Bonnie

Our daughter is going to Florence to study for a month and then wander. We have MCI Worldcom and wonder if anyone have better suggestions? A friend got a cellphone in Europe to call home and so her parents could find her! Is that excessive?

Rex

It's around $50 a week, less (per week), when rented by the month. and about $2 per minute for calls to or from the US. An expensive but still-no-worse-than-AT&T-calling-card safety net. <BR> <BR>As others have pointed out here, locally sold phone cards (i.e., sold in Europe), for use in a pay phone are far better deals for calling back to the US.

elaine

Many travelers have commented that AT & T's, Sprint's, and MCI's calling card rates for calls from Europe to the U.S. are very high, much higher than when they call Europe from the US. Other companies abroad sell phone cards for international long distance, and this may be worth looking into. In January 2000, Consumer Reports Magazine recommended the calling card that is offered by TTI Ultracard. In the US phone 1 800 477 9692 for more information. You have to specify if you want to get one for international long distance. I got one, haven't used it for calls from abroad yet, but I have used it for Hawaii-mainland calls and was shocked at how LOW the costs were for my calls.

Margo

Cellular phone: I never thought about doing this before but with today’s inexpensive technology this is an affordable and sometimes quite necessary expense. For the first time, I rented an international cellular phone to take along with me. It was the best and most comforting thing I have ever done for myself on a trip. I move around a lot from town to town, hotel to hotel, and having the portable phone made it possible for my husband to keep up with my travels and eased his worries about my traveling all alone in a foreign country. My family and friends didn’t have to struggle with broken Italian to reach me. It also made it quite convenient for me to keep in touch with home as well as make advance hotel reservations along the way. What was really great was being able to use it while I was on a seven-hour train ride. I didn’t have a chance to make hotel reservations before leaving the last city, so I called while I was on the train. There are several companies in operation but I recommend Cellhire, USA because of their low rates and excellent reputation. Cellhire, USA: (888) 476-7368 or http://www.CellHire.com/ <BR>

Bonnie

what did the cellphone cost for a week or month?