Cell phone purchase and use in Europe
 

My husband and I are traveling to Europe this Sept. 2010. We will be spending time in Italy and Germany. For one of our lodging destinations, we will need a phone to contact the owners to meet up and be shown to our accomodations. We have traveled many times to Europe but have never gone with a phone. I have been told to get an unlocked quad-band phone and purchase a sim card. I've seen some phones on Ebay, but the prices vary greatly. Can anyone give me some more detailed info on what to look for, where to buy, etc....???
Also, info. I've found online about sim cards seems to vary greatly also. I don't know if I should buy here in the U.S. or in Italy when we get there and where? Do I need different sim cards for Italy and Germany?
Any help would be greatly appreciated...we are leaving in less than 2 months and I'm starting to stress over it!!

We bought a phone from www.mobal.com; which we pay only when we make calls. It is already set up for Europe. $49.00ea or $99.00 for one you can use in US (cost when we bought it).

I also have T-Mobile here in the US and they just it over to use international if I wanted to, so when we go back to Europe it is already sest up. $.99 a minute.

(I meant to say T-Mobile just turned it on to use internationally if I wanted to)

Thanks for your response. We are with Verizon. Maybe I can check with them.
I would like to be able to call local numbers while in Europe, but also be able to call home to the U.S. I haven't been able to fine out much about how that works with the Sim cards though...

With both of the phones I mentioned above, we would make local calls and call home to the US and we didn't have to get a separate sim card or do anything but turn on the phones.

I have a similar question. I haven't been to Europe for 25 years, but am going to Hungary in Sept. I've been advised to buy a phone here (my cell won't work in Europe), then buy a prepaid Hungary-specific SIM card after I arrive.

That's supposed to be the cheapest way because I don't plan to make or receive calls from the U.S.

I've checked out the phones on eBay. A tip on a travel forum said to get one of the $30 ones--as long as it has 900/1800 bands, is unlocked and no-contract, it will work. But some of the phones on eBay, even though they're no-contract, list AT&T or another American firm as the carrier, and I don't know what that means, if anything, in terms of service & fees.

Can someone help?

I bought a Lebara SIM in Germany which was excellent value, especially for cheap overseas phone calls. I believe you can also roam with this so you could possibly take it to Italy. Here is a link so you can do a bit of research:

http://www.lebara-mobile.de/en/index.php

Good luck!

Lavandula

ohioscribe: Check our www.mobal.com for phone

See this thread. xyz123 covered it in detail. Bottom line, if your verizon phone has gsm 900/1800 (a handful of their blackberrys do), then see if it's unlocked. If not just get a cheap unlocked quadband phone on ebay, dell, amazon, etc. Then get a local prepaid sim at your destination.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-france.cfm

I bought an unlocked quad band phone then purchased the $10 SIM from Mobal, as stated previously you only pay when you use it. When I am in a country for an extended time period I buy a local SIM as the rates are less expensive. In that case you need to inform family/friends of change in phone #. Have also had verizon activate international coverage when we have travled to a country where they have coverage.

Raply426,
Your Fodors profile doesn't say in which country you reside, so I'll take a guess that it is the U.S.?

If so, Cellular Abroad http://www.cellularabroad.com can help you with phone and/or SIM card purchase. For future trips, Skype combined with a netbook or internet cafes is an inexpensive solution. Alternatively, you could buy a cheap quad or tri-band GSM pre-paid phone from T-mobile http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/...phones_prepaid and get it unlocked after 90 days.

If you really want to delve into the subject, this is an excellent reference: http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2002/0308.htm


_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Thanks everyone for all the info. It looks like I have some reading to do!! Going to start checking out the links you've provided...