mauitammy

We have an unlocked quad band cell phone we bought for our trip to Italy last summer. We bought a Vodaphone Sim card for Italy last June, but have not used it since that trip and I think it has expired. Everything is in Italian and I cannot figure out the information.

So, my question is what sort of Sim Card should I get for our trip to FRance, Italy and Germany in July? Our first stop is Paris. We are supposed to call the car service upon our arrival at CDG.

Where is the best place to buy Sim cards for several European coutries? Can I buy this at CDG or here at home before leaving? We are 5 nights in Paris and then 8 nights in Italy and 1 night in Germany.

We will be making calls most days to the US for my husband to check his voicemail at work, but mainly want it for calling to make reservations, etc. while in Europe.

Thank you in advance for your help and advice.

Alec

Buy a global sim, of which there are several, such as United Mobile or TravelSIM. Both give free incoming calls in those countries and outgoing calls are around 0.40 to 0.55 euro a minute to most destinations. They both ship to US, taking about a week. www.united.mobile.com and www.travelsimshop.com

Alec

It should be www.united-mobile.com

mauitammy

Thank you so much for your help. Do you know how long it takes for them to arrive in the US?

sjj

Before buying a global sim, I'd check to see if your cell phone and the sim are compatible. United Mobile says their sim is compatible with all unlocked phones, but it isn't, and they were unresponsive to my email messages. A few of the cell phone companies provide a list of compatible phones. See
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/
for more discussion.

logos999

Or check if the card still works. You can try right now if the card is still accepted on an US network. With a recharge voucher you can keep the card alive for another year. First, call the service number from your phone and switch the menu to English. If you activate the "Vodafone Passport" option incoming calls ouside of italy will cost 75ct per hour, outgoing will be the "standard italian rate" plus 75ct/hour, so if you use a callthru service with an italian access number it won't be that expensive using the card in all three countries. If all that sounds too complicated globalsim.net or united-mobile.com are other options.

mauitammy

Thank you. I cannot get service on my phone here in the US with the Vodafone card, so I am not sure if it is still good. I bought the Sim Card June 9 last year, so is 12 months old.

How do I know if my phone is compatible with the United Mobile sim card?

Thanks again everyone!

logos999

Sounds like it has been deactivated. Some phones don't work with United-Mobile, but only very few. And on those in most cases you can dial from the "dial" menu. I have a Motorola L6, E770, A980, A925, Siemens A65, EF81, S68 and several others. Out of those, only the A925 doesn't work at all with United Mobile.

sjj

We have three unlocked GSM phones in our family, a Motorola v190, a Motorola v3, and a Nokia 6610. The v190 doesn't work with United Mobile, but the other two do. United Mobile and Travelsim don't provide a list of compatible phones. However, RangeRoamer and Cherry Mobile, http://www.rangeroamer.com/
http://www.mycherrymobile.com/
do provide compatibility lists. Another possibility is Ekit, http://www.ekit.com/ekit/MobilePurchase/Sims
I couldn't find a compatibility list on their web site, but their customer service is prompt and helpful and they may be able to tell you if your phone works with their service. Still another possibility is Telestial, http://www.telestial.com/ Their sims seem to be the same as those provided by Travelsim and Ekit, and I've been told that they also have good customer service.

yourconsul

I just came back from Paris and england, used my unlocked gsm phone, and bought a sim card from www.1world1sim.com, they have a $100 sim card that comes with $100 talk time. The sim card comes for free, service was ok, the best thing that incoming calls were free. My kids were able to call us non stop.

janisj

yourconsul: Seems curious that you would register simply to post the <b>same exact</b> thing four times. You wouldn't, by any chance be 1world1sim -- would you???

yourconsul

I wish I was, would not be here at the forum but somewhere on the islands.