Cell Phones or Phone Cards?
 

We are traveling to France this month and <BR>would like to know what CellPhones you can <BR>rent? Is it reliable, and Simple, and not so <BR>expensive? Is the Phone Card better... <BR>I call very often to U.S. <BR>Thank You.

I have not rented a cell phone, so I cannot compare costs. But using a phone card is simple and easy because the telecarte is easy to purchase and phone booths, where the telephone is inside of a glass booth with a door that shuts, are all over Paris. That way there is nothing to return or to keep up with. The only thing you don;t have is the equipment to receive calls while you walk around. Given the 6 hour time difference between here and there, I had to pick my spots to call anyhow.

I recently rented a multiband cell phone that works both in the states and in Europe. It cost me $20.00/week. I was on a loose schedule and had not made all advance reservations so it came in very handy on my trip. <BR>I don't have the phone no with me but if you are interested e-mail me and I' get the phone no and e-mail address for you. <BR>

Hi Art. I am interested. How much did you have to pay for international calls? <BR>I did not try to figure the cost because I was calling regardless. So I just shut my eyes and dialed, so to speak.

The obvious advantage of a cell phone is the ability for others to call you. And Sjoerd recently confirmed here that buying a phone in Europe may be one of the best options available. <BR> <BR>I'll bring up his thread about it.

I recently returned from London, Paris and Rome, and I didn't do all that well with telephoning to the States. I did not bring my phone company calling card and didn't research the U.S. prices. I just figured I'd buy phone cards in Europe. <BR> <BR>I had a few problems. My phone card would run out in mid-conversation, and there often wasn't a place to get another one right then. And of course, I returned home with cards with who-knows-how-much worth of calling still left on them. Also, I couldn't figure out how much I was paying. The card gave me a certain number of "units" for the price of the card. A unit is not a minute. So the cost was a mystery to me, and even my French friend didn't know what a unit was. <BR> <BR>But on the bright side, the cards did work, and they worked especially well for local calls.

Marta, <BR>You can rent an international cell phone <BR>in the US and take it with you. The company name Record Phone International 732-617-2100. The rates are great, give them a call, they fed-ex the phone to you before you leave.It's only $20 a week plus the calls.