I rented from Verizon last year. It was very inexpensive with no daily fixed amount. Texting was super cheap. I got to keep my same cell phone number.

Two years ago I rented from Verizon also. It was very expensive, with daily fixed costs and a high per-minute rate.

thanks Sandy.

Please let us know if the same phone works in Paris.
I assume most of Europe is on the same frequency(????)
Does anyone know?

If that is the case ,we'll buy a phone there on our next trip.

>most of Europe is on the same frequency(????)
The world (that includes Europe) is on the same two GSM frequency bands, except for very few exotic places like the USA.

The Motorola V195 <http://tinyurl.com/2el8nm> is a quad-band GSM phone that will meet your travel needs very nicely. It is still only going to cost you $5 from T-Mobile ($29.99-$25 in free airtime).

There is a lengthy discussion here <http://tinyurl.com/daltye> about the merits of this phone. It can be unlocked by T-Mobile for use in Europe (or elsewhere) if you have some time before your planned trip.

Simply buy and activate your new SIM card in the country you visit or from as U.S. company such as Cellular Abroad <http://www.cellularabroad.com/SIMcards.php>.

I have to put my vote in for the Moto V195 quadband being sold by tmobile for $29. It's free shipping too! I have 3 of this phone as backups. It's a solid basic phone thet will work anywhere there is GSM. Tmobile will unlock freely if you are a customer in good standing, or unlock it via ebay for about $15.

I realise this question is off topic but while on the subject of phones can someone tell me whether the USA and Canada are on the same band. That is, will a tri or quad band phone purchased in Australia work in both countries?

>will a tri or quad band phone purchased in Australia
Australia is on the same standard as the world (Europe, Asia, Africa, ...) except for America (USA, Canada,..).
You will need to buy a tri or quad band GSM phone for the US and Canada, but large (rural) areas in both countries use yet another standard.

"except for very few exotic places like the USA.'
thanks logos, as you said, we in Canada have same problems .

Thank you for the information - it is what I had thought. Am about to update my phone and wanted to go armed with an idea of what I needed.

We have two Blackberry 8830 "World Edition" phones with Sprint "service."

They're quad-band units, and US service is actually reasonably good, with Blackberry data service and GPS.

We took them to Europe and India on two trips, the first in 2007 and the second in 2008.

In 2007, the phones were useless in Europe, but worked fine in India.

In 2008, the phones were almost useless in India (the only call that came IN was a wrong number, and I only got one short call outbound to the US), but worked (kinda) in Europe. Given the fairly high rates we were told would be charged, we minimized use -- and then never saw a single international charge on the bill!

Fortunately, the Blackberry data service worked pretty well both years. I even got email out from places where the phone was indicating no service available!

What really torques me though, is that Sprint apparently blocks GPS use outside of the US -- while the phone locks in to the satellites reasonably quickly in the US, elsewhere it could never "find" them.

We're hoping that Sprint has finally figured out how to work the Blackberries for our '09 travels...

I am headed to Africa, mainly Kenya/Tanzania, and am looking for something mainly for emergency use (contact info etc.). Would a cell phone or calling card be a better deal? Thanks.

I have a BlackBerry Curve 8330 with Sprint as my mobile carrier. We will be on the Greek mainland and the Greek Islands in April. Does anyone know if this phone will work there, and if so, does anyone have experience with using it there?

Thanks.

Forget Spint in Greece with the Curve it will not work, not the same technology! check www.callineurope.com

We just used www.callineurope.com. We got a Motorola C123 cell phone for $19 when we purchased the Keep Talking in Europe plan for $29. The phone is bare bones, but all we need for our usually yearly trips to Europe.

The phone comes with a European SIM card. Their call plan is pay as you go, not prepaid, with no monthly fees and we thought the rates were pretty good. Calls within the UK and back to the US are $0.29 per minute.

Including shipping, it was $60 for the phone and the SIM card which is good for a year and can be renewed. Check the FAQ link on their website.

The A55 is perfectly suitable for use throughout Europe and many other places in the world for its prime purposes namely voice calls and sms messages..it lacks most of the news bells and whistles but if the phone is just for travel then it'[s fine.

Ekit passport is a good choice today...it will work throughout all of Europe and many other places too. Rates are not too bad and you will get free reception of calls with a British (although not UK) number which will not cost people an arm and a leg to call.

You would only need a quad band if your home provider is gsm and you want to use the phone along with some of its bells and whistles (camera, mp3 player)...I don't think the A55 sold by Ekit is locked so you can use any other sim card if you're plopping down in one place such as the UK where sim cards cost next to nothing (or even nothing)..Germany is pretty cheap for sim cards also as is Italy.....

The A55 is out of production for at least 5 years now, isn't it? The assembly line was sold to Taiwan and Benq closed down the factory a few month later. Batteries are old, technology is outdated. 5€ phones fom China are much better, why buy such an oversized vintage phone at all?
A55s go to the trash bin, not a single person would spend money on an A55 in this country!

I've got a few Boschs I could sell you at a good price

All true but for many purposes, it will work for somebody who wants to save a buck or two...but it wouldn't be my first choice.

ekscrunchy - I also recommend the mobal.com phone -$49 or $99- charges per minute are rather high (check rates online) but we only use it for emergencies and occasional hotel reservations. You always have the same phone number and have no SIM's to buy. Once your account is activated, the phone works almost everywhere in Europe with no more to do than switching on the phone -- it automatically knows where you are. We've had ours ($49 one)for several years and recently our daughter purchased the $99 phone and she likes it too. There are lots more choices of cell phones, but for the convenience, we like the mobal.

ekscrunchy - I failed to note that with the mobal phone there is no yearly fee or any other charges other than the original purchase price and the calls you make.

'scuse me for butting in! My husband and I are going to Italy in a couple of weeks and will spend a week of our time there in a hilltop town in Tuscany. We want a phone for emergencies and occasional use for making reservations, etc. We do this type of travel 2-3 times a year and would like to use the phone for all these trips. Is Mobal Classic our best bet?