Cell Phones and Backpacking Through Europe
 

I am sorry to start another thread about cell phones because there are so many but I still am a little confused about what might be the cheapest (or more convenient) option for my daughter.

My DD is leaving in a few days for a 5 week backpacking trip through Europe. She will be in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Our US carrier is AT&T and she has a razor phone that she can take with her. I have talked to AT&T and for something like $5.99 a month I can get international calls for $.99 a minute.

They can unlock her phone but I don't see her buying a SIM card in each country as they won't be in anyone place that long. Longest is in Italy for about 10-12 days. If she calls me on her phone it won't use up minutes as we have mobil to mobil. But I am confused about roaming charges?

Has anyone used their AT&T phone for a trip like this? Is there a cheaper alternative? She says she won't use the phone that much mostly to connect up with a few friends and maybe call home once of twice. I think most of our correspondence will be via email.

Thanks for your help.

Another thought I am just worried at $.99 a minute she could run up a bigger phone bill than I would like!!

Yes, paula, there are a lot of posts on this topic, probably because it pertains to a lot of folks.
I also use AT&T and in the past have done the pay a flat fee, get reduced rate per minute. It does add up; all minutes (outgoing or incoming calls) area charged, and even a call made in a country to the same country are charged at the international rate. For our upcoming trip I am going with www.callineurope.com. as we will be only in Paris and London. You might check it out, but if she is leaving in a few days you will need to get on it pronto.

She can't control her friends so the bill could get VERY high very fast.

I'd probably advise her to mostly use e-mail, and buy a phone card for when she needs to make calls.

What is the purpose of the phone? To check in with you regularly or to chat with friends? It should be easy to deal with the charges she incurs if she understands she has to pay the bill, or at least all except the calls home.

"If she calls me on her phone it won't use up minutes as we have mobil to mobil."

Last I heard, free mobile to mobile does not apply when International roaming in involved. Find out if charges apply to incoming calls as well as outgoing. If anyone tells you otherwise, get it in print/writing so there are no surprises on your bill. Note that international charges often take quite a while to appear on your monthly bill, and by then, it's too late. All their terms, conditions, etc., are somewhere on their web site, so have them direct you to the pages you need and print them.

The most economical way for her to call home and keep in touch with her friends would be a phone card.

She says she won't use the phone that much - but how long is a typical conversation? One minute, several minutes, an hour?

A cell phone is convenient, but never "cheap".

Oops - missed the part about mobile to mobile. Calls from or to Europe would not be covered under MTM, and would be billed to the phone in Europe at the international roaming rate.

I completely agree with janisj. There are PLENTY of internet cafes EVERYWHERE, so your DD should be keeping in touch with friends via email. She can also upload her pictures at these locales. Phone cards are also a lot cheaper internationally than they are in NA, so this is ideal. It's not hard to use them at all.

Thanks for the responses so far. AT&T is actually the one who told me the Mobile to Mobile worked with International Calls.

She will not be talking to friends. She will using the Internet for that. The phone is mostly to plan meeting places with friends already in Europe or to call a hostel if they are having trouble finding it.

But janisj, you are right. I can't control her friends and people might be calling her since she will have her usual number. I do know that phone charges show up later because that was my experience when my other DD was in Europe a few years ago. My other daughter got a phone in Italy while she was there but she was also in Italy for about 7 weeks before she started her other travels.

So if she doesn't use the phone she has now, what is a good alternative given she will be moving from country to country. She can get a phone over there if need be.

As long as she will use internet or calling card for chat or lengthy messages and the only cell use is "to plan meeting places with friends already in Europe or to call a hostel if they are having trouble finding it" I'd just go with ATT's 99/minute charges.

Just remind her to keep the calls brief and infrequent, and not to answer incoming calls from friends back home.

Ok now a change of plans. She was talking with one of the girls traveling with her and they want to be able to use the phone also.

I will tell you my DD is very responsible. She has worked hard to raise most of the money for this trip while she is going to college. So I am helping her out with the phone situation. But she also knows that I would be very upset about a high phone bill. So they have decided to buy a phone there.

So new question. Is there a better phone to buy in Europe that can go from country to country? They will get one where they can prepay minutes. I forgot to mention they will be in Dublin for a few days before starting off on the rest of their trip. I will also do a little more research here on Fodors and come back if I have questions (which I am sure I will).

I would just keep the phone you have and factor in the cost as part of the trip cost.

If her friend wants to use the phone, just be sure she knows she's on the hook for $1/min incoming or outgoing, mobile to mobile, etc, period. You certainly don't want to hear later: "My BF at home said calling him on his mobile was free so I'm not going to pay you for the 1hr 'I miss you' calls"

Another Question. I am still confused a little about SIM cards in Europe. If my daughter takes her razor phone (which is unlocked), she can then buy a SIM card for it. However I keep reading that you need to get a SIM card for every country. Since they are only going to be in some of the countries (Spain for one) and few days, this seems crazy. Is there any other alternative?

I read on another post, that the EU was opposed to it, but there was a plan to make phones work in multiple countries.

Should she take her Spanish SIM to other EU countries, she'll be roaming. Incoming from anywhere will be up to 29ct/min, outgoing to Europe 49ct/min. Prices will be further reduced this year.

Almost since the biginnt of GSM, prepaid cards were roaming all over Europe, just that it was far more expensive than today.

A good option would be a Vodafone SIM, since they have some nice offers (I bet, xyz123 will post them, as soon as I've finished. ;-). You can also use recharge coupons from other European countries to recharge a Vodafone SIM.

logos-Thanks alot. Seems like even the roaming charge will be cheaper than the rates if she uses her US number. Can you buy the Vodaphone SIM in any country?

Not "any", but "many". (Spain is one) (Where will she be buying the card?)

It can also be recharged from abroad via credit card. Last time I recharged a Vodafone prepaid from Japan. I worked nicely :-). Vodafone has a prepaid tarif called "Passport". With it you get the same rates in most European countries (and some overseas) as in the country where you bought the card. If you book it, this will cost an extra of 75ct per call. May be an option because this way you'll get incoming calls for 75ct per call when roaming in those countries.

Another stupid question. I feel so dumb about this whole phone thing!!

When you get a SIM card, then they give you a phone number, right? So it would probably be best to not change SIMs that often. Are am I totally confused?

Yes, the number comes pre-assigned with the SIM card. Should she buy a SIM in Spain, whereever she goes, she will be reached under that spanish mobile number.

This isn't really relevant to your question, but another option your daughter has could be to use Skype.

Now I don't really know how it works but my daughter has been packpacking around Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia for the last 3 months, and aside from emails every few days she has called me at home at least once a week using Skype.

www.skype.com

Apparently she has an account and can dial up from any internet cafe and speak to me for the cost of the internet minutes. For example she pays for an hour's internet use and can speak to me for any time up to that hour. I don't have to have the computer on or anything, all I have to do is pick up the phone when it rings!

Could be worth looking into.

And my daughter has kept in touch with all her friends, both at home and those who are also backpacking around the Far East via Facebook.

They have arranged meet ups in remote places, hostel rendezvous, etc all via Facebook. Seems they check in daily!