My Topic Titlephone
 

Going to be in Spain for 3 weeks in September. Was thinking about getting a disposable cell phone for reasons of safety and also perhaps to make about an hour's worth of calls back to Chicago. Any ideas/suggestions on this? As always, thanks a lot!

Richarda

Disposable cell phone? Why throw away good money.

I don't understand the safety issue regarding the cell phone.

We use T-Mobile. No roaming charges, free data and calls back to the States are only $0.20/minute. Calls in a WiFi zone are free if you have a smart phone with WiFi calling (iPhone 6, and one of the Samsung phones have this).

If you do go with a disposable cell phone, the cost of calls back to Chicago will depend on which service provider you have.

It's nice to have a phone if you are driving in a rental car. If not driving, I'm not sure I see the safety issue.

One option for the OP is to get a free Google Voice number, then use Google Hangouts on any smartphone with WiFI to make/receive free calls to/from the US. If the phone has GSM capability (any T-Mobile or AT&T smart phone; many Sprint and Verizon phones may have GSM capability as well), it could be used for emergency calls in Europe even without buying a local SIM.

https://support.google.com/hangouts/.../6079064?hl=en

The free data on TMobile is only 2G, which is painfully slow. It would be all right for checking email and sending text messages using WhatsApp or similar internet texting app. It wouldn't work for Skype calls or mapping. I've read that in some areas you actually get 3G but you can't count on it.

With cheap cell phones costing €30 or less, I don't see any reason to get a throwaway phone. I've been seeing cheap Android phones in the €50 range.

If you just want a phone for calls (not data), then your US provider may have a plan that would be sufficient. If you need data services, a local SIM card is usually best, as all the data roaming plans I've seen coming out of the US have a piddling amount of data at a high price.

Mapping works fine on T-Mobile's service, if you use the iPhone. We use it all the time when driving or walking around. We also use Waze when driving.

Who needs Skype when you have free WiFi calling?

one can purchase a phone in Spain with some call time for around 40-60€ Depends on company phone and offers.
Use whatsapp and WIFI to make phone calls.

Free wifi calling if you have decent wifi!