We have Verizon whic does not work in Ireland. I have been looking at various options for a cell phone and am leaning toward Vodafone -- is their service good?

If i purchase the phone at the online store it is 39 euros plus probably shipping -- they would ship it to our first bed and breakfast. If we call in to get the phone registered, we get a 20 euro credit. If we use the internet, it is 40 euro. Calls back home are 1.02 euro -- I am amazrd at how expensove the cell phone situation is in Ireland. Local costs were 29 cents and 49 cents.

We are there for 16 days. Would like to have the phone to call ahead to bed and breakfasts expecially if we are running late or lost. Also, my faterh in law is 88 and has had some health issues lately. We would want to be reachable if anythin happened.

Does anyone know if a better option to this?

Thanks

You're fine the way you're doing it but you don't use the mobile phone to call back home...get a calling card with a local Irish number....there are loads of minutes on the calling card...then you use the mobile phone to call the local number and pay local rates and let the time run so to speak on the calling card!

Can you switch your phone to "international roaming"? I use a Samsung mobile phone (that has adjustable bands so that it works in the US and everywhere else) and with a Virgin account it's possible to switch to the roaming function--which means it just uses whichever mobile phone company is in the area.

The downside is that it's expensive and you are charged for incoming calls, the cheaper option is to buy a SIM card.

Ireland SIM Card (o2) Highlights
10 EUR ($12 USD) starter airtime credit
FREE incoming calls
Voicemail
SMS (Text Messaging)
WAP and GPRS
Per second billing
International roaming available
No yearly contract, monthly charges or credit
Ireland SIM Card (o2) will require a SIM-unlocked GSM 900 / 1800 compatible international cell phone.
The SIM is available from:
http://www.telestial.com
They have phones also if you want.
You can also check http://www.tigerdirect.com for unlocked GSM cellphones which you can use all over.
Your correct Verizon cellphones won't work, they use CDMA vice GSM, but Verizon may rent you a phone, pricey!

Prices at places like Telestial triple the prices you would pay for a local sim if you wait till you arrive and then, as is usual, tag on shipping costs.

In the case of Ireland, there is a vodafone Ireland store right in the arrivals area of the Dublin airport; by far the best way to do it.

xyz123 is the acknowledged master of mobile phone technology. Follow that advice.

As mpkp said, Verizon doesn't offer international roaming.

Bill

Susan...

It's not the frequencies with Verizon...they use a completely different technology and their basic phones are totally incompatible with phones that can be used in Europe.

Xyz, thanks for the explanation.

I used a unlocked GSM Motorola V180 in Ireland last summer. It worked great! I bought it off e-bay for $50.00, it came with a car charger and wall charger. I bought a sim card at Vodaphone in the Dublin airport. They were very helpful, they even loaded the sim card in for me and made sure it worked. I didn't want to run out of minutes so twice in my 2 week trip I popped into a Vodaphone store and they checked my remaining minutes for me. I wasn't sure how to check the minutes and they were very nice about helping me. I also used a costco calling card to do all my long distance calling back to the states with my phone. That way the calls to the US only used local minutes. The only trouble I had with the phone, was not the phone it was the operator (ME). In those cases I just found a teenager and they showed me what I was doing wrong. The Irish people are so very nice and everyone we met was more than happy to help. That phone was one of the best tips I have gotten off of Fodor's. It was great to be able to call ahead to the B&B's we were staying at and know if we had some kind of car mishap we had a phone. Have a great trip. I loved Ireland and I am planning my next trip.

Thanks. I tried to get the phone from vodaphone sent to the bed and breakfast and they would not do it -- only to your permanent address with the credit card company.

I called a vodaphone store and it is 60E for their least expensive phone in the store and that comes with 30E of talk time.Not sure it is worth spending $80 to have the phone. How easy is it to find pay phones in Ireland? Do most people use cell phones and are the pay phones being phased out?

We want to be able to call ahead to bed and breakfasts if we are running late -- or lost.

We would like to be reachable if something happens to a member of the family back home -- but we could leave them all the b&b phone numbers.

I have an international calling card from Costco -- that is how I called Ireland to start with.

Thanks!

There are pay phones in Ireland - though most people do use cell phones.

Buy it and then sell it or give it to the next person you know going to Ireland. Its not 80 dollars - remember the call credit??? The phoen will cost you 40 dollars net and you can spend 40 dollars in call credit annoying the lady in the B and B

For general information on roaming and coverage maps check: www.gsmworld.com

Sorry to the OP for jumping in, but I am also trying to make a cell phone decision for a June trip to France/England/and Ireland.

I had a question about one of the replies on this thread. xyz123 could you please explain the following statement:

"you don't use the mobile phone to call back home...get a calling card with a local Irish number....there are loads of minutes on the calling card...then you use the mobile phone to call the local number and pay local rates and let the time run so to speak on the calling card!"

Does this mean that I could by the Mobal phone for instance, but somehow use the calling card and get local rates vs. the higher per minute Mobal rates? If so, could you elaborate on how this is done please.

The problem with using the mobal phone the way you mention is that you pay an arm and a leg for the "local" call to access the long distance network....my suggestion works very well in France and in Ireland.

As for the UK, the competition has become very great especially for sims to call abroad. Mobile World gives a free sim and you pay for minutes so for £10 you can buy a Mobile World sim card with £10 worth of call credit...calls to the USA and Canada are 5p per minute (7.5 p per minute between 1900 and 2100)....only available at Carphone Warehouse.

Orange abroad has been announced...sim card costs £1...calls to USA and Canada 5p/minute...

T Mobile UK you can buy sim cards for as little as £5...air time is extra but they have a plan...for £2 you can buy 50 minutes of airtime to the US and Canada valid for 60 days.

All of these ocme with a UK number, free reception of calls while in the UK.

Calls on French and Irish sim cards to the USA are very much more expensive and the suggestion to use a local calling card with a local number (not necessarily an 0800 number) will work nicely.

After much thought, we opted to drive in Ireland without a cell phone. We had no problem at all finding a pay phone to call ahead to our B & B. Most the time it was only 35 cents. If we were lost, we just stopped at the nearest gas station or store to ask directions. We used internet cafes about once a day to keep in touch with home or other B&B's - paid about 2-3 euors for 30 minutes most of the time.