What a crock.

I pay $20 for unlimited messaging for my family of five (individuals are $10), no qualification.

The article author should ask T-Mo - it's a competitive market out there.

Robespierre,

You missed the point. What the author
is pointing out is that the actual
cost of texts to the carriers is
infinitesimally small and the charges
insanely high.

So even if you are paying 20 bucks
it's basically costing T-mobile nothing, you're adding to their
bottom line nicely.

Rob

With AT&T sending texts while roaming is $0.50. Receiving comes out of your text plan, so in essence it's free. However, if you do not have a text plan, or have used up all the texts in your bucket (unless you have unlimited of course), then it also costs $0.50 to receive.

I contacted Roam Simple and learned that a French SIM card costs $19 to buy. The per call and per minute charges are below, and are paid AFTER you perform the action...it is not pre-paid.

Costs:
Incoming: $0 while in France
Local calls made within France: $0.59 / minute
Calls to North America: $0.79 / minute
International Calls to Other Countries: $1.49 per minute


This doesn't sound too bad for what I want.

We'd likely still use a calling card that we buy in Paris for calling home...seems like a better rate.

I just wonder if I would be better off buying the card in France as it seems like $19.00 is a bit high. It is an Orange/France Telecom card.

I speak zero French; that makes me nervous to walk into an Orange store and try to communicate what I want to do.

Guess I'm just posting this to see if there are any thoughts on the rates and costs, and my situation.

As I posted earlier (3/29), we bought two phones and French SIMs from Roam Simple. Fortunately, we bought at the previous price ($9 per SIM card), so it was an even better deal. Because we had a problem with one phone, I am able to report that Adam did a great job of making sure the problem was solved--and all of our earlier questions were answered.

d claude bear,

I also have the Roam Simple and $9 France SIM. I bought all a few months ago. I am leaving on Tuesday. I charged the phone and had a few questions, so called them. They are so nice. While talking with him, he asked when I had bought it and wanted me to check something, as some tri bands were mistakenly sent out, rather than quads....sure enough, mine was one. He is sending the new quad, overnight. The phone will look the same etc..number is with the SIM, not the phone...Good thing I called!!

Hello Gracejoan3--

Did you buy the Motorola V180 phone? How did you check to see if it was triband or quad?

Follow-up to previous message:

I e-mailed Adam (at Roam Simple) and got step-by-step instructions on how to go through several screens to find the type of phone. Both of my (our) phones are, in fact, quad band.

As before, his attention to messages requesting help is spectacular; prompt, easy to understand, responsive to the request.

Yes, mine is the Motorola V 180. He told me that it was Motorola who did the mix-up. They had no way of knowing who might have the wrong ones til they ran into problems in Europe.

He walked me through the process to check them..I guess you have all that taken care of now. I will receive my new one overnight. Glad I called with some questions. They are nice people.

Europelover2--

I bought two phones and France SIMs from Roam Simple because my wife and I want flip phones; the SIMs cost (at that time) $9 each; we expect primarily to call each other and places like restaurants while we are out wandering; we don't expect to call the US (calls to the US are free from our apartment); and we don't expect to make many calls. In addition, no one could be more helpful than Adam, at Roam Simple.

d claude bear,

My phone arrived..overnight. Adam had the battery all charged and everything ready to go!

I will be back on May 1st. I will let you know how everything went. Will you still be here?

Gracejoan3--

Assuming American Airlines is able to resume its schedule to DFW, we will leave on 29 April and, by 1 May, will have discovered how well our phones work in Paris.

Because the SIMs can access T-Mobile in the US (at a very high per-minute rate!) we used each phone to call the other's Paris number, and it worked both times: the phones rang (and we tried to avoid the charge by not answering).

I am very confident the phones will work well and meet our needs in Paris (30 April -- 1 June). Thanks for the offer.

By the way, we are bringing a laptop and should have internet access at our apartment, so I should be able to read your posts as they occur.

Bon voyage!!

d claude bear

I broke down and bought a laptop, too. This will be my first trip with it. This is my last trip for less than a month. That flight is just too miserable to make it any shorter!

I have a place rented for a month Sept/Oct and another April/May, 2009 and then 2 places in Brittany of 2 weeks each for Sept/Oct 2009...Brittany is large and you need to re-locate.

From here (Asheville, NC) I use Delta..either shuttle to ATL or CVG (Cinn).

They are saying that some other airlines are going to have some of these inspections..who knows, who will be next...if all MB 80's, I should not have a problem.

Good luck with AA..have a good trip..

If the FAA requires replacement (re-spacement) of every cable tie in their MD-80 fleet, it will get very, very expensive for whoever has to do it (probably Boeing).

<i>p.s.<i> Given that the correct distances were spelled out in the documentation, how were the aircraft in question certified (by the FAA) in the first place?</i></i>