MaryPPP

Hello,
I have been reading through all the mobile phone threads and have seen the suggestions for buying a mobile phone rather than renting none.That sounds like it might work well for us. We are leaving next Monday 10/20 for 2 weekes in S.Germany, Luxembourg, South (Nice) and Eastern(Grenoble)France. We are renting a car and I had thought about just renting a phone through Auto Europe. But I now think it might be better to buy one, as I will be returning several times over the next few years. So my question is this, where is the best place to buy a Mobile Phone ? We are flying into Frankfurt, can you buy one at the airport? We will be staying in Wiesbaden Germany for our first few days is there a store that would be better? Sorry this is so long...Thanks for any information.

sandi

If you'll re returning a few times in the next few years, the model you buy now will probably be outdated when you have to use it again.

Depeding on whether you have to make calls, or need just in case people have to reach you - if you currently have a cell phone, why not inquire of our provider if they can set your phone up for Europe? There are lots of posts on here re Cell phones - check them out.

rex

Beware that to "unlock" a phone (allow it to place or receive calls in a country different from the one where you bought it) can double or triple the original purchase price.

Best wishes,

Rex

xyz123

It's probably cheaper to buy a dual band or tri band GSM phone here via the internet. The prices are better than you get in Europe and the phones are unlocked.

If you are going to be in several countries, your best bet might be to look into a plan in the US that includes international roaming (T mobile is the best by far) but the problem is you need to be a T-mobile customer for at least several months.

Prepaid plans are good if you're going to be in one country for a week or more. Simply stick the SIM card in the pack into your unlocked phone.

JaneB

xyz123: In South Texas, I was able to sign up for international calling immediately upon initializing my T-Mobile phone. I don't know if they have changed their rules or if it is an area thing.

Riffic

I respectfully disagree with most of the above posts and think purchasing a phone is, most times, the best option.

At least in Munich, you can buy a rather cheap mobile phone and use it on a pre-paid basis. You simply purchase air-time in 15, 25 or 50 Euro amounts, which time can last for up to nine months, I think.

Two friends bought phones here in Munich last year for about 50 Euros. And these were new, I think.

They don't have to be 'unlocked'. For example, buy one from T-mobile and it will get you through nearly all of Europe, since T-mobile service is very comprehensive.

One good thing to remember is that all incoming phone calls (if you're not roaming from your home country) are free. Thus, family can call you and it doesn't cost you a dime!

Sorry, I don't know if you could purchase a phone in FRA airport. Even if you could, I imagine it is more money that away from the airport. You definitely could find multiple T-mobile shops throughout Frankfurt, though, and perhaps even in Wiesbaden.

rex

I will stand by my comments - - and agree with JaneB and Riffic at the same time. From many vendors, this "unlock" thing is a real cost obstacle. But T-mobile is a German company making a significant attempt to sell phones and service in the US. So, if there are reports that they are pushing phones (and service) which do not need to be unlocked, I cannot argue with the experience of others.

And it sounds like their far superior approach is just what the market needs.

I wonder if they also offer free incoming calls, which I have had good experiences with, using other "locked" phones in Italy - - and others have reported with other companies and countries as well, I think.

StCirq

I haven't done any in-depth research on the issue, but I do know that I purchased a tri-band cell phone in France three years ago that runs on Mobicartes and isn't outdated yet, to my knowledge. It's very efficient (calls to and from the USA are clear as a bell), inexpensive, and I never had an "unlocking" issue. From what I do know about buying and renting similar phones in the USA, I think I got a good deal. I bought it at an Orange store in Sarlat for about $80.

rex

Did you use it outside France, SC?

StCirq

Yes, I've used it in Italy and Spain. It does NOT work in the USA, however.

mclaurie

Make sure to read this thread.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34429492

I'm still personally confused about this whole issue but maybe you aren't

xyz123

You have to research this matter...there are very inexpensive GSM dual band and tri band phones available on the internet. If Germany is a place where they are cheaper, that is very possible as I have not been to Germany and can't read the web sites giving prices. But believe me, in most countries, the price for a phone is somewhat more expensive than available on the web (maybe not much more).

Now the question of unlocking....a locked phone can only be used with a SIM card from the company that locked the phone. Thus if you buy an Orange prepaid plan in the UK, chances are the phone will be locked to Orange and if you go to France and try to use a mobilcarte (even though it is Orange Fr) the phone will not power up unless it is unlocked.

Unlocking recent Nokia phones is very easy. There are free calculators available on the net which generate the unlocking codes after entering the phone's series number and the company which it is locked to. Sony Ericsson phones are somewhat more difficult and I don't a way to unlock them for free. Of course in big European cities, there are many operators that will unlock your phone for €10 or less.

Now as far as T Mobile US is concerned, they have been offering for the last month a super deal on the Nokia 6610. If you call an 800 number, and if you have been a TMo customer for 6 months or more I believe, you can purchase a Nokia 6610, a neat little tri band phone, for $35. The promotion ends tomorrow.

T Mobile is also very loose in providing unlocking codes even though it is easy to unlock their phones with the DT-4 calculator indicated above. If you have been a TMo customer for 3 months, if you call customer service and ask to have th ephone unlocked, they will provide the code.

So if you're a TMo customer and take advantage of this, you have your choice. You can use TMo roaming in the countries you visit, especially for short visits. Calls to US are 99 cents/minute and receiving calls is 99 cents/minute. Advantage is you keep your US number. It's amazing, somebody calls you US mobile phone number and it rings wherever in Western Europe you are but it is kind of expensive (of course cheaper than the rental caompanies rates) or

If you are in a place for about a week or more, you purchase a prepaid plan and simply switch the SIM card which is the beauty of GSM the system in use in most of the world outside North America. So if you put in a Virgin Mobile SIM card, you now have a Virgin Mobile phone with a UK phone number. You can even call forward from you TMo phone # to your Virgin phone # paying the 29 cents/minute rate for calls on TMo to Europe. You can do this in Europe for free believe it or not. All Tmo plans come with call forwarding! Changing SIM cards is a piece of cake and the phone are made for that!

Hope this helps you...

laurensoon

Its better to buy a dual band phone so you can use it differently. Its much cheaper and and suits your needs. Cellular phones are no longer discretionary. In fact, they are a necessity in today’s world. In case you are going to be on it all day and all night for work and your social life, you deserve the very best phone you can get.

adrienne

laurensoon - you registered to respond to a 10 year old thread.