I need sone feedback on the best solution for our phone needs. I want one with a consistent phone number so our kids who will be in EDinburgh can reach us- we will be in the Czech republic, HUngary and Austria and then Edinburgh. The phone will be mainly for emergeincies and quick check ins. I think the best choice is to purchase the phone from?MOball ? for $49 and just use their rate plan. Any thoughts on this would be great.
thanks
michele

ttt please-running out of time

Cheapest thing to do is purchase an unlocked GSM world phone on eBay. Then purchase a prepaid SIM card in Scotland. You will have a Scotland phone number for your kids to call you. Since the phone is for emergencies only the roming charges won't kill you when you are outside Scotland.

You can also buy the prepaid phone and card in Scotland (if that is your first stop).

There are also multi-country cards that have a phone number in Lichtenstein that have a cheaper rate. But for emergencies only, the UK SIM should work great (and all the instructions will be in English).

Scotland is our last stop- but can I purchase an unlocked phone and buy a sim card in Austria that would work for Czech REpublic, HUngary, austria and Scotland?

Hi M,

>The phone will be mainly for emergeincies and quick check ins. I think the best choice is to purchase the phone from?MOball ? for $49 and just use their rate plan.<

That's what I did, for the same reasons.

Thanks ira for your reply. Were you happy with the phone? any problems with the bill? and did you attempt to unlock it?

We also got a Mobal phone and for the use you describe it would work great.
While rates are (much) cheaper for the in-country SIM cards, you have to figure in the hassle factor (finding a place, finding it open, waiting in line, etc...) of getting it. Also, I wasted hours on eBay looking for the right kind of phone, finding the best deal, doing the math and so on. If you're only making or receiving a few quick calls, Mobal is a good deal. We got our phone in about 2 days. The only problem was that there was some weird setting that kept it from ringing (even though it was set to loud). Someone who worked at a the TIM store in Italy fixed it for me.