I need a phone to use while I'm traveling in France, Switzerland, and Italy. My US phone will not work there. Any suggestions on the best phone for the least amount of money. I'm on a tight budget. (Who isn't, right?) Thanks for your help.

There are a multitude of options, depending on how much you travel, how much you'll use the phone, etc.

What I did was follow the advice posted here so many times before- I bought a quad-band, unlocked cell phone on ebay. Specifically, I got a second-hand Motorola V180. It cost about $80.

I also bought an international sim card from travelsim. The sim card, with 10 euros of credit, cost 30 euros. Outgoing calls from most of Europe cost .45 per minute. The one sim card also means the phone will always have the same phone number.

I went this route because now I have a "phone for Europe" that I can use on all future trips, regardless of where I go. I only need the phone for very light use and emergencies. It's easy to give family and friends the one phone number, in case they need to reach me. And I can lend it to my parents now and then.

Some people buy the phone, then wait to get to Europe and buy a sim card for each country they visit. This might be cheaper, I don't know. If you do a search, you'll find tons about this topic.

I also bought an unlocked phone on eBay. Mine is new. I will use it in Europe and Asia, so I needed a tri-band. I buy new SIM cards when I get to Zurich and Bangkok. I also keep those SIM cards for "possible" use later, as I travel to ZRH and BKK frequently. I can sometimes KEEP my "old" number, if it has not yet expired. Phone usage is much more expensive in Europe than in Thailand!

Apres,
This is the first time, and probably the last time, I will visit Europe for quite a while. Does the sim card you buy in the states work in most western european countries?

I actually bought the travelsim card online:

http://www.travelsimshop.com/

It's a European company, your credit card is charged in euros. My sim card arrived in the mail less than 2 weeks after purchase.

I just took a quick look and for the countries you're visiting, the rate is .45 per minute when you make calls from France and Italy (about .60 US), and .59 per minute from Switerland. That rate applies to calling out to most western european countries, and even calling the US.

The local per minute rate is a little higher than if you buy local French, Italian, and Swiss sim cards, but there is the obvious convenience factor. If you just bought a French sim card, say, it would still work in Italy and Swizterland but then the roaming fees would be quite high.

The travelsim card from the travelsim shop ends up costing about $50, and again that's with 10 euros of credit loaded to the card. You can top up your credit online or over the phone.

You also might be able to find an unlocked quad band phone for much cheaper on ebay if you're American. I'm in Canada, and wanted to buy from a Canadian seller. It seemed to me that American phones in general sold for less (not for me in Canada, though, after factoring in the shipping charges)

Apres,
Thank you so much for your help.
Candi

If on a tight budget, maybe a phone card will be the cheapest? The pre-paid card for public phones.