gladtotravel

We will be in Sicily in October. Have never bothered with a cell phone when traveling before, but we'll be driving on our own and I think it might be a good idea for the ten day trip. We have Verizon cell phones at home. Can anybody tell us what the best idea would be for us -- converting Verizon (if that's even possible) or buying something in Europe? Thank y ou.

gipsy

I just glanced @ Verizon Wireless website for my trip & saw a section for Traveler's short-term rentals. Seems like a really good deal & easy. You might want to check it out.

Sher

First of all, if you want to try to use Verizon, you must find out if the phone you currently have from them is a GSM phone.

That is, a world phone that can be used in countries other than the US.

Many Verizon phones are NOT world phones but this may not be correct in your case.

Your owner's manual should give you this information. Check to see if the phone is a quad band model.

If it is not, then you must start from scratch with different phones either rented or purchased.

yk

For Verizon, only 2 models of Blackberry and one phone model (yes ONE only - the Motorola Z6c World Edition) have GSM capability built into them.

If yours aren't any of these models, then you're SOL.

Verizon does have an option for renting one for short term overseas travel, but rates are high.

So your best bet would be buy an unlocked GSM phone (here) and buy a SIM card (either here or wait until you get to Sicily). Do a search here on cell phone and you'll get lots of recent threads on this same topic.

gladtotravel

Thanks for all the info. DH jokes about my "virtual friends" but I regard Fodor's people as true friends.
We have the basic model phone that doesn't even take pictures so I'll take yk's advice and search the cell phone threads. Basically we want to use it if we have a car breakdown or to call ahead to a b & B if we'll be late.

djuna

you cannot use a Verizon phone in Europe, whether it is quad band or not... verizon won't unlock them.
this is why we changed to (then) Cingular... we can call from anywhere (not cheap, but who is going to be yakking on a phone for long while on holiday? Great for those with teens they can't seem to get away from texting on the cell.. tell them, NO CELL PHONE - under no uncertain terms - and after a few days of being sullen, watch them bloom as they suddenly start to take note of the life all around them in a foreign country. Sad, but true...) but what we do in Greece, since we have friends who want to get in touch w/ us there and using or US cell for local calls is too expensive, is use the cheap nokia that we purchased at the airport. When we get low on minutes, we buy a new sim card, available anywhere, and then we're good to go.

Travelnut

If you really only want a phone for emergency use, and not for long chats back home to the kids or your buddies - - then a Mobal phone is actually cheaper than buying a phone and buying a SIM. The per-minute rates will not be cheaper than buying a local SIM, so be sure how you plan to actually use the phone. We've used a Mobal for 3 years, and gave one to our son for Christmas to use with us in Italy last year. The phone is $49, and the per-minute rates are charged to your credit card, avg. $1.50/minute.

http://www.mobalrental.com/

RM67

Phones don't need to be 'unlocked' to enable international use. They just need to have 'roaming' activated.

Girlspytravel

Glad-really, the best way to do Europe and the rest of the world(particularly if you like to travel a lot around the world) is to go on Ebay, buy yourself a new Motorola or other QUAD-BAND UNLOCKED PHONE-NOT LOCKED TO ANY CARRIER (Motorola Slvr7 is available new I believe for around 70.00 US). Then, when you get to Italy, you can get an Italian SIM card, (fill out a form, give them your passport to make a copy of, pay your money and that's it). Have the Vodaphone or Orange or whatever phone shop you get your Sim card put it in for you (they have these shops also at the major airports). That way, you'll pay no roaming charges, because otherwise, assuming you do have a Verizon GSM quad-band phone, which I very much doubt, assuming it is operable in Europe as a GSM phone, if it is locked to Verizon you will still pay roaming charges that you will not pay by buying a quad-band unlocked and buying a SIM card for the country that you visit.

I've been doing this for years-I always buy quad-band unlocked cell phones, I have a Cingular/AT&T account, with a Cingular SIM card. But when I travel overseas, I pop out my Cingular SIM card, and put the SIM card in of the country that I'm in. This has worked out great, whether I'm in India, or Thailand, or Italy-I have a SIM card for the country, then I can talk and recharge by buying a recharge card at any local supermarket or tobacchi in Italy, particularly. Otherwise, you'll be unnecessarily paying excessive phone charges.

Girlspytravel

As a matter of fact, I just checked on Ebay, and if you put in "motorola quad band unlocked" you'll see a brand new Slvr6 quad band at the buy it now price for 69.99-a very worthwhile purchase, IMO-solely for international travel. I have a Motorola Razr V3i unlocked quad-band, which is more expensive, because I use it for everything in this country BUT I can also take it with me and use it anywhere else in the world I go as well!

gladtotravel

Thank you all for your suggestions. I searched the various web sites and found it easier to understand the options than I expected.
Travelnut, we do plan to use the phone only for emergencies so we ordered the $49 unit from Mobal. Love the idea of having one number for life and not having to make any stops at airports for sim cards. As you pointed out, per minute rates not cheap but we hope never to have a circumstance when we need to use it. Would not have found this option without you!

Travelnut

Your Mobal will have a U.K. (I think) phone number and also the charger will have a U.K. plug, so you'll need an adaptor plug for the U.S. in order to charge up the phone. Mobal includes a set of adaptor plugs, so no need to go find one. It's a fair compromise for convenience/cost; should you find that you need to use more minutes, then some of the other plans will be more cost-effective for next time.

knoxvillecouple

Regarding Verizon ---

We're about to set out for our 3 weeks in France and needed a cell phone. I was about to go the RoamSimple route but called Verizon, our domestic carrier. Turns out DW's phone was due for an "upgrade" and so switched to Motorola Z6C for $85, including the global SIM.

We won't use it much (at $1.29/minute), but very convenient for emergencies. My MIL is 93, and the advantage of her being able to call us on DW's existing cell phone number is not trivial.

At any rate, it's worth a look for gladtotravel.

Sam

knoxvillecouple

Europelover2 -

Actually the $1.29/minute is only for outgoing calls - not incoming. But thanks for your concern. And, as noted, we did this more for my MIL's benefit than ours - we can afford $1.29/minute if necessary.

Sam

cybertraveler

bookmarking

gladtotravel

I started this thread and now am owner of Mobal phone for $49 plus $10 shipping. There is a charge for incoming calls. The rates are very clearly listed at www.mobal.com and depend upon what country you're visiting. Given are rates for incoming calls, outgoing to US, calls within the country, those to other mobal phones, etc.

nmilller1950

bookmarking

knoxvillecouple

europelover2 -

You sure have lots of posts recommending callineurope - in fact almost all your posts recommend it. You're quite the admirer I guess.

Sam

normal1983

Jumping in if I may? I'm trying to determine which phone will work best for my daughter when she spends a month in France.

Roam Simple seems like a decent plan with a $69 phone/sim card and $.79 per minute for outgoing calls and no charge for incoming calls. I'm sure my daughter will be using the phone quite a bit to call us so I don't think that Mobal is the best option for us.

Yes, I do know about Call in Europe and that may be an option but I don't know as of yet if I want to use them. I've heard that their technology may cause some problems with reception. Whether or not thats true I've no idea as I've never used them. It's just what I've heard from others.

I, too, am due for an upgrade on my Verizon phone but I could not find the Z6C for $85 only $179. which I'm not willing to pay.

My daughter will be so busy when she arrives in Paris that she won't have time to go looking for a sim card at the airport. We prefer that she have a fully functional phone when she arrives.

So I'm just trying to determine which company will have the most economical phone plan for frequent usage.

Travelnut

I think the Roam Simple or the Callineurope plans are very good if you do plan to 'talk' more than we do. I like the Mobal because the SIM never expires nor requires 'topping' to stay active (keeping the same phone#). We only spend maybe $10-15 per trip in calls, so it isn't worth the extra attention on the SIM to go with the other plans. Otherwise, I'd be using one them, too.