jchoats

Does anyone have any experience with renting a cell phone in Ireland. I never thought about it until I read one of the postings the other day. Sounds like it might be a good idea, but I would like more info on it. Thanks

xyz123

How long are you going to be in Ireland...If more than a week, it is probably much smarter to buy a phone. Please read the various threads on this to make a smart informed decision.

mealdridge

In May we rented a cell phone through Rent a Phone Ireland. www.rentaphone-ireland.com Niall Hughes emailed our number to us a few days before we left so we had it to give to family. The phone was waiting on us at the car rental desk in Shannon as we requested. When we needed extra time we bought it at a shop. On the day we left we put the phone and charger in the envelope provided and our B&B hostess mailed it for us. It was a painless process for the convenience and security of having the phone at hand. I know some recommend buying a phone but we knew we would not be returning to Ireland for a couple of years and decided renting was our best option.

jchoats

Thanks for the info and the web site.

AAFrequentFlyer

You don't buy a phone just for Ireland.

You buy an unlocked dual or tri band phone that you could use in about 95% of the world's countries. Once you have the phone, you buy a SIM card upon arrival at the destination. It usually comes with some pre-paid time. The advantage here ( a BIG ONE) is that the rates are so much cheaper than rental rates. In many cases your incoming calls are free, the per minute calls are in increments of few seconds, NOT MINUTES as in most rental agreements. You have a choice of carriers in each country, so after a little research you pick the carrier that fits your needs the best.

Rentals are easy, but they are usually very expensive. In many cases the amount you paid for rental and the minutes on a short vacation would pay for the phone and few minutes during your first vacation. From that point on, you are saving BIG on your next vacation, <b>wherever</b> that may be.

jchoats

thanks for the info. I'll look into both options

Steeleyes

Mealdridge - We leave this Saturday and considered your approach. How much did it end up costing you for your rental?

mealdridge

We paid 86.40 euro for 16 days rental. That was with a 10% discount for mentioning Pat Preston's Ireland Expert website. The Rent a Phone Ireland website says that two weeks is now 100 euro. I don't know if they still give the discount but it's worth a shot. I noticed that they are now also selling calling cards to make calls to the States cheaper.

xyz123

Well the point has been made for me..

$100 for a 2 week rental plus obscenely high per call charges...give me a break.

For about $60, you can go to e bay and buy a perfect good unlocked tri band GSM phone. Upon arrival in Ireland you go to any mobile phone store, they are probably at the airport or at your first hotel the desk clerk can tell you the location of the nearest mobile phone store and buy a prepaid SIM pack...$30 at most with some time.

Receiving calls is FREE as in FREE...you can call out in a plethora of ways if you do some research.

If your next European trip is to say France, you don't have to rent again; yo buy a FRENCH sim card and voila you have a French phone.

I just don't understand, and I am a person who is very reasonable, people who see any merit whatsoever to renting a mobile phone; unless it is only for a day or 2. You pay through the bloody nose.

And then there is this garbage of convenience and how difficult it is to get a prepaid SIM. Give me a break; especially in countries such as Ireland or in the UK where the language is English.

The fact is that Europeans are, as in so many other things unfortunately, eons ahead of America when it comes to things like mobile phones. Buying prepaid SIMS is an everyday affair for Europeans visiting other countries.

It is one of the easiest things in the world to do; especially in English speaking countries.

Do yourself a favour and read the material and then make an informed decision.

xyz123

Oh yes...

One more point. There are those who tout the advantage of renting by pointing out that you know your mobile number in advance.

Of course, this is 2004. You can e mail your friends with your Irish mobile number. You can change the message on your voice mail at home giving your Irish mobile number. You can sign up with an outfit called telcan for an 800 forwarding number, $2.50 a month, where you can programme it to forward calls when people dial the 800 number to your Irish mobile (about 30 some odd cents a minute) which can be programmed via the web. Or if you have remote call forwarding on your landline, you can forward calls from your landline to your 800 numbers and have then forwarded to your Irish phone so people calling your home number will be able to reach you in Ireland 24/7; goes through instantaneously too.

As I am fond of saying, 21st century technology works and is a lot more fun and more efficient.

jchoats

Thank you very much for the info re: buying v. renting. I'm not going until July 2005 so I have plenty of time to do my research. Thanks again.

mealdridge

Convenience is what I paid for and what I got. I didn't want to have to do anything other than pick up the phone. My vacation, my money, my choice.

xyz123

Of course mealdridge...it's always your call. But want to talk about convenience. Read the thread on MBNA to see what can happen with a rent a phone company and then we can talk about convenience.

Alec

If you are arriving at Dublin airport, right by one of the exit doors is a Vodafone shop selling SIM-pack (29 euro) or Ready-to-Go package (including a phone) from 109 euro. Conveniently, the shop has several PC workstations with free internet, so you can e-mail your new number (printed on the package) there and then. The handset is locked, but if you get a Nokia, you can unlock yourself using code generator at http://www.uniquephones.com/unlock/index.php to make it accept sim card from other operators.

Cobos

But xyz123 since it seems people prefer to pay for the convenience of getting the phone in advance, what do you say we start renting out mobile phones ?
I'll buy a bunch of used European Nokia 3110's and we can rent them out for a nice profit. What do you say ?

Sindre (who could use a nice secondary income)

pcooper

We recently returned from Ireland and before leaving the US, we had the same question of renting vs buying. We bought a phone from a company that found on the internet called MOBAL. Cost was $49. It's registered in the UK but can be used with different card in other European countries. Having it was great as we called ahead each night for our B&amp;B. Also, as we were two women traveling on a lot of back roads, the peace of mind of being able to make emergency calls if necessary was good. Our bill for all our calls was app. $12 and we now have a phone for future trips. The service from this company was terrific and would highly recommend their phone and service.

jchoats

Wow!! Quite a lively discussion. I appreciate all the info. Thanks.

tomdick

What mealdridge paid for by renting from Rentaphone-Ireland was convenience and service.

Sure if you can get a cheap unlocked dualband cell phone, then buying a sim card can be cheaper.

However if you are only traveling for two weeks or so renting may still be the way to go. I had a look at the the call rates of the rental phone, and they are the same as those when you buy an Irish SIM Card. Incoming calls are also free.

xyz123

What convenience? Like it is hard to buy a dual band phone on e bay for less than $30?

As far as call rates, name a rental company where receiving calls is free?

It will take all of 5 minutes to buy a SIM card at any phone store, have it installed and be up and running.

Renting is when you go for a day or two.

Two weeks in a country is without question purchase time.

Ann41

Ouch--that rental rate is incredibly high. As others have said, you can easily buy a phone in Ireland for much less than that. Or a dual band in the US.