Barb

I will be landing at CDG in Paris and picking up a rental car on June 14th. My plan is to buy a cell phone as we will be driving to the Loire Valley for a couple of days, then back to Paris to complete the week. Can someone tell me where to buy a phone, how much it should cost, and if the prepaid deal is best? We are not likely to talk a lot, but want it to contact home, receive calls from home, confirm travel plans, and for possible emergencies. My car is reserved through AutoEurope, and I see that I can rent a phone for about $60 for a week, but I don't think that includes the cost of calls. We typically take one European trip every year, so if the phone can be used again next trip, that's a plus. Thanks for the info.

Michelle

Barb,<BR><BR>Why not just buy a world phone here in the US? I have an Ericsson T28 world phone that works very well all over Europe! The cost of the phone was about $50 and I purchased it at a VoiceStream location here in New York City.

beth anderson

if you think you may buy a pay-as-you- o phone, on the SFR network, I have a 15 euro top up card I didn't use....<BR><BR>Beth

NobodyImportant

Buy phone in Paris that uses prepaid calling cards. You buy phone for $75, less than the rental from most companies. You buy prepaid cards at corner tabacs. Incoming calls always free. Calls to USA cost under $1 a minute. Nextel charges something like $2.95 a minute--rip off!

Michelle

My rate for calls to the US from France is 79 cents per minute on VoiceStream. Plus, I can use the phone here AND in Europe, Asia and elsewhere in the world. Much better value, IMHO.

StCirq

Go to any France T&eacute;l&eacute;com/Orange store and buy a tri-band phone for about $50-$100 (big range of choices). With the Orange subscription (comes with the phone) you get the phone and a Mobicarte (pay as you go card) worth, I think, about $10. You can also send and receive e-mail on the phone and access the web. You can set the language on the phone to English. The phone does not work in the USA, and the only other drawback is that, if you don't use the phone for an 8-month period, you have to get a different phone number, so you have to return to Europe.

more

St Cirq: Do you have to give the dealer a french address or any address? Also a (small) dealer told me the other day that he doesn't want to sell the "phone packs" anymore if he knows for sure there won't be any (or very few)refills. Apparently they make hardly anything on the phone, and in a case like this he won't make any commissions down the road. Correct me if I'm wrong. Of course, this may not matter at Carrefour or other large outfits.

StCirq

I didn't have to give them any address, that I can recall, and if I did I probably would have given them my US address, as that's where I am most of the year. If I filled out a warranty, which I probably did, I'm sure I would have used my French address.<BR><BR>Now, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "phone packs," or what the reference to "refills" is. The only thing I have to replace from time to time is the Mobicarte, which allots me a certain number of unit&eacute;s (like a t&eacute;l&eacute;carte).<BR><BR>I did, btw, try to find a suitable phone at Carrefour and LeClerc and innumerable other places, but none had a tri-band phone. Orange is a great service, because they're all over the place (wherever France T&eacute;l&eacute;com has an office), and you can walk in for help anytime.

Andre

Barb,<BR><BR>Which cell phone networks are available where you live in the US? <BR><BR>I can give you a much more useful answer if I know what your options are - depending on the options you have, buying a "world phone" might be best.<BR><BR>Andre<BR><BR>Andre

more

Thanks, StCirq for clearing it up. I asked about the address, because you used the word subscription which I took for "abonnement". Just went on the FT website and got a refresher course. Now they call it "kit" iso "pack".<BR>With refill, I meant "recharge".<BR><BR>As "nobody" above pointed out, incoming calls in Europe are free (unlike the US), so the best thing is to buy one of these, but let the homefront call you as much as possible, because the rates are not too hot. If you do want to keep the number active, just pass on the phone to a friend to use once in a while till your next trip. Or sell the phone.<BR><BR>To Michelle: I used to love Voicestream/Omnipoint and had a few of their GSM multiband phones. Until I lost one in France, two years ago. Cancelled the line right away. Am still waiting to get the credit I had with them refunded... They keep telling me the check has been sent. Their system is A1, their customer service IMHO is lousy. Also, on your Voicestream, you pay when you get called from the US.<BR><BR>My experience: Voicestream for regular business travellers.<BR>Orange Mobicarte kit: for the occasional traveller.

Barb

Thanks for all the input; I can always count on Fodorites for help!<BR><BR>Andre-I use AT&T at home<BR><BR>Michelle--I inquired at Voicestream, but they only sell the phones with a new service , and require at least a year's commitment to get any kind of price. I'm already hooked up with ATT<BR><BR>St. Cirq--your suggestion about Orange sounds good. Do they have locations in the airport, or nearby? Tell me about the advantage of the tri band phone? If it doesn't work in the US, why not buy the ones from Carrefours? Thanks for the help.

Janet

We just rented a car from Avis for travel in France and they have a special of providing a free cell phone for one week. Any additional days are $5 a day. You are required to keep the phone until you return the car.

Shannon

Hi guys!<BR><BR>Hope you can help me, too! Our family will be in Europe for about 20 days this summer starting off in Paris, then driving down to Morocco, and ending up in Andalucia Spain. <BR><BR>What is the best for me? I already have service with Verizon wireless for in the USA. <BR><BR>A couple of websites I've been checking out are: UniverCell at http://www.rentalcell.com/v3/index.html<BR>and Roadpost at<BR>http://www.roadpost.com/Roadpost/Catalog.asp?EES_CMD=SI&EES_ID=102441<BR>and also http://www.globalcellularrental.com<BR><BR>Has anyone had any experienece with these companies?<BR>Any better deals out there? Most seem to have good rates for Europe but bad for Morocco (we'll be there for one week, so it does make a difference).<BR><BR>Thanks in advance for your help!

Jeff

I found a great web site www.world-import.com. They sell GSM dual band and tri band phones which are unlocked. You can get a dual band Motorola for around $79....the tri band phone costs $119. Far cheaper than what Voice stream wants. The good thing, at least to me, is I have a VoiceStream account so I will be able to put the Voice Stream Sim card into the phone and have a voice stream number. When I get to France, I'll buy a service pack and I'll have a French account. After a week in Paris I'm going back to London. I already have a Virgin Atlantic account so I just switch the SIM card. When I hop the plane to go home, all I need do is switch the SIM card back and I'm back with Voicestream.<BR><BR>Voicestream seems to be relatively cheap for calls from Europe...only 99 cents/minute to call and recieve. But it seems to me that it's far cheaper to use the European carrier. Virgin in England charges me 20p a minute to call the US on its service. The calls are also charge by the second so a 3 minute 15 second call costs 65 p not 80p for a 4 minute call. I can't decipher rates in France...sfr seems to be a little cheaper than Orange but when I get there I'll deal with it......