Robespierre

You've got a teen at home? Maybe s/he can set you up with voice.yahoo.com - you'll need to have a computer with you to make free calls, but international calls are incredibly cheap even if you don't.

sjj

Martyharly - A phone card is an excellent alternative to a cell phone if you're staying at a hotel or if you're renting an apartment with a phone. As for the cell phone alternative, if you have an unlocked GSM phone that operates on European frequencies and an international sim that works in the countries you're going to, you're set. You're not charged for calls you receive, you can make calls to the US at about 50 cents per minute, and you can add more time either by calling your sim provider from your cell phone or on the internet. My wife and I stay in apartments when we travel, and that's why we prefer cell phones.

martyharly

Robespierre


This Yahoo/Voice thing sounds good! really cheap. Looks like I just need to get my daughter a headset, and sign up for the service. Thank you for the suggestion!

dsd123

Hey guys,

I thought I would share what I did. I just got back from Italy and rented a phone from onesimcard.com for $100. It worked great, and I know it works in a bunch of countries. I just needed something in case of an emergency. They have really great customer service that explained everything really well when I asked about how the whole thing worked. You can buy SIM cards from them which makes the most sense because they're cheaper than buying a whole phone(I would have but I have a Verizon phone which doesn't work abroad because it's not GSM). Hope this helps.

sjj

You rented a phone for $100 and you bought a sim card for use in Europe. Before a recent trip I bought an unlocked GSM phone on ebay for $45 and I bought a sim card. I'm better off than if I had rented, and I'd be better off even if my phone had cost $100. Why rent?

dsd123

Sorry I wasn't clear. The phone was about 60 (including $20 worth of airtime on it) and I put a little extra airtime on, after shipping etc it came out to be about 100. The phone comes with a SIM card and is all ready to go so it probably comes out to being about the same as what you paid on ebay. It was nice to have someone to talk to when I had problems too, something about ebay bothers me

sjj

dsd - No, I'm sorry. I'm not usually that nasty. The problem with using cell phones abroad is getting decent advice. The best source, I think, is
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/, and this forum runs a close second.

martyharly

Now that I have received tons of various opinions and advise on the use of cell phones in Europe, my husband and I have decided we really don't need to call home everyday (we will be on vacation, or so I'm told) to check on the teen (who will be under adult supervision, by the the way). We will buy an international calling card to call home, and teen will call us at our hotels, if necessary. Yahoo!Voice is still a possibility for her to contact us. Thank you all for your expertise!

yourconsul

I just came back from Paris and england, used my unlocked gsm phone, and bought a sim card from www.1world1sim.com, they have a $100 sim card that comes with $100 talk time. The sim card comes for free, service was ok, the best thing that incoming calls were free. My kids were able to call us non stop.

trisig

I just received my pre-paid quad band cell phone from T-Mobile to use on my trip next week. I didn't realize that I can't use the sim card that is in it! I was assured by the guy that took my order that I would not have a problem using this in Europe. Now, I am told I can not get international roaming with a prepaid phone. They are going to request the unlock code and I will know in 24 hours. Is there someone that can unlock my phone if they won't do it? I need the phone number before I leave so my husband can tell me where to meet him in Germany. My husband is coming from Iraq and won't know when he will get in until the day I am leaving! I am trying not to get stressed out.........

sjj

When you get your unlock code take it and the phone to your local T Mobile store and they'll unlock your phone. What you do thereafter depends on when you leave. If you're not leaving immediately, you can buy a sim for use in Germany from a company with offices in the US. The ones I know about are

www.ekit.com/ekit/MobilePurchase/Sims

www.telestial.com

www.rangeroamer.com

Call them, tell them you need a sim that will work in Germany, and ask them how fast they can get it to you. I recommend ekit because I've used their sim, but you should pick the company that can get the sim to you before you leave. You may be able to pick the sim up yourself without having them mail it to you if you live in Boston (Ekit), San Diego (Telestial) or Chicago (RangeRoamer). When you get the sim you'll know your phone number and you can email it to your husband.

I don't know what you can do if you leave before you can get a sim. You can always buy a local sim in Germany - see posts by xyz123 in this forum about buying local sims - but this doesn't solve your problem. Good luck.

xyz123

Check on the internet for unlocking the phone....does your husband have a cell phone....even if you don't have the number in advance, you can text him and it will show the phone number you text from and then he'll have your number I suppose.

logos999

You can't unlock the phone in Germany. If someone else except the service provider can do it, have it done at home. In Germany, you won't find stores that do that, it's not legal. Which phone is it? There are tons of offers for german SIM cards that can be bought very! cheap here in Germany

trisig

Thank you for your response. I just ordered a Mobal phone. I would have done that to begin with if I had known that I could not get international roaming with the pre-paid T-Mobile. I am too close to leaving and I don't want to worry about how long it will take me to get a SIM card in the mail. So, now I will have both. Oh well......

tdk320n

bookmarking

Robespierre

You went for the Mobal deal? May I inquire as to why you rejected this one?

telestial.com/promotions/august/packlite.php

$29 for a Europe phone is pretty hard to beat.

fbc34

I have an unlocked tri-band that I've been using with SIM cards in France. My frustration, though, is caused by the fact that my trips to France are usually 4 - 6 months apart, so my SIM phone number has expired and I have to buy another one, get new phone number, etc. For a variety of reasons (a 92-year-old mother, primarily) I need to know my phone number before I leave home. Last time I went through cellularabroad to get an SFR SIM in advance, but that's awfully pricy. I'm fairly confident that I'll continue making about 3 trips a year to France. Am I right that the Mobal (with permanent number) is probably the best fit for my situation?
Thanks. I know those of you who are up on this subject are sick of questions from those of us less savvy, but please know how much we appreciate you!

sjj

fbc34 -
Mobal has a high calling rate for both outgoing and incoming calls. It's a good solution only if you don't expect to be on the phone much. If you decide on Mobal, look around on their site and order the sim card only. You can use it in your present phone. A better solution is to order an international card from the list at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html
My wife used the old +423 United Mobile sim on a recent trip to Italy, she'll use the new +44 United Mobile sim on our next trip to Europe, and I used the Ekit Passport Service at www.ekit.com/ekit/MobilePurchase/Sims
Outgoing calls using these sims are about a third the price Mobal charges, incoming calls are free, and you can keep the number indefinitely if you use the sim at least once every nine months.

xyz123

If you want to keep the French sim card active, it's fairly simple...they actually don't really expire for the given validity of time of your credit plus an additional 6 months so if you buy say a €15 top up it will be valid for 7 months...one month for use of the credit to make calls after which they will steal your unused credit plus the card remains valid for an additional 6 months during which time it can be topped up so before leaving France, buy yourself the cheapest top up (with Orange FR it's €10 which comes with 15 days of validity plus 6 months probably the same with SFR) and since the cards allow roaming (assuming you're in either the USA or Canada or even Australia for that matter), top it up from there. With Orange FR you would dial 224 and then enter the 16 digit recharge number followed by # and then send and voila while it cost you €10, the number is yours to keep for an additional 6 months and 15 days (you can send out a text message or two to get your €10 worth)...ingenious eh.

fbc34

Thanks. The amount of information is overwhelming.

After reading the last post I charged up my little French phone (with an SFR SIM card last used about June 15). But I don't have roaming. It searched and searched and said no service. I was fairly sure from trips in earlier years that the SIM cards I was buying lasted only two months before they gave the phone number away. If it's at least four months, I'm ok (since I'm arriving in Paris October 14). I haven't been able to find anything definite on the SFR site and I'm getting worried about risking it. (I really need to know what my phone number is before I leave.)

sjj, do you happen to know if any of the cards available on the websites you named allow you to know your phone number in advance of arrival in Europe?

Sorry to be a pest, but this is indeed a subject that requires expertise!

Many many thanks.