"Look into the mobal world phone; mobal.com/bt. It runs about $49.00, and you are only billed for the calls you make. You get the phone and the number before you leave for your trip."

I used this phone on a trip to Germany in July 2007 and then Egypt in November 2007. It works great!

You buy the phone for $49.00 (or $99 for one that covers the world). No more monthly rentals or cards that expire. You then just pay for the calls you make. They are billed to your credit card.

It is great for checking voice mails and an occassional call. I would highly recommend it for the flexibility. It now sits in my closet waiting for the next trip...with no fees. And when something better comes along....throw it away. I got my $49 worth already.

Traveldawg, that sounds interesting. How much are the calls - local (in whatever county you're in) to another cell and from Europe to the US? I realize that there will be differences in different countries but just a ballpark idea would be good. What country is the SIM card from.

O.K. Everybody who's interested:
www.solomo.de
- German mobile number, easy! to reach
- Calls to German landlines 8ct/min
- Western Europe landlines and USA 9ct/min
- Incoming 5 to 15ct in many places of the planet (5ct in Japan)
- 20€ for card containing 10€ credit
- Auto recharge via credit card possible.

Direct dial in Germany, callback elsewhere.

Logos, thanks for that link. But can you explain how the callback thing works?

Our Daughter will be studying in Trier from March to July in 2008.

She has a mobal phone from a prior trip, but I was talking to her yesterday about taking my unlocked at&t phone with her, and then getting a sim card.

Thanks!
H

>callback thing works?
Quite simple, you dial
*123* followed by the number in international format followed by #

The phone will display a message, after a few seconds it will ring and connect you to the number you wanted.
i.e.
to reach 222-222-2222 in the US, you dial *123*0012222222222#, (001 is the interational access code for the US from Germany and elswhere).

You then wait a few sec. and pick up the phone, when it rings.
Callback is only needed, when outside of Germany.

If you have a family member living abroad (and you both have access to a high-speed internet line), you owe it to yourself to subscribe to a <i>free</i> VoIP service like skype.com or voice.yahoo.com

Talk forever without paying a cent. Notice that the 1&cent; advertised on their sites is from a PC phone to a US landline. PC-to-PC connections are always free.

In Germany, if you have DSL, Voip works &quot;out of the box&quot;, no need for a PC phone. Almost all &quot;DSL modems&quot; &quot;sold&quot; over the last 5 years support Voip through your standard phone and come included with the contract at no extra cost. I'd prefer &quot;free world dialup&quot;, since they have many access number in the US. http://www.freeworlddialup.com/

You dial a US local number and get connected to your friends standard phone in Germany. Works nicely.

But that's another story.

As always the &quot;problem&quot; is setting up the box properly.

Great site logos...but one small tiny problem....can't seem to locate the English flag for the English version hmm..

feel so hopeless...or as the German conductor on the ICE train said to me last summer when he said something to me in German and I replied I can't speak German, he didn't miss a beat said to me why and I said it was too difficult a language for me then he said how can that be...3 year old children have no problem learning and speaking German....guess I'm just dumb.

You need an online translation. ;-)
Try google or babelfish :D

&quot;...then he said how can that be...3 year old children have no problem learning and speaking German...&quot;

I wonder if he knew that 3-year olds also have no difficulty acquiring Mandarin, Urdu, or Farsi, either.

I was told on &quot;BBC learning&quot; that Farsi and Urdu are related to English, so why should they have a problem :D.

Mandarin seems to be for more different for a child to learn.

Even EASIER..bring your OWN phone and use IT..espefcially if it really IS for those "briefest of calls" or get SKYPE or actually do something NEW: go 24 hours without ANY phone contacts..the sun WILL definitely keep rising and setting