cell phone rental
 

I have heard it is possible to rent a cell phone (in US) that will work in Europe. Am considering renting one for teenage daughter who is traveling to Scandinavia with school group in June. Any experiences or comments with such? Would be used for phone calls home to US and might consider splitting cost of rental with a few of her friends' parent. She will not have a credit card with her (she is only 13), so using credit card phones not an option. Thanks.

Buy a cell phone with prepaid card in Scandinavia for maybe 80 to 100 dollars.

&lt;&lt;Buy a cell phone with prepaid card in Scandinavia for maybe 80 to 100 dollars.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>I am not sure that this is the way to go for a 13 year old, with no credit card and no parent accompanying here to oversee the purchase. Perhaps unrealistic to expect that the chaperones with the school group would assist with this purchase.<BR><BR>You have to scroll rather far back when doing a search like &quot;cell and rental&quot; here, since the consensus has been that it's a better deal to purchase for a year or two, here on this forum.<BR><BR>Worldcell.com cellhire.com and rentcell.com are some companies that were typically cited here before people started recommending purchase. I assume that these companies are still in business, but could not recommend any one of them from any recent experience.<BR><BR>Here's a webpage with a lot of companies listed. Don't know how up-to-date it is, nor how reliable are any of the companies.<BR><BR>http://www.phoneinfo.net/portal/InternationalServices.html<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Can't you give your daughter one of those Citibank cash cards? It's essentially a MC or Visa that you put money on and then she can spend it like using a credit card. I used to get several advertisements for those from my credit card companies.<BR>That would probably be a nice thing for her to have, instead of worrying about cash...

for gail.<BR>

Thanks for responses. We have considered getting her some sort of limited credit card, obviously tied to our account for emergencies. But since it is a school group going on a tour-company trip, I can't imagine what type of emergency she would deal with solo.<BR><BR>A friend mentioned AT&amp;T used to rent phones in US for European use - I will check them out Monday. Thanks again - I think the phone idea was more for my security so I know I would hear from her than for hers. When our son went on a similar trip to Italy we never heard from him.

As an alternative, perhaps you could ask the chaperones if an infrequent visit to a cybercafe might be possible.<BR><BR>You could even help by providing a list of places in the destinations the group is going.<BR><BR>Here are some websites with lists:<BR><BR>Cybercafes.com. Internet cyber cafes guide all over the world. - An extensive database of internet cafes and internet access points. You can browse for cybercafes by name of the city or country. ... <BR>www.cybercafes.com<BR><BR>Internet Caf&eacute; Guide - with street addresses, phone numbers, and URLs.<BR>www.netcafeguide.com<BR>

Does she really need a cell phone? She's on a chaperoned trip. If there is some emergency, the adults will contact you.

Where do you purchase a citibank cash card? Thanks in advance.

No idea where to purchase Citibank cash card but any credit card company with which you have an account should be able to let you get an additional card for family member with set spending limit - we did that for our older son ($1000 limit) just because he is driving and might have road emergency (in US).

Just a thought, but you might consider buying yourself a tri-band phone and letting your daughter bring it to Europe with her. I was just in the US and bought a Noikia tri-bank for $89; may cost you a bit more if you are not renewing or buying a new calling plan. These phones work in the US, Europe and Asia and are great lightweight phones. They also come with a charger that works on 11/220 volts. You can then have international global roaming added to the calling plan for the phone; AT&amp;T charges $3 a month for this. (Costs of an actual call is additional.) You can cancel the international roaming when she returns. If you are considering replacing your phone soon anyway, this might be a workable option.<BR><BR>If you buy a tri-band or rent a phone, you have to teach your daughter how to use it to place an international call. The international access code for dialling out of a country is different in many countries in Europe. The Noikia and most phones allow you to press the pound key twice and be automatically connected to the international access code for the country you are in. She needs to learn how to do this in order to be able to call you. <BR>

I agree with Nancy.<BR><BR>GSM standard is (at last) spreading in US. If you buy one GSM for Scandinavia, you'll be able to use it back home.<BR><BR>Try with one of these operators:<BR><BR>T-Mobile USA, Inc<BR>TMP Corp<BR>Third Kentucky Cellular Corporation <BR>Triton PCS License Company LLC (SunCom AT&amp;T - Knoxville)<BR>Triton PCS License Company LLC - Richmond-Norfolk (SunCom AT&amp;T - Richmond-Norfolk)<BR>Triton PCS License Company LLC (SunCom AT&amp;T - Atlanta)<BR>Triton PCS License Company LLC - Washington-Baltimore (SunCom AT&amp;T - Washington-Baltimore)<BR>Triton PCS License Company LLC (SunCom AT&amp;T - GSM 1900 - Charlotte-Greensboro-Greenvill)<BR>Yorkville Telephone Cooperative<BR><BR>Precautions to take:<BR>1 - That it's a GSM telephone<BR>2 - US uses 1900 MHz. The outside world uses 900/1800 MHz. That's why you need a triband to use it home and abroad.<BR>3 - Check with the operator that they have roaming agreements with operators in Scandinavia, and that the roaming is allowed for your particular subscrition account.<BR>4 - Check you have a suitable adaptor 220 VDC<BR><BR>Names of operators, contacts, coverage maps, websites, etc..., are provided in:<BR><BR>http://www.gsmworld.com

It is really all right for her not to call you. Or you could give her a Costco or Sam's calling card to use.
And getting one of the new &quot;loaded&quot; credit cards for her--OR a card on your account in her name OR an ATM card--would certainly make her travel easier. Traveller's checks are difficult to cash. Usually stores won't take them and the group may not want to cruise by a bank. And carrying cash is a lot of responsibility.