What are my options on getting a cellphone to use in Europe? My phone service won't work in Europe. My Friend tells me that I can buy a throw away phone for 60.00 with 1000 minutes to be able to call home with. Anyone heard of this?

I miss my T-Mobile phone it worked all over Europe. Verizon Wireless blows, they don't have a contract with Europe for service.

Thanks Theresa in Detroit.

Buy a cheap, used quad-band phone on Ebay. Buy a SIM card when you get to France.

You can rent or "borrow" a cell phone from Verizon. I am going to Spain in March and just checked into getting the phone through Verizon. There are at least 2 plans, would give details but I've gotten several answers from Verizon and so no sure about the absolute facts.
Also Travelcell.com rents phones. I haven't contacted them yet, but a friend I'm meeting there has used them twice with good luck. I asked Verizon about costs for loss or stolen phones, looks like that charge is $199.00. Good luck.

Quad phone and France SIM
http://www.roamsimple.com/Default.aspx

Verizon does have something that you can do. They have a contract with someone and will rent you a phone where you can forward your personal cell.

I did it for business and I don't really recommend it.

I purchased a phone from mobal.com

Yes, it's a little more costly to do this, but I needed the phone number in advance and I use it so little it's not a big deal.

mobal.com seems to be what I'm looking for.

Thanks so much for all your help. What exactly is a quad phone?

It's quad-band, not quad. It's a phone that works in just about everywhere in the world except the USA, where we operate on a dual-band or something system that is, well, limiting.

I'm sure someone else can explain more about the technology.

Not sure this is for everyone but my friend told me to try it. It's a quad band phone and gives directions to unlock it. The red phone was a little over $21.00.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2gdrtg

I'm not traveling until May so I haven't fully tested it. So far, I got the phone and had my friend unlock it (inserted his Greek & T-Moblie Sim card to see if it worked). Now I'm shopping around for a SIM card (I need the phone number before I leave). My friend said I shouldn't have any problems but we'll see.

Quad band phones will work anywhere in the world. North America uses 850 & 1900 Mhz, Europe 900 & 1800 Mhz. Quad band is called quad band because it is compatible with all those.

What you want to buy from Ebay is a GSM quad band phone that's unlocked.

If you're traveling to different countries in Europe, you might want to get a travel sim card in advance. If you're going to one country, then you can wait to buy a sim card upon arrival. Or you can buy a different sim card for each country you visit. Each sim card has a phone number attached, so remember when you change sim cards you're changing phone numbers.

So I need a different sim card for London and Paris, right?

Please bear with someone who's technology challenged -

I get a quad-band unlocked phone from ebay. Buy the $19 SIM card from roamsimple.com. That will give me a UK phone number that I can leave to friends and relatives before I go to Europe. But I really can't test if it's working till I get to UK. Lastly I only get charged for the per minute usage, billed directly to my Credit Card.

Will I be getting instructions on how to dial a US number from Europe or will it be the same dialing like I'm in the US? Thanks.

My daughter has a Roam Simple phone that we purchased for her to use in France. For $80 she received a refurbished phone with a French sim card. At the end of her stay we will be billed for her usage. Here is the link to their web site: http://www.roamsimple.com/Default.aspx.

So far it seems to work well. However, since I have Verizon I cannot call her on my cell phone nor can I text her or her me because Verizon only works with France's Orange sim card which apparently she doesn't have.

Here is a thread with more info on it: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35104131

CallinEurope also has a plan that you might be interested in checking out. http://www.callineurope.com/

Hope some of this helps.

You do NOT need a quad-band phone unless you intend to use it with T-Mobile or AT&T in the US; a dual-band Europe phone will work, and cost approximately half what a quad does.

telestial.com has a nice package including a phone and international SIM plus $5 airtime for $39.

Going to Italy and considering buying a phone from mobal.com, as suggested by CarolA. Any feedback about this service and the $49 phone that the website is selling?

Since the sim card that comes with the phone is a UK one, then, any suggestions on where I can buy a sim card for Italy?

Thank you!

I have a Mobal, a Range Roamer and a Roam Simple.

I prefer the Roam Simple..used it in PAris in April and will take again in Sept..

Joan

<b>vegasrookie</b> - - I think the Mobal phone is 'locked' so don't plan on switching SIMs until you confirm.

Europelover2,

Thanks for the headsup - I went with the callineurope.com. Four phones are headed this way as I type this.

I opted for the &quot;keep your number&quot; feature where I can have my incoming calls to my US cell phone forwarded to the &quot;European&quot; phone - this can be good or bad, but indispensable, I think, in case of emergencies.

We picked the basic $19 phones that would allow text messaging (incoming messages are free, outgoing messages cost 39 cents each).

Rates are not bad: 39 cents/minute for incoming calls; 69 cents/min for outgoing calls. Calls to US though are 99 cents/min.

Good news is that we keep our cell numbers. No need to switch sims for future trips to France &amp; England next year. The big bargain here is that the rates get cheaper in France: all incoming calls are free, and outgoing calls are just 39 cents/min, even to the US! (note that you are assigned a permanent number with a French country code, hence the cheaper rates when in France).

Ciao!

I purchased an unlocked gsm phone on ebay. I had purchased a Global Sim card from U.S. Tronics who gives you a lichtenstein number.
then you call Barry at CallBack World and he asigns your own number to the sim so anyone calling your regular normal number calls you for free. You pay the incoming rate depending on what country you are in. I think France is .09cents a minute same for outgoing. Not bad...Once you have the global sim card you never need to buy one again as long as you make at least one call every 6 months to keep it active. I have had mine now since 2006 and it works wonderful and I never pay more than $50 or $60 for phone calls for a 17 day trip. And trust me I use my phone over there just as much as I do here.

Check it out....what's the harm

For my regular phone, I have a fairly new T-Mobile quad band and according to their web site, it should work basically everywhere in Britain and France.
But all this mention of a sim card makes me wonder.
Will I need to change my sim card to use while traveling in those two countries?

BTW, I plan on using it only to make local calls (reservations, etc.) and to call my sister/travel partner, who has a phone like mine. If I do need a sim card, I guess she will, also.
Thanks for any insight. I am not very good at tech thing.