Buying a simcard or pre-paid phone at Heathrow
 

We arrive at Heathrow at 10:00 at night, probably won't get out of customs until close to midnight. Will we be able to buy simcards or a pre-paid phone that late, or will we have to go back in the morning?

You can't buy phones and SIMs are expensive. And why would you return to Heathrow? Just go into any shopping street in London and find a branch of Carphonewarehouse or Argos

We will arrive late, pick up a rental car and stay at Arora Hotel near Heathrow.

The next morning we will drive to Windsor. Don't want to spend a lot of precious time looking for a place to buy a simcard if we take our phone, or a pre-paid phone. Anyplace near Windsor Castle?

We were told that rather than take a phone with us it is easy to buy a pre-paid phone with minutes on it ~ or buy a simcard if we take our phone.

You can get a global cell phone with global SIM card at wireless traveler.com - or other vendors

Absolutely <u>pointless</u> going back to LHR to buy a phone. The shops that sell them are all airside as far as I know, so not accessible once you've arrived. As you are going to Windsor the next morning, just pop into Carphone Warehouse at 29 Peascod St (2 mins walk from the castle entrance) and pick-up a cheap PAYG phone for less than 15 quid. See http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go for details.

I assume carphone warehouse has simcards also if we take our e-kit phone?

Thanks for posting the question, wrenwood. I was thinking of doing this for my upcoming trip.

Also, you've probably already considered this, but if you were wanting a card to call family back home (not local calls), an int'l. calling card is great and usually very cheap -- if you have access to public phones or land lines. Calling my family back in the States was about 5 cents/minute or something like that. I bought a card for 5 GBP at some convenience store, and used it on several trips. (Note: using a cell phone to place int'l. calls, using the phone card access number, did not give the same rate. It has to be a public phone or land line.)

My brother and his wife who are traveling with us will have their AT&T phones with them.

We will want to use the phone to communicate with them should we get separated or do different things for a few hours, make dinner reservations, and check messages from back home.

I've not checked the following claims:

- A company called Vendpoint claims vending machines landside at all terminals (http://www.vendpoint.co.uk/#/heathro...ort/4536825784)
- there are some characteristically vague "I've seen one" posts about Vodafone vending machines at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...-heathrow.html

But what they share is that they're talking about spending £10 or so on on something that's free at just about every shop on every street corner in the country.

You'll "spend a lot of precious time " much more - as well as more money - by walking around LHR looking for these machines than by walking into the first technology shop you find in Slough or Windsor the following morning.