We are traveling to Ireland in March and would like to have cell phone access while we are there. This forum was most helpful with cell phone advice when we went to Croatia last year. We bought an unlocked international phone (850/900/1800/1900 or whatever it is) on ebay for around $30 and then purchased a United Mobile SIM card. It came in so handy, especially while we were totally lost in Sarajevo! Unfortunately, while in London earlier this year we realized that our SIM card no longer works - turns our United Mobile went out of business!

So, I need a new solution for our upcoming Ireland trip. I'm looking at the Telestial Passport US SIM card. It's $29 with $10 airtime included. It gives you both a US and a UK number. Incoming calls are free, it's 49 cents/minute to landlines in Ireland and 84 cents/minutes to cell phones in Ireland. We anticipate only using it if we get lost (which I'm sure we will) and to call home a couple of times.

So, here's my dumb question - if someone from the US calls the US number while we are in Ireland, do they get charged anything?? The reason this is important is because we are traveling with my parents and my sisters will be at home. We want them to easily be able to reach us in case of emergency, and I don't want my parents to have an enormous phone bill when they get home.

Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts on this question or advice in general about what SIM card would be best in Ireland would be greatly appreciated! I have searched this forum, but there may be an even better solution out there so I welcome your thoughts!

If they call the US number, they get charged for whatever their ld carrier charges for a call to whatever area code telestial gives you...I got one and have a Boston area code so somebody calling me on that number would pay whatever their ld plan calls for a call to a Boston area code....BTW when the call comes in on the USA number, you pay 19¢/minute to receive the call....also be aware the same sim card is available on ebay for $9 with $3 shipping...you might also want to look into the possibility of 30 free minutes to a US 800 number (some of these sims have it)....the person dials the US 800 number and pays nothing and then enters your UK +44 number and with some of the cards the first 30 minutes of this use are free...after that you pay 39¢/minute I believe it is while they pay nothing (as long as they use the +44 number and not the +1 number).......also have you considered an Irish sim card easy to pick up at Dublin airport and not terrible expensive making calls to Irish cell phones much cheaper than 84¢/minute (although calls to the USA are more expensive than on ekit)......

BTW one other quick point buried in the fine print....all outgoing calls you make besides the 49¢/minute charge incur a one time 35¢ set up fee as do all calls that come in outside zone 1 (zone 1 includes almost all of Western, Central and parts of Eastern Europe and the USA and Canada)...also you can look into gymsim which has some cheap rates (www.gymsim.com)

I have the Telestial phone, too, but I think you are mistaken about free incoming calls; I think they are only free to the caller, if they call the USA number first.

I"ve used my phone in France for two trips, primarily for "emergencies" and short phone calls, and it is convenient for those uses.

I've thought about buying a new SIM card when in France, but it's just easier (though more expensive!!) to keep adding minutes to my Telestial account.

I think you will find it to be a convenient phone for the use you describe.

Again...when you're in most countries in Europe (Bulgaria among others excepted) listed in their zone 1:

Calls to the +44 number are free for you to receive but the caller pays whatever his or her ld carrier charges for a call to a UK mobile (or it could be a UK special) number....

Calls to the +1 number are charged as a US domestic long distance call depending on the caller's plan.....you are charged 19¢/minute to receive the call.....(the web site has a list of what the zone 1 countries are)

They have a US 800 number service...some sim cards give you the first 30 minutes of use of this service for free....caller pays nothing to call US toll free number and is asked to enter your ekit number....it is far better if they enter the +44 number as you will receive the call for free...they pay nothing...once the 30 minutes are up or if the particular sim card you buy doesn't provide this service, you pay 39¢/minute on top of whatever other charge is made (free to +44 and 19¢ to +1)

All calls made include a 35¢ set up fee (one time not per minute) and as noted are 49¢/minute to landlines and 84¢/minute to a mobile phone (although calls to US and Canadian mobiles are charged as landlines and not surcharged).

Think that covers it.....

This is very helpful - thank you so much. It sounds like this SIM card will be fine and economical enough for our purpose. Also, thanks for the tip about the going price on ebay - I will definitely check that out!