Tedgale can you help?
 

Do you take a cell phone with you to Europe that you bought here in Canada? I would appreciate knowing purchase details.
I am going to France in May with my sister and she will need to speak to her kids often! Thanks

Can you buy a cell phone over the Internet? My huband bought the one we took with us to France at cellularabroad.com.

jazzyred, I have tedgale's e-mail address; I'll send him a note drawing his attention to this thread.

I bought a cell in France last spring; it is a pay-as-you-go arrangement. We buy €30 mobi-cartes as we need them.

I have no idea whether this works out to being any less expensive than buying a suitable phone here in Canada, but I'll be using it in Paris again next month. It will then be sitting idle until we go back in the late fall. Would you like to borrow it in May?

Anselm

Thank you for your speedy replies.
Re: am I able to buy a phone over the intrnet the answer is yes, but then the logistics of how to set it up and who to get a plan through flummox me!
I've both read of and run into people in Europe who have had so many problems with their cells. I just want to make sure we really can use the phone once there.

Anselm thanks for your help. Are you really serious about the loan? I'd jump at it! You have a way with women I can tell (lol) Thanks Jazzy

jazzyred, I sent a note off to tedgale just after posting earlier this afternoon. Unless he's travelling and away from the internet, I'm sure he'll weigh in here with some good advice.

Yes, I was serious about the loan--anything for a fellow-Canadian, eh?

The nice thing about having the cell in France will be that your sister can give her family the number before she leaves home. Once you've landed in France, just plug it in, charge it up, buy a mobi-carte, enter the code from the card, and you're in business.

As you may suspect, the quality of a cell signal is not always the best. When we stay in a house or apartment with a land line, we use Canada Direct (http://www.infocanadadirect.com/1_0/index.html) to call our daughter. I suspect it's a touch cheaper, but I haven't really worked it out. When we're moving around, we rely on the cell.

If you decide you'd like to borrow ours, you can reach me at manicom at eastlink dot ca. I'll be in Paris from the 1st to the 14th of February and could send it to you any time after that.

Anselm

Just got Ernie's message about this thread. I was in Vancouver on business last week and then spent the weekend in spring-like Toronto before heading home to Ottawa, where a mountain of snow awaited us. Only the thought of a February 28 departure for Rome and Venice sustains me through this weather!

Unfortunately I can add nothing to the thread as I have always bought those 10 Euro phone cards at a tobacconist's (the cards with a dial-in code seem to be the most economical) and called from payphones.

But Ernie has made you a great offer and I hope you can make use of it.

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