Unlocked phone and getting SIM card in Europe
Mar 24th, 2009, 06:28 PM
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Unlocked phone and getting SIM card in Europe
Someone told me that we can take our regular cell phone with us to Germany, Denmark and France, have it unlocked here in the States and buy a SIM card with minutes on it in Europe. Has anyone had experience doing this? We've already found a phone shop which unlocked our phones.
Mar 27th, 2009, 04:11 PM
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Yes, you can do this very easily.
The SIM card is not just minutes, but a new account - you will have a phone number in the country where you buy the SIM. Folks in the US who want to call you will have to (a) know your new number and (b) pay international rates to call you. Most (but not all) European numbers allow incoming calls at no charge.
If you plan to use your phone very little, you may be better off just signing up for AT&T's discount international plan. You will pay more per minute than with a local EuroSIM (and will pay for both incoming and outbound minutes) but it is otherwise without hassle. The discount plan is $5.95/month and you can start it when you leave and cancel on your return. All minutes are .99 (as opposed to $1.29 without the discount plan, so 20 minutes of use is the break even point for the $5.95 fee.)
Note that if you use data services (email or internet) the costs are outrageous with AT&T - .195/kb. You can turn off data while roaming and just use the phone. AT&T does offer a package for discounted international roaming but it is still not cheap and may require a year long contract. If you plan to use your phone's data capabilities you are probably better off with a foreign SIM.
The SIM card is not just minutes, but a new account - you will have a phone number in the country where you buy the SIM. Folks in the US who want to call you will have to (a) know your new number and (b) pay international rates to call you. Most (but not all) European numbers allow incoming calls at no charge.
If you plan to use your phone very little, you may be better off just signing up for AT&T's discount international plan. You will pay more per minute than with a local EuroSIM (and will pay for both incoming and outbound minutes) but it is otherwise without hassle. The discount plan is $5.95/month and you can start it when you leave and cancel on your return. All minutes are .99 (as opposed to $1.29 without the discount plan, so 20 minutes of use is the break even point for the $5.95 fee.)
Note that if you use data services (email or internet) the costs are outrageous with AT&T - .195/kb. You can turn off data while roaming and just use the phone. AT&T does offer a package for discounted international roaming but it is still not cheap and may require a year long contract. If you plan to use your phone's data capabilities you are probably better off with a foreign SIM.
Mar 27th, 2009, 04:38 PM
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Maggi, you might want to check out www.callineurope.com Someone posting on Fodors recommended buying a sim card from this company. I've not used them yet but will buy a card for our next trip.
In the past we have gotten such limited range of service when we have bought individual sim cards in France and Italy that I'm going to try this because it will be cheaper than my T-Mobile international service and I should be able to use it throughout Europe.
If you are going to 3 different countries you have to have three different sim cards, I believe, and that gets very expensive plus wastes precious time setting up the sim card service in each country. I've spent more time than I ever wanted in Orange stores in France
That's been my experience.
We will be traveling for almost 4 weeks in France and Germany in May, I don't know when you are going but I hope to report back after our return regarding how this service worked for us. Deborah
In the past we have gotten such limited range of service when we have bought individual sim cards in France and Italy that I'm going to try this because it will be cheaper than my T-Mobile international service and I should be able to use it throughout Europe.
If you are going to 3 different countries you have to have three different sim cards, I believe, and that gets very expensive plus wastes precious time setting up the sim card service in each country. I've spent more time than I ever wanted in Orange stores in France
That's been my experience.We will be traveling for almost 4 weeks in France and Germany in May, I don't know when you are going but I hope to report back after our return regarding how this service worked for us. Deborah
Mar 27th, 2009, 05:15 PM
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Thanks for all your replies. We've already had our phone unlocked. I tried the AT&T international plan once and it was too expensive for my use. DeborahAnn, thanks for the link to callineurope. I'll definitely check it out. We will be there same time as you, so I won't be able to wait for your experience. Maybe we can compare notes when we get back. Have a great trip.
Mar 27th, 2009, 05:18 PM
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Good thought, DeborahAnn - callineurope.com is an option. You could get a SIM with a French number. (Actually you could get a SIM with a number for any of the countries you will visit but I think rates are best with the French SIM.) We have used them for travel to France and were quite pleased.
With a French SIM from callineurope.com: When used in France, incoming calls and texts are free, outgoing calls to France, Europe or US are .39/min and outgoing texts are .39. When used in Germany and Denmark your calls would be .39/min for incoming, .69/min outgoing to Europe and .99 to US, incoming texts free and outgoing .39 each.
If you use data services, charges are .005/kb in France and .015/kb in other parts of Europe. Certainly a lot better than AT&T rates!
Just in case you are not cross eyed with comparisons yet - they also offer "Keep My Number" whereby calls to your US number automatically forward to your phone with the French SIM. You pay .10/day and an extra .29/min for incoming forwarded calls. Folks back home can just call your US # and it will ring through without them having to pay international rates. (Only you can decide if that is an advantage or disadvantage ;-) )
All in all, not a bad deal. You can call their office in the US - we did and staff was very pleasant and helpful.
With a French SIM from callineurope.com: When used in France, incoming calls and texts are free, outgoing calls to France, Europe or US are .39/min and outgoing texts are .39. When used in Germany and Denmark your calls would be .39/min for incoming, .69/min outgoing to Europe and .99 to US, incoming texts free and outgoing .39 each.
If you use data services, charges are .005/kb in France and .015/kb in other parts of Europe. Certainly a lot better than AT&T rates!
Just in case you are not cross eyed with comparisons yet - they also offer "Keep My Number" whereby calls to your US number automatically forward to your phone with the French SIM. You pay .10/day and an extra .29/min for incoming forwarded calls. Folks back home can just call your US # and it will ring through without them having to pay international rates. (Only you can decide if that is an advantage or disadvantage ;-) )
All in all, not a bad deal. You can call their office in the US - we did and staff was very pleasant and helpful.
Mar 27th, 2009, 05:21 PM
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The phone is unlocked...hurdle 1 surmounted.
Hurdle 2...sim card or sim cards. Lots of solutions. You're going to be in a few countries probably an international card will be best.
Today's recommendation (things change awfully fast of course but I think this will be okay for now)
Take a look at ekit passport, cheapest availability on ebay is $20 for the sim card but it comes with $10 worth of credit...easy to top up via the internet. You get free incoming throughout Europe...I believe calls to the USA are something like 49¢/minute. You will have a Britishb number with cuontry code 44 (although not a UK number but that doesn't matter) wo call in will be not too bad although do remember for the most part not to fall for long distance rates to the UK as being 2 or 3 cents/minute as calls to cell phones incur an extra charge...most of the ld carriers with any sort of decent plan will charge about 28¢/minute to call British numbers. Pretty easy to deal with.
Hurdle 2...sim card or sim cards. Lots of solutions. You're going to be in a few countries probably an international card will be best.
Today's recommendation (things change awfully fast of course but I think this will be okay for now)
Take a look at ekit passport, cheapest availability on ebay is $20 for the sim card but it comes with $10 worth of credit...easy to top up via the internet. You get free incoming throughout Europe...I believe calls to the USA are something like 49¢/minute. You will have a Britishb number with cuontry code 44 (although not a UK number but that doesn't matter) wo call in will be not too bad although do remember for the most part not to fall for long distance rates to the UK as being 2 or 3 cents/minute as calls to cell phones incur an extra charge...most of the ld carriers with any sort of decent plan will charge about 28¢/minute to call British numbers. Pretty easy to deal with.
Mar 27th, 2009, 05:44 PM
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It's unlocked, nukie.
I've bought SIMs in the UK only - Virgin and T-Mobile. Many others have got them in Italy and elsewhere - but I imagine the process is the same in every country. A smokin' deal in Germany is smobil.com - 1¢/min between two subscribers.
I've bought SIMs in the UK only - Virgin and T-Mobile. Many others have got them in Italy and elsewhere - but I imagine the process is the same in every country. A smokin' deal in Germany is smobil.com - 1¢/min between two subscribers.
Mar 27th, 2009, 05:48 PM
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What you are proposing to do is perfectly feasible and hassle-free. A SIM card bought in Germany will continue to work in Denmark and France by roaming on local operators. Unfortunately, German prepaid SIMs (typically costs 20 euro with 10 euro credit) have quite high calling rates within Germany (typically around 0.30 euro/min), and even higher ones for roaming, though charges are capped within EU. Typically you'll pay around 0.50 to 0.60 euro/min for calling within EU when roaming, and 1.20 to 1.50 euro/min for calling US, and 0.29 euro/min for receiving. Watch out when using Vodafone SIM (called CallYa), which has a very high rate for calling US when roaming (over 5 euro/min), unless you activate "Reiseversprechen" option, when charges will be capped. Find out about how to add credit (top-up) while roaming outside Germany.
Danish and French operators have equally expensive rates, or even more so. In comparison, Italian and UK operators have relatively low rates, because of fierce competition, if you can get a SIM card there. Also explore using an international or global SIM, such as United Mobile, which has competitive (often flat) rates throughout EU, and usually no charge for receiving calls throughout Europe.
Danish and French operators have equally expensive rates, or even more so. In comparison, Italian and UK operators have relatively low rates, because of fierce competition, if you can get a SIM card there. Also explore using an international or global SIM, such as United Mobile, which has competitive (often flat) rates throughout EU, and usually no charge for receiving calls throughout Europe.
Apr 18th, 2009, 06:45 AM
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Thanks for all the info Alec, somehow I missed your reply. I will look for a United Mobile sim in Munich, which is where we begin our European trip. Any idea where I would begin to look?
Apr 18th, 2009, 07:11 AM
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Maggi, don't buy United Mobile, they are offline and noone knows when service will be resumed. You will not get UM in shops in Munich anyway.
You can buy a "Solomo" SIM on the internet and have it deliverd to your hotel. It will not take more than 3 or 4 days and the SIM comes activated in a simple letter.
The SIM in called "Solomo Pro" will cost 5€ incl. delivery if you buy asap. SIMs and minutes in Germany are cheap!
The SIM comes with 5€ in calls. Calls to German landlines are 8ct/min. Calls to the USA are 9ct/min no connection charges. Recieving calls in Germany is free. In France and Denmark, incoming calls from anywhere cost 10 euroct/min. Outgoing to the US in both countries costs 29ct.
Recharge can be made via credit card, manually or automatically.
It would be wise to spend those 5€ now as long as the offer still exists. ;-). Do it, and don't worry.
If you want to buy a SIM locally in Munich your best options are the supermarkets. They have much better SIMs than the big providers, but 9ct offers to the US you will not get.
You can buy a "Solomo" SIM on the internet and have it deliverd to your hotel. It will not take more than 3 or 4 days and the SIM comes activated in a simple letter.
The SIM in called "Solomo Pro" will cost 5€ incl. delivery if you buy asap. SIMs and minutes in Germany are cheap!
The SIM comes with 5€ in calls. Calls to German landlines are 8ct/min. Calls to the USA are 9ct/min no connection charges. Recieving calls in Germany is free. In France and Denmark, incoming calls from anywhere cost 10 euroct/min. Outgoing to the US in both countries costs 29ct.
Recharge can be made via credit card, manually or automatically.
It would be wise to spend those 5€ now as long as the offer still exists. ;-). Do it, and don't worry.
If you want to buy a SIM locally in Munich your best options are the supermarkets. They have much better SIMs than the big providers, but 9ct offers to the US you will not get.
Apr 18th, 2009, 07:13 AM
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Apr 18th, 2009, 11:50 AM
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dutyfree -I used a SIM from www.lebara.com on recent UK travel and it was fine. They are running an online special in the UK side of their site where you get the SIM for free if you buy a certain amount of airtime. You can purchase at any of the gazillion phone stores in London, or order online like I did for delivery to the US - arrived in about 5 days. Adding more credit is easy to do online.
Apr 18th, 2009, 05:26 PM
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Your head will spin from what is available in the UK...it depends on what the emphasis is. Now making suggestions to a university student is a little difficult as she might find the university has a tie in with some provider or her friendss might all be using one provider and calls within the UK to mobiles of other companies are expensive.
However, there is not too much to lose with how astoundingly low the cost is for British prepaid sims on ebay...you can get a T Mobile UK sim card delivered to the USA for less than $5 if you look hard enough....my suggestion, if primary calling home to the USA is important, still remains T Mobile UK. They have a tie in with a company called your call world which enables you to make international calls on your T Mobile UK sim card for 3p/minute (more expensive to mobiles outside the USA and Canada but to mobiles in the USA and Canada, you pay the 3p/minute)...we're talking calling card rates now....if you want to splurge a bit, you can, if you look hard enough on ebay (I don't think I can suggest specific shops but they're there, believe me) find a sim card for much the same price as T Mobile UK called Talk Mobile....they're an MVNO (they don't have their own mobile towers but they piggy back on Vodafone)...calls to the USA and Canada are somewhat more expensive than the call through with T Mobile UK...an astounding 4p/minute but you dial directly and don't go through the third party. Orange has a plan called camel...cheap Orange sim cards are also available on ebay but orange is a bit more expensive, 6p/minute to the USA and requires registration (the ebay merchant might take care of this)...
At these prices, you can't go wrong if you buy in advance and your daughter wants another sim card, she loses absolutely next to nothing. They are all PAYG which means they don't require contracts.
Absolutely no hassle with the UK sim cards...unlike the German ones, there is no language problem as American and English are relatively close languages (that's meant as a joke BTW)....the German sim card logos suggests I would love to have but unfortunately I can't set the phone menus to English with them and logos would have to explain to me things like how long it takes before they steal your credit (I think a German court has ruled this illegal but I'm not sure...logos help me out)....
If I had a gun to my head to make a UK suggestion, I would probably go with T Mobile UK via ebay for those inthe USA bought through ebay for next to nothing. The cards come with no credit but they come with a top up card. Upon arrival in the UK, you go into most any chemist, petrol station, grocery change, and bravely announce to the clerk, "I want to top up with 5 quid (they'll be impressed if you say 5 quid rather than 5 pounds)...it'll take oh I don't know approximately 25 seconds for the transaction and voila you're set to go. All come with free incoming while in the UK and also fairly cheap incoming within the eu (19p/minute) and fairly cheap calls to other eu numbers within the eu (24p/minute I think) but devastatingly expensive to North America and Australia outside the UK.
As logos noted, within the past week, United Mobile which had been very stable and really a good deal, has suddenly gone off line. It is thought on the prepaidgsm forum that they are bankrupt and have expired, the same way O9 did, the same way Yackie Mobile did but there has been no formal announcement.
Hope that helps.
However, there is not too much to lose with how astoundingly low the cost is for British prepaid sims on ebay...you can get a T Mobile UK sim card delivered to the USA for less than $5 if you look hard enough....my suggestion, if primary calling home to the USA is important, still remains T Mobile UK. They have a tie in with a company called your call world which enables you to make international calls on your T Mobile UK sim card for 3p/minute (more expensive to mobiles outside the USA and Canada but to mobiles in the USA and Canada, you pay the 3p/minute)...we're talking calling card rates now....if you want to splurge a bit, you can, if you look hard enough on ebay (I don't think I can suggest specific shops but they're there, believe me) find a sim card for much the same price as T Mobile UK called Talk Mobile....they're an MVNO (they don't have their own mobile towers but they piggy back on Vodafone)...calls to the USA and Canada are somewhat more expensive than the call through with T Mobile UK...an astounding 4p/minute but you dial directly and don't go through the third party. Orange has a plan called camel...cheap Orange sim cards are also available on ebay but orange is a bit more expensive, 6p/minute to the USA and requires registration (the ebay merchant might take care of this)...
At these prices, you can't go wrong if you buy in advance and your daughter wants another sim card, she loses absolutely next to nothing. They are all PAYG which means they don't require contracts.
Absolutely no hassle with the UK sim cards...unlike the German ones, there is no language problem as American and English are relatively close languages (that's meant as a joke BTW)....the German sim card logos suggests I would love to have but unfortunately I can't set the phone menus to English with them and logos would have to explain to me things like how long it takes before they steal your credit (I think a German court has ruled this illegal but I'm not sure...logos help me out)....
If I had a gun to my head to make a UK suggestion, I would probably go with T Mobile UK via ebay for those inthe USA bought through ebay for next to nothing. The cards come with no credit but they come with a top up card. Upon arrival in the UK, you go into most any chemist, petrol station, grocery change, and bravely announce to the clerk, "I want to top up with 5 quid (they'll be impressed if you say 5 quid rather than 5 pounds)...it'll take oh I don't know approximately 25 seconds for the transaction and voila you're set to go. All come with free incoming while in the UK and also fairly cheap incoming within the eu (19p/minute) and fairly cheap calls to other eu numbers within the eu (24p/minute I think) but devastatingly expensive to North America and Australia outside the UK.
As logos noted, within the past week, United Mobile which had been very stable and really a good deal, has suddenly gone off line. It is thought on the prepaidgsm forum that they are bankrupt and have expired, the same way O9 did, the same way Yackie Mobile did but there has been no formal announcement.
Hope that helps.
Apr 18th, 2009, 05:28 PM
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As Seamus points out, lebara is another virtual mobile operator without their own towers but with cheap calls to international destinations. Also available at my favorite merchant for sim cards on ebay (sorry I can't mention the name but an ebay search will find it)......less than $5 for a sim card delivery included is hard to beat eh.
