xyz123

I don't know SFR policy...I do know Orange FR policy...I think when you first buy the Orange sim card (the SFR is probably similar_ the validity periods are far shorter...I also know for a fact, as I said, the Orange FR sim card, once it is recharged once, will have the stated validity of the recharge (15 days €10, 30 days €15, 2 months €25, etc) for outgoing calls after which as noted they steal your credit but you have an additional six months during which time you can receive calls and the number remains yours and so can be recharged during that period. I don't remember if international roaming came with the card or it had to be requested.

What you might wish to do, is check the policies as best you can by going to www.prepaidgsm.net and going to the operators secution, click on european union and then France and then SFR and you will see some summary of their tariffs in English plus a link to their web page which will be in French...there may be an English version of the web page (look for a British flag) but I doubt it.

Also as I remember with Orange FR and I would suspect with SFR, unfortunately you don't get your number in advance...when I bought my Orange FR sim card about six years ago, before the advent of the international cards, the number was not on the sim card. Rather the person selling it to me had to dial a number that assigned the number (have managed to keep the number ever since although with the advent of the international cards it is not as important) by recharging as necessary within the six month grace period they have....

Sorry, like I said, I'm not a walking expert on SFR policies...my Frenchsim is with Orange FR.

sjj

fbc34 - If you buy an international sim you get the phone number when you get the sim, and you can give it to contacts in the US before you leave. With most international sims you keep the sim active by making a phone call or sending a text message every nine months.

xyz123

...unless it is vodafone UK in which case it is six months or if it is TIM in Rome then it will expire in a year if not topped up and if it is a French sim it expires in a stated amount of time if not topped up whether you make a call or not although as noted they give you six months grace period after they steal your credit during which time the card reamins active to receive calls in France, top up from outside the country if you have a top up slip or a registered French credit card but after that grace period the French sim is kaput.

Have to read the details as policies differ with different countries and different companies within a country.

fbc34

After looking at all those websites, I almost gave up. But then I thought again about my phone that I'd just turned back on (still searching for its network). I called that number and it rang! I heard my own voicemail message on the cell, so I'm pretty sure that means I do still have that number. Hurrah!

One note about when you can get your phone number: cellularabroad.com can tell you the number in advance (using a French SFR card). It's quite pricy but boy, did I need it this summer. With every other choice (at least when I looked last spring), you had to wait until you landed in France to find out what your phone number was.

So thanks for letting me in on this great secret!

xyz123

...maybe you have a friend going to France or as a matter of fact with any other European country with a vodafone network...if somebody is going to France they can take the phone, use it to receive calls and top it up for you...if any other vodafone country, say Germany or the UK, they can go into a mobile phone store, buy a vodafone (it will be a local one) top up slip and can use it to top up the French SFR card and voila while you'll probably have to eat the credit, you keep the number because after the credit expires, you then have six months....

fbc34

This SIM was last used in July, and I'll be there mid-October, so I think I'll be fine. Thanks. This board is amazingly helpful!