There will be three of us ( all ladies) traveling for 24 days in Eastern Europe - beginning in Warsaw - then Krakow, Prague, Budapest and ending in Vienna. We would like to have a cell phone with us so we can keep in contact with husbands and children in US. What is the best way to have a cell phone - do we rent one there? Buy one there? Rent or buy one here?? Suggestions, please. Thanks!

I haven't rented or bought a cell phone in Europe; but, based on some reading I've done, I have some suggestions.
1. In addition to reading the new messages you'll get in response to your post, try doing a text search on "cell phones" (omitting the quotation marks) to see what has been written earlier on this subject.
2. Visit www.ricksteves.com, click on Graffiti Wall, and read what people have posted their under the heading Savvy Cell Phones.
3. Visit www.ekno.com and check out their deal on a phone card that allows people to send you free voice mail messages while you're in Europe.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34427099

This topic has been discussed in great detail quite recently. Type "cell phone" in the text box at the top of this page to pull up many threads. The consensus seems to be that purchase is a much better deal than rental.

If you currently have a cell phone with either t-mobile or AT&T you can up grade to a tri ban phone or if it has sim card have them un lock it for you. Also check out the telestial.com web site and read the pros and cons of renting vs buying. I got the tri ban un locked world phone. good deal and great service and I have a world phone # that i can be reached at

Buy a tri- band phone, or upgrade to one with your existing service (you have to "unlock" the SIM card, thuough). I bought mine from an online dealer, then purchased a pre-paid card in Europe. I change my SIM card with every country (usually only go to 2 or 3 at a time), but you can keep one # & do roaming for a fee. DO NOT RENT! It cost me around $400 to do that 2 years ago. Even if you buy a tri-band for $100, you can always use it here later. You can buy European SIM cards from Telestial, and probably some other websites, as well. You can even buy a used mobile phone over in Europe. It might not work here, but you can get a good used model for $30. Good luck.

Italiano posted "If you currently have a cell phone with either t-mobile or AT&T you can up grade to a tri ban phone or if it has sim card have them un lock it for you. "

Be aware that AT&T does NOT unlock phones and if you purchase a tri-band from them, you will have to look for a third party and pay to have your phone unlocked. TMobile, on the other hand, is very good about providing unlock codes for phones purchased from them.

My preference would be to purchase a phone which is already unlocked. I have purchased two unlocked tri-band phones off of ebay and had very positive experiences. Of course, not everyone likes to use ebay. Expect to pay a bit more for a phone. The reason phones are locked in the first place is that the carriers subsudize the purchase price to for them.

If you are interested in more info on the topic, go to http://www.howardforums.com/. This is a wireless phone forum which has a lot of info on the topic. I would suggest you do a search and read posts before just popping in and immediately asking. As on Fodor's, if you start asking questions before you look to see if the answer is already there, you will be reminded about the search feature. And believe it or not, the people on Fodor's ask fairly politely compared to some of the responces I've seen on Howards Forums (or HoFo as it's known).

Hi, cherie!

My experience is from May to June of this year. I bought a cell phone here in the US : a tri-band (800, 1800, 1900), don't get the 850 band which is a new bandwidth used only here in the States.

Prices were much better here in the States than in Europe. Yes, TMobile will let you use your triband phone here in the States, so the better thing to do is to sign up with them for a year's worth of service here. By far, you will get the best rate for your phone this way.
AT&T does not, so don't get an AT&T compatible phone or sign up for their esrvice - they will not unlock the phone for you.

Phones alone in Europe are very expensive - I checked prices in several countries. Some countries, eg France, will give you a free phone if you sign up for a year's worth of service (you don't really want to do this!)
Online I found Howard Chui and Mobileburn to be excellent sites for review of phones.
I got a Nokia because my old phone was a Nokia and I am used to the way Nokias work, you may like something different.

Whatever you do, buy an UNLOCKED phone - as this will allow you to change SIM cards in different countries.

Finally, there are two types of service: one type is pan-Europe and you are charged for incoming calls as well as outgoing calls, but you can use the phone in several different countries. Another service system is to receive free incoming calls but you have to buy a different SIM card for each country you visit.
You can buy the SIM cards here online, or purchase them in Europe at any phone store.

This is all I can remember. Hope it helps! Have a great trip!

Cheriegal,
I have and use a tri band phone from T Mobile in Europe. I have not unlocked my phone thou I have the code.
With T-Mobile, I have them put me on their World Class Service--This is free and allows me to use the phone in about 61 countries without having to buy a different sim card for every country I visit. I found it cheaper @ 99cents/minute, than buying sim cards in every country and getting different telephone numbers for each. This works out better unless you plan on making tons of calls.
The advantage of using the respective countries sim cards is that incoming calls to you from the states are free.
However, you will be spending a lot of money for the various sim cards.
I am also able to use my phone here in the states
Do the math and see what's best for you.

Actually, the Pay as You Go unlocked GSM phones in Europe are less expensive than here, having just returned from Europe. Pay as You go is much more popular there than here and they have good quality phones. Even with the poor exchange rate, you will do better by about $20 buying it there. I bought mine here however so I could test it out before I left on my trip.

Currently T-mobile has an ongoing promotion...if you are a t-mobile customer you can get a tri band Nokia 6610, an adorable little tri band phone (900/1800/1900) for $35.

Be wary of so called tri band phones offered by AT&T and Cingular. Their three frequencies are (850/1800/1900). The 850 is totally superflous as all GSM carriers in the US also operate on 1900 and you are missing the 900 needed for some European carriers. Also AT&T and Cingular will not provide unlocking codes but that is no problem; especially for Nokia phones as you can easily download a calculator that will compute the unlocking code for you. However, as noted above, a phone such as the Nokia 6200 which is branded a tri band phone and sold by AT&T is totally inadequate if you are going to want to use prepaid SIM's in Europe.

BTW just to finish off the thought...the number to call if you are a T-mobile customer is 1-866-851-6253. There was a mailing but you don't need to have been a recipient of the mailing. They will provide a Nokia 6610 for $35 for every T-mobile line you have. Sometimes they require a 1 year contract extension; sometimes they don't.

If you are not a T mo customer, the phone is available for next to nothing after rebates at amzon.com. After being a T Mo customer for 3 months, they will give you the unlocking code but as I noted above, unlocking codes for Nokia phones are easy to get for free from a DT-4 calculator readilly available on the internet.

xyz123: You are the mobile phone guru! Several months ago, I took your advice about T-Mobile and signed up for the $19.99 per month nationwide account. I plan to use my dual-band Samsung R225M on my trip to Spain in three weeks. The rate is $.99 per minute, but I'll only use the phone for emergencies and convenience. Thanks for all your mobile phone expertise and tips!

I, too, appreciate xyz123's very detailed contributions. One of my assistants uses T-Mobile here in NYC and he had no problems using his phone in Italy and France. His biggest problem occurs right here in Manhattan, which is why I continue to remain with Sprint PCS.

I bought the Motorola Timeport 280 because an Italian businessman recommended it to me. He's a gadget guru who spends much time in NYC and Europe. He also turned me onto the following Midwest online retailer - http://www.220-electronics.com/java2.htm - who's still offering an unbeatable deal on this phone. Considering how sophisticated and feature-loaded this phone is, the $119 price can't be beat. Everywhere else it's $250+. I have to say I'm quite pleased with my phone. It gets better reception than my PCS Samsung and I like the phone's features. The only downside: you have to download the English instruction booklet.

I purchase my SIM cards from either Telestial
http://www.telestial.com/ or PlanetOmni http://www.planetomni.com/index.shtml
They are considered the best places to purchase cards on the web. They also sell GSM phones but nothing comes close to 220-electronics price for the T280.

A comment on telestial...their prices are outrageously high compared to what you can do in the country. You can compare prices but this is what I paid...

Britain...Virgin Mobile...£10 with £5 worth of credit.

France...Orange Fr (Mobilcarte)..€30 with €10 worth of credit

Holland...Vodafone Izi NL...€24.95 with €5 worth of credit.

Convenience...I guess so but it is so easy in Paris, London and Amsterdam that the convenience is only very marginal.

Yes, xyz, but my Italian friend told me that it is illegal to sell SIM cards in Italy to non-residents. Many shops will ignore the law for your money but for the few extra bucks, I prefer to play it safe.

I read someplace that what you need is some sort of Italian ID number sort of a social security number but that anybody can get one. As I haven't been to Italy can't vouch for that; what I do know is I have several friends who have been to Italy and none of them have had any difficulty in obtaining Italian SIMS.

Again, my purpose is to provide information not to make judgments on what is more convenient for anybody. That, of course, remains a personal decision.

I hear what you're saying. When it comes to issues of legality I never gamble. I don't care how much money it will save me.

Why bother with the expense and the problem of weak cells when you can buy a phone card on nearly every street corner and pay less than .10 a minute to call home? IMHO cell phones are a pain in the hiney.

Sir Gallahad..

Let me just give you some examples as to why mobile phones might make sense to some.

1. You can be reached 24/7 by your office or children. Just give them your mobile number and they can reach you. Some might not consider this an advantage...I do you might not.

2. You're out and meet somebody who tell you about a great restaurant. You check your guide book and find the phone number. You can call immediately to make a reservation or find out if the restaurant is booked.

3. Most importantly as in the US; you're in a rental car and god forbid some emergency arises. You can call for help.

It is a matter of personal opinion. I know that once I've had a mobile phone with me, I wouldn't travel without one just as in the US. I personally like to know that if people have to reach me; it's as easy as possible....

I use my cell phone abroad for business, pleasure, and convenience. I stay in apartments and the luxury of having your own phone is unbeatable. Just as I do in NYC, I wouldn't touch a public pay phone if you paid me. Of course, trying to find a public pay phone that works deserves its own thread