recent trip I had great experience with my Modal service. I got the chip (free at the time) and use it in my unlocked tri-band phone even here in the US. In Europe it worked everywhere, even from trails high in the Dolomites. The cost/minute is relatively high but the convenience of no prepayment or fixed charges and broad international coverage make it worth it to me.
Jeff
USA 09/27/2006
Orange Mobicarte SIM for France
My husband and I have just returned from 2 weeks in Marseille in Southern France. I purchased two Orange Mobicarte SIMs at Carrefour for 30 Euros each and used the address of my friend's house that we were staying at. We had no problem to text or call back home to the Seattle area. Most of our family are using Verizon and Orange has the ability to text to Verizon. SFR, the other major French cell phone company, does not. We also drove to San Remo, Italy and Barcelona, Spain and were able to use our cell phones with no problems. I even have service with my Orange SIM here in Seattle through T-Mobile. As for the phones, I used an unlocked Motorola V551 and a V400, both purchased on Ebay. I also purchased a European charger on line just by doing a search with the part number(SPN5038A). Everything worked perfectly.
Danae <email>
Federal Way, WA USA 09/24/2006
calls to usa
For maybe once daily or less calling back to the u.s., it seems like alot of hassle and money to mess with the cell phones and buying sim chips. Considering the very unreliable service. I use an MCI calling card some of the time (very reliable) and most of the time internet email. I just tell family and friends to email if there are any problems and if they don't, I assume all is well. Has worked fine every time and is cheap, reliable and easy to use as pay phones and internet cafes are virtually everywhere in europe.
Brian
Snohomish, WA USA 09/24/2006
cell phone
I have a quad band phone from the us i used it all over europe but its 1.29 a minute...i used the car charger with no problem. in european rentals..germany, switzerland, england, scotland ect ect.
its expensive but worth it...susan
susan
jacksonville, florid USA 09/23/2006
italy rental phones
C.Mickelson posted a question re italian rental cell phones.
it is pretty tough to get a italian prepaid cell phone or rental cell phone. there are new laws that make it difficult unless you have a local address. heck, you even have to register your passport to use an internet cafe for 30 minutes.
i just got back from italy. i purchased an italian gsm sim card with the TIM provider thru a dealer (who provided the local address). it worked great in my unlocked tri-band gsm cell phone. very cheap to use if you are only calling within italy [0.07€ per minute]. easy to add additional money at italian post office atm's and TIM retail stores. cingular charged $1.00 per minute for any call while in europe. i am selling it now b/c i don't have any more use for it. the ad has more info http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/209922633.html
superdeluxe
seattle, wa USA 09/21/2006
Cell phones
I bought a card in Amsterdam from Telfort, and droped in my unlocked Nokia 6620, which is a triband phone. Voice calling worked great in Holland, but once I left for Berlin, I could only send and receive text messages. No calls would go out. I kept in touch with my friend in Amsterdam via text the rest of the trip. Text worked in germany, denmark, Sweden , and Norway..
Just some info..
chief
LA, CA USA 09/11/2006
Cell PHone Charger
Cars everywhere use 12 volts. That is what comes out of the auxillory plug/cigerette lighter. It doesn't matter whether you are in Moscow or Atlanta, 12 volts is 12 Volts so the guy that bought a 12 to 24 volt charger simply wasted his money becuase he bought one that would work in a semitruck. They often use 24 volts to start their very heavy engines. The difference is voltage between the USA and Europe play when you plug the charger up in the house. In the USA, the house voltage is 110 volts. In Europe, it is 220 volts. If you plug a 110 volt charger into a 220 volt outlet, you will ruin it.
Ralph <email>
Oklahoma CIty, Ok USA 09/05/2006
Rented Cell phone / Verizon Int'l
Just rented a cell phone from Verizon for our 8 days in London and southern England. It was $4 @ day with a fixed rate of $1.49 @ minute, drop shipped to our home the day before we left for $20. Only used a few times, but with family at home a small price for peace of mind knowing we COULD be reached anytime, anywhere. No worries, since no news was good news.
Bill Stapleton <email>
Washington, DC USA 09/05/2006
International Text Messaging?
Has anyone used their US GSM service just for text messaging? I'm not much of a phone talker, but I'll be in Germany, Switzerland, and Prague for 3 weeks total and I'd like the option of sending/receiving texts once in awhile.
Please email if you have any info.
Lori <email>
Costa Mesa, CA USA 08/29/2006
Charging your cell phone in the car
When I purchased my car charger, it accepted 12-24 vdc. I plugged it into the car I rented in France, and it worked fine. The key, then, is to purchase a charger that works on variable voltages.
Carl Raskin
Ottawa, Ont Canada 08/29/2006
charging cell phone in car in europe
I know I can use my cell phone charger without a converter. However, is the charge system in their cars the same? Is it safe to charge my cell phone using the rental car in europe
Pat <email>
Cambria, CA USA 08/28/2006
I used my own phone
I bought this phone from www.freephonefreeshipping.com it was Quad band and the company let me get the code to use a different sim card in Eurpoe! I could even use my existing service if I wanted!
john givens
fernandina beach, fl USA 08/27/2006
Mobal World Phone
Just returned from trip to Ireland. In Continental's magazine on flight home, found advert for Mobal World Phone (purchase price $49.00 US) claiming to be "endorsed by Rick Steves," but Rick Steves we site has no reference. I use a mobile Vodaphone purchased in Rome for around $100 US - it stinks - have used it in Italy and Ireland (buying an Irish SIM chip for the reasonable price of 10 Euro). It constantly shows a "no service' message until fiddled with, drops calls in progress and runs out of minutes fast. It has no external antena (what a mistake).
Glenn
Norristown, PA USA 08/25/2006
Italy rental phones
Has anyone had experience renting a phone in Italy during their trip? I am doing an 18 day van trip and would like to keep in contact with Agriturismos and hotels etc. during the trip. My provider (Verizon) has a rental program but it is quite expensive.
C.Mickelson
Rapid City, USA 08/25/2006
cell phone tips
i bought a charger in europe for my mortorola phone
most cell phones are the same models in europe so
you can use their charger...it worked great...no adapter needed...note the same thing for the ipod, got one of the adapter i pod chargers for 39 dollars and took only the plugs I needed for europe and
viola...pas de problem
cell phone was unlocked by cingular and is a quad band (almost all their phones are GSM tri and quad band) so I can buy a sim card when I arrive at airport and then use it to call friends...also get a card good for the US (they have these at the tabacs and key the access no into my cell and use it to call
family (like the husband who is back home)
I dont mind changing cell nos for each visit to Paris
and the convienece is great.
Susanne
Fairfax, Ca USA 08/23/2006
cell phones in Germany
In Germany, if you go into any Tchibo coffee shop, they sell SIMM cards for only 5 euro to use with your phone and their pre-paid services http://www.tchibo.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/de/-/EUR/TdTchBrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=mobil ) Their rate is 25 cents/minute and free voice mailbox. Aldi stores also have cheap SIMM cards. You can also purchase a cell phone from Tchibo stores for as little as 25 Euros.
Kim
Germany 08/22/2006
re: charging cell phone in italy
Are you sure your phone is tri- or quad-band? If not, it will not work in Europe. All the phones of those types I have ever seen have 110-240 volt (dual voltage) power supplies. If your phone charger is rated at the lower voltage only, you will need a converter.
MP
USA 08/21/2006
charging cell phone in italy
Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm leaving for Italy next week, and I would like to be able to charge my phone while there. Since I'm on Cingular, I plan to use the $5.99 int'l service to make calls to and from Italy, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to charge the phone. The AC power supply says "Input: 120VAC 60Hz 0.05A"
Do I need a transformer?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Nancy
Portland, OR USA 08/20/2006
low cost international calling
In response to the request for how to do calls from Turkey, Greece. I recommend:
a) buying a SIM card for each country. In Greece I bought one at a cigarette store for 12 euros. I've gotten a couple hours of local air time on it for the 12 Euros. This assumes you have an unlocked, GSM cell phone. Hence, you use a prepaid card that's rechargeable. (I bought the the OTE SIM; OYE is Greece's nat'l phone company.). The new SIM card will give you a new phone number for that country however.
b) For int'l calls, use a calling card number. For instance, MCI world phone (if it's your long distance carrier) charges just 7 cents/min. for Greece to U.S. calls. To use it, you 1st call a local access number in eaxh country from your cell phone. The mobile service bills it as a local call.
Martin
Martin <email>
Lesbos, Greece 08/07/2006
whatever happened to good old calling cards?
Reading through this message board, it looks to me like there are thousands of options and none of them are as simple as good old fashion calling cards. Last time I went to Europe, I was on such a tight budget that I decided to use a prepaid onesuite card and nothing else -- one of the smartest things I did for the whole trip. I just thought I'd throw my experience out there in case anyone else, like me, was reading this thread and got more confused than anything else.
Elvis
San Jose, CA USA 07/25/2006
You do not need a cell phone! Nor Sim!
www.skype.com If you buy a headset with USB cord and mouthpeice (they sell between $20.00 and $45.00) and if you have high speed internet, then you are in for free conversations all over the world. Domestic or International. Go to www.skype.com It takes two minutes to download this free service. Another two minutes to create your sign in. If your family and friends download this program and have high speed, and the headset, you can talk to them. If you want to call their land line or cell from your skype, it is 1.2 CENTS a minute. Basically not even .75 cents an hour! Most internet cafes in Europe provide Skype with headsets. All you pay is the internet time like everyone else. You can surf the net, type to your friends, while TALKING THROUGH SKYPE to your friends or relatives. All in the same sitting.
Liz Corsick
San Francisco, CA USA 07/22/2006
SKYPE is the way to go!!! Can you say FREE?
While in Italy for 3 weeks, I would walk into internet cafes and ask if they had SKYPE. Most answered yes and they were fully equiped with headsets. No charge. Just the sitting fee of using the internet like everyone else. So I would type to my friends while talking to my boyfriend live. For Free. Headsets can be as low as $20.00 (USB with MouthPiece required) I did bring my own headset with USB just in case and this came in handy in Santa Margharite. The guy downloaded Skype for me. This program allows you to call anyone in the world for free. Most europeans use it. Some guy was talking to his friend in Africa and another guy was talking to his family in the Middle East. It is computer to computer talking. Super clear like they were right next to you. High speed computer required. Just be aware of the time difference. I called him usually at 7:00 pm Euro time, 10:00 am San Francisco time. If I wanted to call his cell phone or land line, it costs 1.2 cents a minute. Translation. That is $1.12 an hour!!
Liz Corsick <email>
San Francisco, CA USA 07/21/2006
Cell Phone Italy
My daughter is in Italy. Everyone says its cheaper to get pay as you go phone there, but she does not know where to find them. Also, I have Vonage in the US so I can call Italy for free or 4 cents/minute.
Patty <email>
Dallas, TX USA 07/20/2006
cell phone tips
Where do you buy the Vodafone? Am flying into Malpensa.
Jean <email>
White Bear Lake, MN USA 07/17/2006
Cell Phone- Italy
Traveled in Italy for 25 days - June/July '06 - bought an inexpensive Vodafone cell phone [85 E] & SIM card [25 E], and had to add 20 Euro once for the whole time period - total cost? 130 Euro for 4 weeks - reception was great all over Europe - Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento, Ischia; and on the trains! Useful for making dinner reservations, connecting with friends in Italy, and for receiving calls from family. Also bought a Europa calling card for calls back to USA from hotels - worked great except for one hotel that had pulse dialing, and added a long distance plan to home phone line for inexpensive family member calls to the cell phone. Worked out nicely and since we bought the phone in Italy, the charger worked without an adapator, and since it was a new phone the battery lasted a long time betwen charges.
Mitch <email>
Mill Valley, CA USA 07/16/2006
Incoming calls on Telestial
My daughter recently purchased a cell phone from Telestial and has been using it for the past six weeks. It worked fine the first month, but when she left Ireland for Israel she lost the ability to receive incoming calls(Telestial advertises free incoming calls)She can only make outgoing calls, which she has to pay for. There service is terrible. You can never get through, they ask you to leave a message. I have been trying for more than a week to correct the problem with no positive results.
Pluto01960
Newtown, CT USA 07/16/2006
French Sim
I am traveling to France in 1 week and have an unlocked gsm tri-band phone 900/1800/1900. I would like to buy a sim chip once I am there but I read on an internet site that you have to have an address in France in order to obtain a chip. This website is questionable because they sell sim chips though cellular abroad at double the price (conflict of interest). My question, has anyone bought a sim card in France and what did you have to provide in order to obtain it?
Please email a response. Thanks! Happy Travels!
Jeff L <email>
Reseda, CA USA 07/10/2006
cell phone voicemail and phone cards
This is a tip for those who don't mind a little extra work to save a little money. When we went to London and Paris a few weeks ago, we set our US GSM cell phones so that all calls would go to voicemail. If callers left a message, we'd get a notification on our cell phones at no cost. Then we'd call our voicemail number using a pay phone and telephone calling card, retrieve the message, and, if necessary, call back from the pay phone. This technique allowed us to stay in touch while avoiding the higher fees for using our cell phones. If you do not forward cell calls this way, the call gets bounced to you overseas and you may pay international roaming rates even if you don't pick up when the call comes in.
Paul
Tuscaloosa, AL USA 07/03/2006
SIM cards
If you plan on making a lot of local calls, it is better to wait until you are in that country to buy a SIM card. If you would like to get the best international calling rates, however, you are better off buying a card here to use wherever you are going.
For example, I have a UK SIM card ($39 no additional minutes from telestial; $49 100 included minutes from cellular abroad) and ALL of my incoming minutes are free regardless of where they originate. My family & friends (if they have good int'l long distance rates, that is) can call me and I don't have to worry about having enough minutes or getting cut off in the middle of a call. The rates for calling to the US are 5p/min (about 9 cents) while calling a UK number costs me 15p/min (about 28 cents). There are only two hours of peak time (7-9 pm) where I have to pay an additional charge (2.5p/min).
If you plan on traveling to a few (or several) countries, you can still get a SIM card that will offer you great rates. Several of them have the "all incoming calls are free" option and the cost for local calls varies according to country.
The only requirement is an unlocked GSM tri-band phone (they are everywhere, and if you want to go on the cheap you can even get refurb phones for about $40 from several places on the web).
I travel abroad frequently---rates are so low now that phone cards are no longer worth the hassle.
Michelle Duran-McLure
Montevallo, AL USA 07/03/2006
Actually, most European companies will list SIM card prices in Euros, not GBP (pounds).
You really are better off waiting and buying a SIM Card when you are in Europe. My experience was that the web didn't begin to list all the options - pay-per-minute mobile plans are the norm in Europe, so there's an excess of options for SIM Cards/pay-per-minute call options.
The plans from the US mobile companies are only worthwile if you travel on a regular basis and want to commit for at least six months.
I bought a SimCard for my UK mobile in Denmark. The basic package was 100kr - about $18, and it included the Sim Card and a set amount of time at about $.40 per minute within Denmark plus 50kr worth of free texts. Not sure how much international calls would have cost.
Kate
Scotland 06/29/2006
Call-back or Call Return Service
I've received a few questions about an earlier post of mine that mentioned call-back or call return services, so here's a little more info.
A call-back service gives you a special number to call, usually a local number in the country where you’re staying. When you call that number, you let it ring once, and then hang up. The computer calls you back, and when you answer the phone you have a dial tone that you can use to make cheap calls. The only trick is that you have to give them the number you’re going to use ahead of time. So it works best if you have a cell phone with you. The service I’m using is from Telestial (http://www.telestial.com/return_call_service.php ). Cost for calling from Ireland to the states is $.43 a minute, less than half that of the Cingular interational roaming plan.
There’s a great web site that has a ton of info about cell phones and all the ways you can use them overseas which I highly recommend: http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/unlockingfaq.htm
Cheers,
Patrick
Patrick Kelley <email>
Seattle, WA USA 06/27/2006
Cingular's $5.99 Plan
Cingular's offerings vary depending on which area you live in. I looked into the $5.99 plan and would have to sign up for a minimum of 6 months, which means you are already out $36 plus .99 each way. The only ones who will save are the people who call you while you are abroad because most foreign SIM cards feature free incoming calls and many of them have cheaper outgoing rates.
Read the fine print before committing to Cingular.
MP
USA 06/26/2006
I've checked several of the SIM card programs and it seems that the $5.99 cingular plan will work out better for me. The calls are all .99 in/out of Italy .50 for text. The cheapest SIM card I found was $27 US with slightly cheaper rates but I may only make 5 calls. Beware most SIM card plans list prices in pounds which is almost double the dollar. When I did the conversion calls were around .60 a minute. If you found something better let me know. No junk please.
Sylvanna <email>
USA 06/26/2006
Cell Phone From Ekit
Hello... been to Italy 3 times, first time I went was without a cell phone, and it was terrible. Second time I went I bought a cell phone from www.ekit.com and the phone was great and a lifesaver... wouldn't go traveling without it. When I have friends traveling to Europe I give them the phone to use and they love it as well.
M'Liss Bush <email>
Spokane, Wa USA 06/24/2006
Using your cell phone in Europe
Just back from UK, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and Cingular's International Plan was great. You keep your own cell number and incoming callers are not charged. Excellent reception everywhere including high in the Alps. For $5.99/mo and .99/minute it's worth it. They do charge double if someone leaves a voicemail. If keeping your own cell number is important its the way to go. I did have to upgrade to a quad band cell phone however.
Darlene
San Antonio, TX USA 06/24/2006
Free incoming minutes
Hi everyone. There seemed to be some confusion about the free incoming calls I got, so I thought I'd clarify a bit. What I bought from Zengo Wireless was a quad band phone and international SIM card. The international SIM card was only $60 and comes with 15 euro credit (the phone was $160, so that's why the total for both was $220).
The international SIM card provides unlimited free incoming calls in 80 countries & unlimited free incoming text messages worldwide, not in just one country. If you get a country specific SIM card (i.e. for France), you will receive free incoming calls in that country (i.e. France), but no where else. The roaming rates, if you went outside of France, for example, would be comparable to roaming with a US carrier abroad--very expensive. Unfortunately, I learned that when I used my France SIM card in Belgium a few years ago. It was over $1/minute for incoming and outgoing calls and, what was really bad, was that I couldn't recharge the SIM card easily. (France SIM cards aren't sold in Belgium shops and the French telecom companies don't allow you to recharge over the web. Hopefully that's changed, but I doubt it.)
So, as far as getting free incoming calls in multiple countries go, international SIM cards are the best. By the way, it's my understanding that all international SIM cards use callback technology for outgoing calls. That's why their call rates are so cheap compared to what you would normally pay if you roamed with T-Mobile or Cingular, for example. Happy travels!
C. Amankwah
Newark, DE USA 06/24/2006
Europe cellphones
Cellphone rental rates in the US range between $60-99 for use in Europe with exorbidant per minute rates of .99-2.00.
IMHO, this is a waste. I happen to have an old tri-band phone (Nokia) which I unlocked for $5 and used in Italy. A 20 Euro SIM card gave me .10-.29 Euro per minute rates (depending on whether I was calling another cell or a land line.) You too may have an old GSM phone sitting around.
For my daughter I bought a new, unlocked GSM tri-band phone online (www.myworldphone.com) for $89, and another SIM card. Our calls to each other were only .10 euro per minute. And we still have the phones to use on our next trip!
Kate
Fort Lauderdale, FL USA 06/14/2006
A few comments
A couple of comments re: some prior posts:
-- Buying SIM cards is easy while on the ground in Europe, you can go into many phone shops (they are **everywhere**) and buy one quite cheaply and in a matter of minutes. (For example, in the UK, you can easily buy a SIM for L10 that includes L5 of call credit at one of many, many phone shops, and complete your purchase in just a few minutes.) Unless you need the phone number prior to your arrival, don't feel compelled to buy one before you've landed in Europe.
-- Re: the Zengo deal referenced below, I can't comment on the company, but receiving free incoming calls is no big deal. Free incoming calls are the norm with every mobile provider in Europe, and you don't need anywhere near $220 to get one. For $220, that had better be an outstanding phone and include great outgoing call rates, otherwise that is probably a poor value.
RW
CA USA 06/13/2006
Unlocked GSM phone and country-specific SIM
I have an unlocked GSM phone and Cingular. I'm travelling to Ireland for 3 weeks and wanted to have an Ireland phone number, so on the advice of David Rowell of "The Travel Insider" I ordered a pay-as-you-go SIM card that has an Ireland number and can be replenished with the "Top Off" cards available in convenience stores and gas stations throughout Ireland. I'll also have my Cingular SIM with me so I can use their International Roaming if need be. However, when calling home I'll probably use one of the "call-back" services where you can get low-cost dialtone to the US -- 41 cents a minute in my case, way cheaper than most cell phone rates. Anyway, this combination of things seems ideal in terms of both price and convenience. I'll post a follow-up message when I get back to report on how it worked in practice.
Cheers,
Patrick
Patrick Kelley <email>
Seattle, WA USA 06/11/2006
Cheap cell phone & SIM
Hi everyone! I bought a quad band phone and int'l SIM card three weeks ago from Zengo Wireless (www.zengowireless.com) for my trip to Switzerland and Italy. It was quite affordable--$220 for both the phone and SIM. The phone is unlocked and comes with a 1 year warranty, and the SIM gives free incoming calls in 80 countries, including most of Europe, so I got free calls in Switzerland and Italy.
I was quite happy with my experience, and really impressed with them as a whole. I had a few questions before I purchased the products, and the customer service was excellent.
C. Amankwah
Newark, DE USA 06/09/2006
Cingular phone
Cingular provided me with good service Italy/US. Cost very reasonable, check their web. My major problem that was not satisfactorily resolved was my travel partner had an Australian phone, and we could not call each other, even after calls to C to resolve!!!
MMT
Augusta, USA 06/02/2006
Cell Phone
In 2003 I purchased an unlocked triband phone on e-bay and purchased a SIM card through InTouchUSA. The phone (Motorola)worked great and InTouch had very good customer service. I'm using their SIM card service again. The cost is a little expensive, but the phone is usable in numerous countries.
Pete <email>
West Chicago, Il USA 06/01/2006
US phone worked fine
I got a Motorola Razr phone because it has 4 bands and works in US and Italy. Checked with my provider (Cingular) before leaving and had them remove international calling blocks. Turned on the phone in Venice and it found the I WIND network and worked. To call me, people used my US number; when I made calls to the US, I prefixed numbers with 001. I could also send text messages to my son in California, without using the 00 prefix.
Tom Van Vleck
Ocean City, NJ USA 05/26/2006
Cell Phones from Auto Europe
You can rent a cell phone if you're renting a car through Auto Europe (www.autoeurope.com). The first week of rental is free, then $2 per day after that. Incoming calls are free, local calls are .60/minute and calls back to the US are $1.60/minute. They ship it to you before you leave and provide packaging to mail it back. The S&H is $35. A great deal if you just want it to use it to make a few local calls or for emergencies.
ALC
USA 05/24/2006
skype?
I wouldn't say skype is an alternative to a cell phone, as you wouldn't be able to use it to call your hotel when you're halfway there and running late, or need directions, etc. It's fine for keeping in touch with friends at home, but it doesn't replace a cell phone IMO.
USA 05/23/2006
eKit (www.hiusa.ekit.com) offers SIMS that cover Europe or Worlwide with what look like decent prices. I haven't tried it yet, but I may on our upcoming trip.
Robyn
USA 05/22/2006
new cell phone service
Has anyone tried the new service from range roamer (gsm phone + sim card, competitive rates as far as I can tell)? It looks great but I'd love to know if anyone has actually used it.
Sarah <email>
Pitt Meadows, BC Canada 05/19/2006
Call USA from Turkey
Calling the USA from Turkey using a cell phone can be very costly.Generally, I use up about 250 credits on my cell phone in about 10 minutes calling the USA. And a lot of the time the connection sucks. It is easy to find internet cafes. I would keep in touch with people using email--it is very cheap.
Jamie
Kusadasi, Turkey 05/18/2006
Using Cell Phone (Handy) in Germany
I took my SonyEricsson K700i wuith e to Germany. Bought a "pay as you go" SIM from T-Mobile and had no problem. Renewals of time are a piece of cake, any gas station has a terminal. Also most cities have a T-Mobile store. Text message was a good way to save minutes...and inexpensive. Incoming calls are not charged against you account.
M
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034, USA 05/06/2006
Alternative to phone
If you have to carry a lap-top with you while you travel, you can look into using skype.com. Although I am sure many of you are already using it (I am always the last to know), for those like me it is an international web-based phone calling system. You need a headset for pc's but ibooks have their own exterior microphones. The web-site explains everything and it is VERY inexpensive.
Coral <email>
USA 05/02/2006
GSM cards Turkey and Greece
I am traveling to Turkey and Greece in August. I will have GSM phone (a V60). I want to buy the SIM card at the airport in Istambul. Anybody has any experience with purchsing the card and calls from Turkey and Greece to and from US? What is the minute rate for US calls and for local calls? I appreciate comments.
Andrew <email>
PA USA 05/01/2006
Buy your SIM card in Europe
This is what I did for my last trip to Europe. I have my phone unlocked by the provider in the US (in my case, it's by T-mobile) and I bought the SIM card once I arrived in Europe. For about 10 Euro, I can SMS anyone in Europe and US for free, and the 10 Euro in the card can be use to call anywhere in Europe, sans roaming. I bought the SIM card from one of the T-mobile branch in Berlin, but I can imagine finding it anywhere else in Europe. Good luck!
One catch: do bring your cell-phone charger with compatible adaptor from the U.S. Not all hotel room allow you to charge the cell phone. For some reason, the plugs in the hotel I stayed in Paris cannot be used to chage my phone (not the adaptor problem, but no matter how long I plug it in, my battery didn't get charged).
M. A.
Plano, Texas USA 04/25/2006
Cell Phone in Europe
I added roaming service for my trip. My cell provider -Cingular- charged $5.99 roaming for 1 month. You receive text-messages free. And, I bougth a calling card for 5 euros for 100 minutes to call the USA. There are a lot of pre-paid cards to choose from. Calls to my cell from the USA were 99cents per minute.
Indiana
Austin, Texas USA 04/20/2006
Renting a cell phone
I am going to Tuscany next month and was able to rent a cell phone through Hertz rental car. The service rent@cellhire.com costs $54 plus insurance (99 cents a day.) It costs 99 cents a minute for in-country calls and $2.50 to call back to the states. I only want it for emergencies and calling ahead to hotels to reconfirm my reservations, so it works fine for me. By the way, they ship the phone to you before you leave and you return it via FedEx when you return. The mailing costs are included in the $54 fee.
Hal Wilcox <email>
University City, Mo USA 04/20/2006
Easy to use cell phone in Italy
We went to Italy in March. We have T-mobile and I signed up for their international plan. It was free and I just used the basic phone I already owned. The cost of using the phone in Italy was .99 cents per minute. I just needed an adapter for the charger - not a converter. We used the phone twice for emergencies and the bill was $2.97.
J
Honolulu, HI USA 04/16/2006
Cell Phone
I purchased a phone from Mobal (http://www.mobalrental.com) for $99. It worked great for our trip March, 2006. The cost/minute is high ($1.50) but we only used it for emergencies. It has a UK number but it can be used anywhere in the world with cell phone access. I just put it away until our next trip and then I will recharge it and will keep the same number.
Susan <email>
Milwaukee, WI USA 04/13/2006
cell phone
went to Italy on April 2005 fotr 14 days. I brought a singular world phone cost now $69.00/ plan worked great in the country and for people for states to call me. All they had to dial was my 7 digit number if dialing from same area code. For me to call the USA all I needed to do was add the 001 to phone number and dial. I rented a car so charging was no problem. My cost averaged about $1.00/minute when I got home and got my bill. I highly recommend a phone if you are going to drive or are not on a tour.
cesare frabotta <email>
cleveland, ohio USA 04/06/2006
Vonage
One word: VONAGE. Voice over internet. Free. easy. No cell phone needed. just an internet cafe.
USA 03/29/2006
For your US phone to work in Europe, it must be a (1) GSM phone that is a (2) triband or quad-band. If you want to be able to use a local European carrier, the phone will also need to be (3) "unlocked".
If you are with carriers such as Verizon and Sprint/ Nextel, your phone will not work. Cingular and T-Mobile customers have GSM, so may be in luck.
A triband or quadband phone (sometimes called an international or world phone) is required, because North American phones operate on different frequencies than are used in Europe and much of the world. You should research your phone to see whether it is a tri- or quad-band; if it is a typical dual-band, it won't work. If your plan is coming up for renewal and you don't have a triband or quadband, you might consider getting one as part of your next contract.
If your phone is not "unlocked", it won't operate with other SIM cards. You can sometimes get unlock codes from either your wireless carrier or the manufacturer of your phone. If that isn't possible, then you will have to either search the internet or else find a phone shop that can unlock your phone by hacking it, but there is some risk of your phone being damaged by doing this.
Roaming with your US carrier is probably expensive, but if this is what you require, check with your carrier to see if you can get a pricing program that can reduce your costs. It's likely that your wireless contract will allow you to upgrade and downgrade services each month as you like, so check into temporarily changing your plan if you intend to travel.
Pay-as-you-go services are very common in Europe, and getting a local number with a SIM card can be quite cheap. On one hand, you will be happy to know that incoming calls and texts are free (although your caller may be paying through the nose to speak to you, because the cost of calling to a European mobile number is generally higher than is phoning a land line.) On the other hand, outgoing calls can be quite costly, and you can pretty much forget about much hope of having free nights or weekends. Europeans have taken to texting like ducks to water in large part because texting is much cheaper than calling. However, you can expect to limit your use of that SIM to the country in which you bought it, as roaming charges apply for "international" usage (and yes, using your UK SIM while in France is international for this purpose), so buying one SIM for your ten-country tour is not likely to do the trick.
Of course, you will need to charge your phone, so bring adaptor plugs as needed by your itinerary. Tri- and quad-band phones tend to be dual voltage, so a voltage converter shouldn't be needed.
On the whole, mobile phones are very useful in Europe, particularly if you can get accustomed to texting. Just be aware that your callers will often pay a substantial premium a European mobile number (often 3-4 times the price of dialing a European land line), so it might help them to shop for and confirm their calling rates before talking your ear off while you're on vacation...
RW
CA USA 03/28/2006
Prepaid Sim Card
I've been using a Riiing SIM card for several months in my travels around the world. Its a prepaid card from United Mobile out of Switzerland. The phone number is in Liechenstein. In most if not all European countries, the cost is .37 Euro a minute plus a .25 Euro set up fee per call. But its FREE incoming! Card works in almost every country. I know they changed their web site because of a name change but you can Google Riiing. Cards are available on EBay and other retailers. I think the card itself is way overpriced, but once you have it you can recharge through United Mobile via the internet. Comes with voicemail that is a little wacky but still usable.
Carl <email>
Sequim, WA USA 03/25/2006