You don't know why the OP is going to France for a month. If the OP will need to make/receive calls from a lot of locals in France, a US T-Mobile phone with a US phone number isn't a great choice.

And the free T-Mobile data is only 2G in Europe.

If you want a local French phone number that works the minute you land in France, a Lebara SIM is one choice. If you don't need mobile service the minute you land, it's pretty easy to buy a local SIM soon after you arrive. You can also buy a French phone number through Skype for $18 USD for three months. That works only with mobile data or Wifi, but that would also work even before arrival in France. (Calling out is extra, but incoming calls are free after the $18 payment.) For making calls back to the US, Google Hangouts is free for Americans to use with mobile data or WiFi. The other party doesn't need Google Hangouts; you can even call US landlines with it for free.

Robert2533...

We have iPhone 6 with Sprint, but they are both unlocked, so we will look into T-Mobile, but switching probably is not economically sensible.

Sprint (despite their horrendous customer service) is our choice, because they are really cheap right now in the US...we switched from ATT a few months ago and cut our rate nearly in half ($50/mo + BS taxes & fees for two phones, unlimited T&V and 5G data). We hardly ever use cellular data, so this is a great rate.

ssander

>And the free T-Mobile data is only 2G in Europe.< Really? We just spent a month in Spain and the data speed was typically 3G in all of the major cities, 4G in several locations, including Pamplona. And then there are all those free WiFi spots.

With WiFi, all calls are free when using the iPhone 6 or 6s. There are also a couple of Samsung phone that have free Wi-Fi calling through T-Mobile.

Incoming calls may still be free with a local sim card, but calls are only $0.20/minute with T-Mobile while roaming verses the €0.36/minute I was paying with a local sim card. Besides, everyone I know in Spain and France uses WhatApp.

Haven't used a local sim card in more then two years traveling around Spain, Portugal or France.

Robert2533: <i>
>And the free T-Mobile data is only 2G in Europe.< Really? We just spent a month in Spain and the data speed was typically 3G in all of the major cities, 4G in several locations, including Pamplona.</i>

How do you know? Did you do speed tests? T-Mobile throttles your speed to 2G, even when you connect to the fastest networks you can connect to. I use Gosmart Mobile in the US, which gives me only 3G data speeds on T-Mobile's network, but I'm almost always connected on a 4GLTE network, according to my phone. But according to speed tests, I get only 3G speeds, as advertised.

<i>And then there are all those free WiFi spots.

With WiFi, all calls are free when using the iPhone 6 or 6s. There are also a couple of Samsung phone that have free Wi-Fi calling through T-Mobile.</i>

Yes, and my old T-Mobile phone had WiFi calling built in, too. But my new Moto E does not. Many phones do not offer the WiFi Calling feature, even newer phones. But with Google Hangouts, I don't need WiFi Calling (or T-Mobile) anyway.

topeater, the options in France are Bouygue, SFR, Orange, FREE, and maybe others (FREE is just the name - it isn't free). All you have to do is go to one of their stores (or a large supermarket that has something like Le Telephone Store), buy a SIM card, and have them register and activate it if you can't manage that yourself. You'll need to have your passport to register it. You can choose to roam while in Amsterdam or get a Dutch SIM when you get there.

If the need for a French phone number is just for making a call, for instance, to the agent for an apartment rental, I would just make that one call using my US phone number, and then get a local SIM card for the rest of my usage. The effort and the uncertainty of getting a Lebara SIM card before you leave, activating it, and keeping it alive, sounds like far too much to justify the savings.

If you want to be easily reached by people in the US, you can get a US number from Google. (Or you can also get one from Skype, but not for free.) You can probably transfer all calls made to your usual US number to the new Google number, so you won't have to give the new number to everyone who might call you.

Skype, unlike Google, has local numbers for many other countries, including France, but in France you can't get a local number unless you have a local address. If you can furnish a French address, the French Skype number would allow people in France to call you easily and inexpensively. You can answer the calls using Skype, in which case it's free; or you can forward the call to your cell phone (with any phone number), in which case it costs the same as a Skype call to that number, no matter where you are on the face of the earth. (Skype calls to US numbers cost pennies.)

Gosmart? Cheap it is and with the service to match.

Yes, I can check the speed, if I think it's too slow. There's an app for that. I also use Boingo VPN where available. And you also have the option of switching carriers if the one you're using seems slow.

We also used the iPhones hotspot feature when the hotels own Wi-Fi was too slow or unavailable.