I have reviewed many posts on this topic and am more confused than ever! I am traveling with my son and would like him to have a phone in the event we should get seperated while traveling throughout Europe (6 countries in 35 days). I have Cingular but I don't want to purchase a second phone just to use for a month. I was thinking of the pay as you go but then ran across phones sold on ebay? I am so clueless about this and would be forever appreciative if someone could put in very, VERY basic terms what would be the best option for us. Thanks so much!
PS Probably won't use the phone to call back to the states (will get an international calling card for that).

Click on my name above and go back several months...I don't remember which thread it's in but I gave a very basic excellent course in Mobile Phone 1 for beginners (I don't remember just when it is)...

For your purposes, it is very possible you don't need another phone...your current phone might already have the European frequencies in which case all you need to know is notify Cingular you wish international roaming activated. Sounds like you just want the phone for emergencies and don't intend really to make or receive a lot of calls in which case you need not sign up for their $6/month plan. You will pay $1.29 to make and receive calls, always rounded up of course to the next highest minute. Text messaging is much much cheaper.

As far as pay as you go phones in the USA, most of them only have the North American frequencies which are different from European frequencies and so would probably be useless in Europe and they would also probably be locked i.e. won't recognize your Cingular sim card.

Now if your current phone does not have the 1800 mhz frequency, then you can go to ebay, buy a dual band cheap throw away phone making sure, and this is very very very important, it has the 900/1800 mhz frequencies (as opposed to 850/1900) and when you arrive in Europe simply switch the sim card (the sim card being the little thumb nail sized card that controls everything about your account).

For the rest, take my excellent course.

Thanks xyz...I read many of your very informative posts. I checked with Cingular and will indeed purchase their "World" plan for an extra #5.99 a month. My question is more what phone should I purchase for my son so that he can call me while we are in Europe. If I understand all your information posted I should purchase a throw away phone from ebay provided it has the dual band 900/1800 frequency. My concern is that I don't want to have to buy a SIM card every time we cross borders. Isn't there any easier option???
Thanks again for your help!

Well...if you get the Cingular plan, you will be using your Cingular sim card...all you need do is pull it out of your phone and put it in the new phone and voila the new phone now has the Cingular phone number...but have you checked to see what frequencies you have on your current Cingular phone...it is very possible it is a phone that already has at least one of the European frequencies (1800 mhz.) and as such as soon as yu arrive in most every European country if international roaming has been activated on cingular, you need do nothing...the phone will register on a local company as illustrated by seeing its name in the window instead of Cingular.

It is foolish for the most part to keep getting new sims every time you cross a national border but the good news is the eu is stepping into this fray and it is very possible that by summer, all you will need to do is buy a sim card n one country and then you will be able to receive calls for 0,15€/minute in any member country of the eu (can you believe some of the bureaucrats are actually fighting this sensible proposal?) but nothing is definite just yet.

As for you, given the situation you described you'll do fine with the Cingular international roaming...just be aware and impress on your son it is very very expensive and not to be seduced by the ease of being able to call about with his cell phone.

Thanks! I only have one phone and would like a second phone for him to carry. What would you advise?

any phone that has at least one of the European frequencies...it is very possible that you are due for an upgraded phone from Cingular and you can get either a tri band phone or quad band phone for next to nothing...or you can go to ebay and search for a tri band or quad band...a friend of mine got a very cheap motorola quad band for about $60 and it functioned fine...you don't need all that many bells and whistles; just a phone.

Great idea. What do you think of United Mobile for purchasing a sim card? http://www.united-mobile.com
I take it this sim card can be used in every country and doesn't need to be switched? You really are a wealth of information. Thanks again!

I am a big fan of United Mobile and have described how it works in seveal threads...pair it with an account with callbackworld (www.callbackworld.com) and you'll be all set for Europe.

Thanks so much for all the valuable information!!!!

Sound quality has been awful in the last few months with Callbackworld (Used it in Egypt, Italy and Portugal since January). It's cheap but you need to be prepared that only one party can speak at the same time. Say "over" and "over and out".