dahlialady

Which would be cheaper and or easier? A friend told me that she did this last fall and whenever she goes to Europe and she only pays about $10 and then puts minutes on it. She does this from a phone store in the country she is traveling in.

Thanks for any advice.

BigRuss

<<A friend told me that she did this . . .>>

What's "this"? Your question poses a choice between two options.

ClanMurray

Buy an 'unlocked' phone in US. Make sure it uses SIM card technology. I use an older Motorola Razr, but the newer 'Smart Phones are fine, too. Once you arrive in country, go to one of the major providers: O2, Orange, T-mobile, etc. They'll give you a free SIM card, often with several minutes included free. Check a few different ones as some have better deals than others.

When we went to Scotland over Christmas, we got O2 SIM cards and they doubled the number of minutes we purchased. There are usually a number of different options. With the pay-as-you-go plan we choose, calls back to the US were only .01 (one pence) per minute.

You'll receive a credit-card sized 'top up' card that can usually be refilled at a number of places. It's really easy and much cheaper than other options.

AJPeabody

Brought my unlocked international Nokia to Italy last May. Went into a Wind store and for 15 Euro got a SIM, 10 Euro of time included (never used it up) and they programmed the phone to display in English. Purchased the phone on EBay for less than $25.

StCirq

Your friend did what? Paid $10 for what?

I bought an unlocked quad-band dual-SIM phone on Amazon.com for $26.00, then bought country-specific (in your case it would be Italy) SIMs upon arrival. Easy-peasy.

jaja

I have been with AT&T since back in the bag phone days and all I had to do was call customer service and they gave me an unlock code. When I arrive in Ireland I'll go to Tesco and buy a new sim card.