Germany Sim Card
 

Question for xyz,
A friend raves about your info and says you are the absolute best source of advice! I would love your advice please on German sim cards. My son will be an exchange student in Berlin for two weeks in August. We have an unlocked Nokia GSM 3120 cell phone that is a tri-band (900/1800/1900). What would you recommend to purchase as a sim card prior to his departure so his teacher and classmates have the German cell number before they start to travel, as well as us having the number? And who do you recommend buying it from? We have Cingular service here in the US with international calling. Would that be the best way for him to call home to the US? Looking forward to your expert advice! Thank you!

I'm not xyz, but I do own a few phones.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34815748

topping...

Thanks logos...

I am not an expert on German prepaid sims....logos is probably in a much better position.

What I can say is that it is probably not wise to purchase the sim before leaving...there are several rip off sites here (such as telestial) that triple the price and give you no choice whatsoever.

It is far better to wait and perhaps consult with other students (some might have student specials etc.)...he will have the most mportant thing namely the unlocked phone.

Informing people of the number is no problem.....he can use email or text messaging or make a short call to give that info.....

Finally you might look into buying a prepaid long distance card such as bizon...they charge 2¢/minute to call the USA from Germany and they have local German access numbers (which are not 0800 numbers but rather local numbers) so he would pay the regular cost of a local German mobile call and then an additional 2¢/minute. Used it on my most recent trip (I happen to have vodafone DE but it is acknowledged there are cheaper carriers) and it worked perfectly.

Used German SIM's (6 months validity left) right now sell on ebay for about 7€ for a pack of 10 SIMs. The better rate SIMs as well as SIMs of "better" (900Mhz) providers like T-Mobile are a little more expensive. And there's always the "free SIM" coupon. Latest was a free SIM with a certain amout of food purchased at the grocery store....

Thank you logos99 and xyz! Appreciate the advice.