AJPeabody

Mrs. P and I will be our way to Paris for 11 days in a very short time. I have been following the cell/SIM threads and have made my plan.

Since my US cell phone is Verizon with no SIM, incompatible with the rest of the world, and completely smart-free, I bought a BLU 2-SIM smart phone. I am also bringing a minicomputer (smaller than a laptop but with a 11 inch screen that I can read with my ancient eyes, notebook size). They all work off wifi. I have gotten a Google Voice number, a gmail that has never been used on any spam generating sites, and have also downloaded Hangouts and Hangout Dialer, The Fork, and the offline Paris Google map. The phone makes calls on wifi, tested. I will buy a minimal amount of Google Voice credits for calls in France.

I tried to get a free Lebara SIM but it never came.

I plan to rely mainly on wifi, keeping the phone in airplane mode plus wifi most of the time, and leaving the minicomputer in the hotel. A Paris by arrondissements l'Indispensable will be fine for getting from place to place. I hope to find a cheap SIM with enough calls to reach a restaurant if I am not in wifi range and to provide a contact if the airline needs to reach me about my return flight, and maybe for getting an electronic boarding pass. I have no need to call home regularly.

Questions: Any holes/flaws in the plan? What would be the best local SIMs for me?

Thanks!

AJ

StCirq

Sounds fine to me. I use a BLU 2-SIM and BLU 3-SIM phone too. I have an Orange plan, which you don't need, but just shop for an SFR or FREE SIM at any tabac or supermarket or phone store and you'll be set. Be prepared to have your passport information recorded before the phone can be activated. For that reason it will be best to get the SIM at a phone store (or at a Relay at the airport - where they will handle this if they're not too busy).

rs899

I was going to say FREE as well, but if I read it right you can get gobs of 4g lte data for very little, 3g not so much.

rs899

Another possibility is Lycamobile if you can find a shop. They offer 1 gb for 10 euros. They are a MVNO and buy service from one of the major networks. Here in the US they use Tmobile. There are likely other similar deals you maybe able to get locally in Paris. Perhaps Aldi or Lidl or Franprix have their own SIMs with similar cheap data. If you are staying in Paris you shouldn't have much problem with coverage.

AJPeabody

Ended up using wifi and the Google aps for everything and never needed a SIM card!

Andrew

Hey, that's great! Google Hangouts and Voice work pretty well for me, even at home in the US, not just overseas. I receive all my calls at home on Hangouts now with my Google Voice number. (My cell service is a monthly plan of only mobile data with pay-per-minute calls if I need them, but I can usually use Hangouts to make/receive calls.)

I still find having a SIM almost essential now when traveling. I use Google Maps extensively to navigate on foot and it's not really practical to do that with only WiFi. There are other SIMs you can have shipped to you in the US before going overseas (e.g. Dutch Vodafone SIM I used; UK SIMs rs899 has used). It is nice to be able to get your SIM setup before you leave for a trip so you don't have to worry about it when you get there.