Has anyone used their iphone in France? Did it work well? Were the charges reasonable?

if you mean data or phone charges via ATT service, they are outrageously high, as I've learned.
You may be interested in this thread
http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...kype-to-go.cfm

Or, if you don't want to use Skype or won't have access to WiFi, buy in the US a pre-loaded international phone card. In France, you dial from any hotel or public phone the card's local access number. That's a free or very cheap local call. From there you can call the USA or anywhere you like. A $20 phone card will provide 60-90 minutes of international talk time.

I took my iPhone to France recently for three weeks and had service in all but one area of France: le Massif central. I had my provider, Fido, add two packages for the trip: one for data roaming and one for talk time at very good rates. No problems and although I live in Canada, I'm sure you would have the same packages available wherever you reside.

Works fine, prices are outrageous. Turn off data roaming or you will get socked with a huge bill on return. You will pay per minute charges for all incoming and outgoing calls. Texting is much cheaper. You will need to call A&T before you leave to activate international service. You can also buy an international roaming plan that will bring down price for calls and texts from outrageous to merely galling; when you return, call to cancel it or they will continue to bill the monthly fee.

I was surprised by how hard it was to find free wifi to even use the data portion. McDonalds worked, but lots of places that say they have wifi access are actually pretty complicated to use/access, including the Centre Pompideau.

I love my iphone but it is very expensive to use in Europe. I had the international calling plan but it was still expensive. And several times I had to try my call at least three times and I was charged for those calls. They can hear me but I can't hear them.

As above, but unlike some other European countries, even the local PAYG SIM cards have high data charges, per MB downloaded. So even with an unlocked phone, getting a local SIM to use data functions isn't a much cheaper option. Pity, because in UK, Spain and Ireland (and no doubt in many other countries too), you can get a local SIM card with quite modest daily data charge, like $2-$3 for up to 500MB download.

I will turn off the data retrival service as I have heard that it is a fortune. One of the posts mentioned that it is difficult to find free WiFi-- has that been everyone else's experience?

In terms of making phone calls, I really only want to have the phone to call my father in the US a few times and in case of an emergency. Per ATT's site, it would be USD.49 a minute in France? Does that sound correct?

Not sure where you are looking on AT&T site, but at http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/in...al-roaming.jsp it shows rates in France as $1.29/minute, or .99/minute if you buy the $5.99/month World Traveler discount plan. So with a .30/min discount, break even point is 20 minutes usage. Note that you pay for all minutes use, both outgoing and incoming calls.

I have an iPhone and a holiday home in Portugal. I do have access to a land line, which I use mostly with a pre-paid calling number at UK rates, but my provider is O2 and calls to the UK are 35p per min and 18p per min to receive. I don't think that's outrageous, and my data roaming is turned off. For where you can get wi-fi you can download Truphone, which is a VOIP app much like Skype, and is compatible with it. Download and familiarise yourself before you go and phone with Wi-Fi!

yep, that discounted ATT plan is .99 per minute, IF you sign up for the international discount plan. I signed up for one month (will cancel after I get home) just in case I need it in an emergency. But I'll still try to go with either Skype or with a pre-paid calling card for truly cheap calls. And you have to examine the ATT texting and data charge plans as well.

Seamus and Elaine, I was looking at the wrong plan-- you are both correct as to the cost. I went ahead and signed up for this. Still quite expensive imo.

I also signed up for the minimum data plan, in hopes that I will be able to find free wifi. How common is free wifi in France? We will specifically be in Paris, Normandy and Loire. I already have skype on my phone so I would like to make my calls via skype when there is free wifi available.

I didn't sign up for the text plan as I am not a big texter (although an incoming text is included under my current plan. and outgoing text is .50 so I may actually text more than normal since it is less than calling someone).

We are in the south of France now and yes, it is difficult to find free wifi.

My DH and I both have the international texting plan from ATT for $10 for 50 texts. So for $20 we can text each other much cheaper than calling. I also have a cheap french phone for making local calls, which works out great.

jeanned - WiFi is not hard to find, free WiFi may be. There are some free hotspots, many around the Mairie (municipal office) in several arrondissements. There is a list of free WiFi in Paris at http://www.wififreespot.com/europe.html but I have no idea how accurate or up to date it is.