We will be flying into Gatwick next month and are thinking of buying a mobile phone at the airport.

If I understand correctly, we can buy a phone that can be used in the UK and just pay for the phone, plus the minutes used. We will also be able to use the same phone in other European countries at a later date with only minor modifications. Since we will have the phone, we will only have to pay for minutes used.

Is this correct? Is there something that I am missing? It sounds too easy.

Also, where at Gatwick can we buy a phone?

Thanks!
Reggie

You can buy a phone in Britain on a pay as you go plan, buying £10 or £20 packages of airtime thereafter - and the airtime topups are buyable from practically every shop in the country.

There is one shop in Gatwick that sells these things to arriving passengers: The Link in the non-security area of the North Terminal.

BAA, the airport operating company, requires merchants to charge the same price at the airport as they do in their city-centre shops.

But The Link isn't that aggressive on price anyway, and you'll almost certainly get a better deal by going to any other shopping centre in the country, where virtually every shop that isn't Starbucks or a wannabe sells mobiles. There are several inside Victoria station, for example, and another couple of hundred along Victoria St outside.

You can use British mobiles more or less effortlessly in other countries with advanced mobile networks. But remember you're paying a great deal that way (and in practice,you're often even paying to receive calls) and for prolonged use - sending or receiving - in one other country, you're better off buying a local SIM card.

Try Mobal Communications and get the phone before you go. You can purchase a Nokia phone for $49. No activation fee. All you pay for is the calls that you make/receive. It's a good deal if you want the security of having your own phone or plan on using it often. We purchased one last year for a trip to Italy. The phone number remains active indefinitely and it is good in over 139 countries (not the US, of course). Here's the link
http://www.mobalrental.com/about_mobal.asp
Good luck.

Thank you so much for the information. I'm still undecided, but now I have a place to start.

Thanks again!

corilow, that sounds almost too good to be true. Is there a catch? For example, do they charge exorbitant rates for the in-country calls you make and received?

Marilyn,
Yes, I suppose the rates could be considered exorbitant. I believe it's 1.25 USD per minute. But, I guess if you are not using it often, it's a good deal. We simply needed it for short calls. Good point.

If you really need what Mobal is offering I would consider just buying a tri-band phone from T-mobile and roaming with them, you will have the same phone, same number and you can even use it in the states... And considering T-mobiles roaming charges they will essentially be the same. And looking at the phones Mobal offers I would say the 6100 and the 7250 are decent phones (though the 6100 is already 2 revision old) and worth buying...
Otherwise buy a decent phone through ebay and change SIM-cards as you go... as xyz has said like 300 times, easy, convenient and cheap...

Sindre

You're tired of listening to me, eh!

Well why do people keep asking the same questions and throwing their money away by renting mobile phones?

Or as some person said on another thread that he is not into this "hi tech" stuff like SIM cards etc. Twelve year old kids in Europe deal with it, what is so hard to comprehend. Sure beats me.