Help. Lebara sim didn't arrive. Leaving today. Suggestions?
 

Help! I've been ordering, receiving and using a Lebara sim in my cell for years. But, as luck would have it, the sim didn't arrive in time. I leave today, arrive tomorrow morning. I'll be in Paris for exactly 30 days. The Lebara plan would have been great for the month. But, now I need an alternative. Since using Lebara for years, I haven't paid any attention to the plethora of cell service topics on the forum (and I just don't have the time this morning to do a search).

I arrive CDG terminal 2, is there a store in the airport where I could purchase a sim and a month long plan? What company might you suggest? If there's nothing at the airport, maybe something in my neighborhood? My apartment is in the lower 7th. I'm meeting the apartment owner at 11:30 tomorrow morning and would love to have my phone up and running just in case.

Thanks everyone!

I should have added that I'm looking for SMS, internet and calls to the US.

Again, thanks!

The 7th arrondissement is not exactly a market for Lebara products, since it aims for the immigrant market in France. If you go to a place like Gare du Nord, you will find at least 30 Lebara agents within three blocks along the Faubourg Saint Denis.

You can try the Relay store at the airport. They probably won't have Lebara, but will likely have SFR and Orange, maybe FREE (name of company, nothing to do with costs). Just buy one that you can top up; obviously don't sign up for a plan.

If you have time, Google the Orange Holiday Plan and see if it suits you. Print or take a screen shot, show it to the clerk at the Orange boutique so you'll get what you want with no trouble.

It has been my experience that the Relay stores at the airports or train stations are more likely to sell SIMs from companies such as Lycamobile or Lebara rather than those from Orange, SFR, FREE or Bouygues. You can purchase prepaid credits for just about any provider at airports but finding a SIM sold there will be a bit more challenging.

I don´t follow this topic closely but Lebara was very slow to give their customers access to 3G or faster data speeds on the networks they use. Lycamobile did offer 4G or LTE access with their accounts and might be a better overall choice than Lebara. Of course, faster data speeds are also dependent upon your mobile phone´s capability as 4G or LTE protocols in Europe are transmitted on different frequencies than those commonly used in the USA.

I believe that all of companies now offer prepaid, 30 day plans with various data maximums. IF you want your phone to be up and running upon your arrival, or shortly thereafter, and you use a SIM other than Lebara, which you apparently have used in the past, you might want to be prepared to modify your phone´s APN configurations to those required by a different operator. It´s not difficult to do, just keep in mind that it must be done before you can use the phone if you change providers.

If you have time before you leave go to a T-Mobile store and sign up for a month-by-month plan which you can cancel when you get back. You will get free texts, free low speed data, and 10cent/minute calla.

The T Mobile plan can be attractive to many users but there is a catch for anyone´s signing up for just one month; one´s international use may not be more than ½ of the total domestic use. If one were able to use it heavily domestically before departure, it might work out overall but T Mobile does not allow their plans to be used primarily internationally.

Really? I have never run into that. I was just out of the country for three and a half months with no issues, and I use the phone hardly at all in the US.

Really.

Have you read T-Mobile´s Terms & Conditions?

<i> you are not permitted to use your Device or the Service in a way that we determine:</i>

<i>Results in more than 50% of your voice and/or data usage being off-net (i.e., connected to another provider’s network) for any 3 billing cycles within any 12 month period;</i>

If you have been using your T Mobile account primarily out of the USA for 3 billing cycles, expect to be notified by T Mobile at any time now. I do know those who have had their accounts canceled and service terminated for this very reason.

If by chance you have SPRINT, then international data and roaming is free, with 10 cents per text and 20 cents per minute for phonecalls...worked great for us. Best wishes!

Another option is to buy a simcard from SFR in a bar tabac.
That is what I do.

If you only want T-Mobile for a month, who cares if they cancel you for foreign use?

"If you have been using your T Mobile account primarily out of the USA for 3 billing cycles, expect to be notified by T Mobile at any time now. I do know those who have had their accounts canceled and service terminated for this very reason."

I was out for longer last year, and not a word out of T-Mobile.

<<with 10 cents per text and 20 cents per minute for phonecalls.>>

For those of us who live in Europe, those rates are exhorbitant! I realize it's probably a decent or at least acceptable deal for travelers, but WOW!

I have never had a problem finding an Orange or SFR SIM at a Relay store at the airport. Lebara seems almost extinct by comparison, IME.

You can also buy pay-as-you-go SIMs at almost any supermarket around here, at the cash registers. If we can get them here, I would imagine it would be even easier in Paris.

I must agree with StCirq. Basically, calls to other continents are free with normal plans, so the idea of paying 10 cents per minute is pretty incredible.

<<If you only want T-Mobile for a month, who cares if they cancel you for foreign use?>>

What I have seen T-Mobile do is throttle offending accounts back to a 2G max download speed rendering their service almost unusable.

There are plenty of companies such as Lycamobile or Lebara or some other 3rd party entity selling SIMs at bargain basement pricing. There is really no need to sign up with T-Mobile or Sprint for a 1 month trip to Europe and risk not receiving what you planned on.

St. Cirq, keep in mind that the service itself is "free" if you already have a Sprint account. So no purchasing a SIM card, or no purchasing an expensive add-on from your phone provider.
Also, I think Lebara charges $25 for the card, then still charges 5 cents for each text and minute of phone call...so it does add up.

I never paid a cent for a Lebara card when I lived in the States and ordered them online. Maybe that's changed. What adds up is 10 cents and 20 cents a minute.

@Sarastro - my T-Mobile deal is unlimited low speed data when out of the country. I have never found that to be a problem, but then the majority of my usage is the maps app, I don't generally use my phone to download videos or for lengthy phone calls, and if I were going to I would wait until I had wifi.

The Lebara SIM is free. If one pays 10€ for a SIM at Relay, the typical charge, it includes 5€ of usage credit.

Typically, Lebara now charges .15€ per minute to call almost anywhere. Texts are .15€.

https://mobile.lebara.com/fr/fr/inte...nal-call-rates

Another possible option is le French Mobile which has lowered their rates significantly. There may be other advantages with this company as well such as being able to keep your French mobile number over periods of non use.

http://www.lefrenchmobile.com/

Sarastro means 0.15 euro per minute. It is quite important to put the zero because the decimal is not very visible.

I have just used t-mobile plan in Europe during the free 4G LTE promotion.

While the 4G/LTE promotion was available in many countries in Europe, France was not one of them. https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-a...ess-summer.htm. I was greeted with ẅelcome 4G/LTE messages elsewhere, but in France it was welcome to France with 2G.

When operating in 2G (signal says 3G, but my network meter says 20KBs) the phone went through battery like crazy. Both of our phones got warm due to additional power usage in France while on 2G. The power usage got more sane once entered Germany, but still more power than at home in the U.S.

I understood that .15 euro and 0.15 euro are the same thing. And that is not cheap at all.

You´re right of course kerouac. However, if any mobile company actually charged 15€ per minute, I probably would not recommend anyone using their services.

The OP can try Lyca SIM, which includes these rates for calls to the US:

Top up and call United States from France
Landline - 5cts per minute
Mobile - 5cts per minute
SMS - 15cts per SMS
To get these rates simply text TARIFS SPECIAUX TO 2525

http://www.lycamobile.fr/en/call-usa

You can get the SIM at tabacs and some chain stores. They have a store locator page where you can type in 75007 for the 7th arrondisement:

http://www.lycamobile.fr/en/storelocator

You will have to top up and activate and add data bundles (depending on how much data you want, which you may want if the Wifi in your apt. isn't strong).

Now it's kind of tricky to do this and if you buy the SIM from a tabac or a grocery store, I don't think those people will help you. I'm not sure what kind of help is available from Lyca if you don't speak French.


So in that case, there might be more of an advantage in going to an Orange, SFR or Bouygues stores, where they can activate and add the data bundles you want, assuming you find a clerk who will speak English, which is often the case in big cities.

When you go into the stores, you may want to take a number or someone may come up to you for your name and what you're interested in and they will put you on a list. Often the stores can get busy.

But you will pay more from the "big" telecoms than you would from an MVNO like Lycra or Lyca. For instance Orange has a tourist SIM:

For visitors and travelers Orange offers its Orange Holiday (formerly called Mobicarte Holiday). It's sold for 39.99 EUR and is valid for 14 days including:

- 120 minutes of international calls from anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the world
- 1000 international SMS from anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the world
- 2 GB data within Europe (all EU/EEA countries)
- unlimited Orange WiFi in France. However, don't count on the Orange WiFi. Activation never worked for me (demanded purchasing credit) and the sales people in the stores were unhelpful saying that WiFi access is not included. It is definitely stated online and in the literature that it is included, but you don't want to spend a long time in the store arguing with someone you may not share a language with on your vacation.

If you still got an old active Mobicarte or need a recharge, they offer a recharge Orange Holiday for 20 EUR including 1 hour of EU calls, 500 interntl. SMS unlimited Orange Wi-Fr and 500 MB data, all validd for another 14 days. Line stays active for another 6 months thereafter.

SFR has a slightly better deal:

Like Orange and Bouygues, they have a tourist SIM for visitors. It’s only available from Tabacs and Relay stores (not SFR shops) for up to 20 EUR, is valid for 14 days and preloaded with:

- 1 hour of voice to France and Europe, the US and China
- 500 SMS to France and Europe, the US and China
- 1 GB of domestic data
- unlimitede SFR WiFi

All the recharges whether Ilimitées, Internet or Welcome can be renewed anytime to get more data or validity. Tethering and modem use is now allowed. You can buy an add-on for more allowances for 20 EUR including another hours of calls, 500 SMS and 1 GB all valid for 14 days.

I got the info. from this site, which has links to Orange and SFR where you can browse what they're currently offering (though you must read French whereas the Lycra and Lyca sites have English versions).

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/France

<i>I understood that .15 euro and 0.15 euro are the same thing. And that is not cheap at all.</i>

All things are relative. While 0.15€ per minute is not as cheap as what Lebara once charged, it is much less than the 0.40€ per minute Orange is charging:

http://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/rec...rte#classiques

Finding Lebara SIMs at Relay stores within CDG is just hit or miss. I always look. Sometimes they've had them (Terminal 1), sometimes not.

Last September, my "bring your own phone" with T-Mobile was fine for phone calls, but not data.

I found a Lebara SIM in one of the Relay shops at Gare Montparnasse, but did have to check one shop after another. If not found at any of those, my plan was to try Gare de Lyon, where I've heard they're usually always available.

The Lebara SIM cost 9,50 which includes 5,00 credit, plus another 2,50 when you top up. The SIM is already activated, so you can make calls right away. You do have to register the SIM in order to top up. You can do this by calling the number in the kit or online (have your passport number handy).

If you register online, you'll be brought to a top up screen. My advice would be not to do that. Rather, first sign up for MyLebara. If you've previously had a MyLebara account, you'll need to use an alternate e-mail address to establish an account for the new SIM.

Once you've set up MyLebara, then go ahead and top up. Advantage of setting up MyLebara ahead of topping up is being able to access all transactions and activity.

(Note, when I topped up immediately after registering, you have to re-enter the phone number, which I did incorrectly, so lost that amount.)

If, for some reason, you need to phone the owner ahead of having your SIM, just about anyone anywhere will allow you to make a call on their phone, other travelers, a front desk clerk, etc.

BTW, if you sign up for a new service, you'll need to have your passport with you. It's the law in France that you have to register a cell phone number.

The OP is probably already in Paris.

So he or she either figured it out or has no Internet access since he/she hasn't checked back into this thread since the date she created it.

Thank you all for your replies. Unfortunately, my flight was 3 hours late leaving Philadelphia and 2 hours late arriving Paris. So, I didn't have time to visit a Relay store at CDG. I got to my neighborhood as quickly as possible and stopped in the corner café I had already determined would be my local. One very nice waiter with great English allowed me to use his mobile to call my landlord. Whew! It was all stressful to say the least but turned out well. The following day I found a Orange store just up the street and was able to purchase their Holiday Plan. Their 2 week plan isn't as good as the Lebara 30 day plan I had this summer. But, it is what it is and I'm now connected!

So, I thank you all for your advice and comments!

Holiday plan is valid only for two weeks, as I posted above.

You could try one of the grocery stores for a Lyca SIM but you may have to set it up yourself, including activating it and making any settings changes.

SFR and Bouygues also have holiday plans for visitors which may be cheaper than Orange's, if your Orange plan runs out and you still need service.

<< One very nice waiter with great English allowed me to use his mobile to call my landlord. >>

Whenever I've been in Paris, everyone is very generous with allowing travelers to make a call on their phone. I've seen it everywhere.

Thank you, Dee_Dee for reporting. It's always nice to know everything worked out.

Remember you can use Google Hangouts Dialer to make FREE phone calls back to the US (smart phone). Free on WiFi, anyway; if not on WiFi, it will use your mobile data, and if your phone can't connect to fast mobile networks (4G or 3G) in Europe, it may be too slow to make calls that way on mobile data.