Cell phone for use in Europe

Jeani,

Mobal is only one of the many travel phone companies. I'd suggest comparing rates and features with several of them to ensure that you get the best one for your needs. Have a look at the websites for Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial, EuroBuzz or Lebara (there are others, but these will give you a good idea).

I've been using one of the above firms for several years, and it's always worked well. For just basic phone service (no data), the costs have been quite reasonable. If your home cell phones have the necessary GSM bands and are unlocked, you can also just buy a SIM card from one of these firms. Many of these use numbers based in the U.K. but they work all over Europe with consistent rates. Billing is often post-paid, with calls charged to a credit card.

The other option would be to visit a cell shop as soon as you arrive there and buy an inexpensive PAYG phone. Be sure to get the staff to set it up, as menus will likely be in French. Also, make sure you're clear on the method for topping-up.

Thank you for the helpful information.

We bought a pair of Eurobuzz (Mobal) phones for a one-month trip -- used a few times to connect with hotel/apartment. Each call or text billed to credit card $0.79 per minute. Total usage under $10 for the trip, but since we put our smartphones on vacation hold and only used them for photos and wifi there was a big savings. Phones are now sitting with our travel gear ready to be charged for the next trip.

If you're only (or mostly) going to be in France, Mobal will be much more expensive than buying a cheap phone in France. You can go to a phone store run by one of the carriers (Orange, SFR, or Bouygues Telecom), or go to a FNAC store which will have phones from multiple carriers.

If you can get a unlocked quad band phone before you go (look on eBay, or see if you or any of your friends has an old "dumbphone" from AT&T or T-Mobile they aren't using and can get unlocked), Lebara has particularly cheap rates for calls: http://www.lebara.fr/prepaye/tarifs

For more information on plans, look on Prepaid GSM. Here's their France page (look under "Prepaid Offer" on each carrier to see their rates) http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/france.php.

Here's their page on Mobal: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/int/mobal.html

And if you still have questions, their forums are a great resource; however, discussions there can get VERY technical, so don't be afraid to ask for clarification: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=37

I thought I had everything set up with Verizon before I left but they botched it. so I was glad I had a pair of Eurobuzz phones. As noted, they cost almost nothing to buy and they are pay per use. I too have tucked them away with my travel gear for my next European trip. They are simpler to use than buying locally because they hold your hand more, and they can even be used back in the US of A on a GSM carrier.

But for a month, you might want to take advantage of T Mobile's very cheap inclusive rates and just buy a month's worth of their services.

If you want to go the T-Mobile route, sign up a month or two before you go. Before our last trip we went there 2 weeks before we left and were told at 2 stores (didn't trust the 1st one was right!) that if you are a brand-new customer and a 15 days later are in Europe, they will disable your chip.

If you already have a GSM phone then I'd just bring that. For emergency use while driving, the few dollars it will cost are not going to be your big expense. For hotel confirmations, the front desk at hotels where we have stayed has always been happy to call and verify the reservation for us and they speak the language; usefull if you are calling the nite before and get a clerk who's English isn't the best. Also comes in handy for making restaurant reservations in town.

Jeani,
I've used Mobal for the past ten months and I've been very happy with it. I already had an iPhone5, so I didn't purchase a phone from them. I pay $39/month with no contract. Calls, data and texts included in the US. Out of the country, I pay 20¢/minute for calls. Text and data is included. Since I'm out of the country 13 - 14 weeks per year, this works well for me.

I feel like I must be missing something. It seems like it is an easy matter to call your carrier (Verizon in my case) and add an international plan for the time we are in France. Why isn't that the simplest thing to do?

I bought a flip phone at SFR for use during a 3-month trip last Fall and was impressed with the low cost ($20/month), ease of use and helpfulness of the clerks at their various Paris locations when I had questions (and I had lots!). I can use the phone on my next trip by re-activating it and buying minutes. They offer smart phones too but I didn't need that and didn't want to pay the higher cost. They also offer phones which can be used in more than just France, again at a higher cost. So I'd definitely recommend them (and especially their Place dela Republique store in Paris).

Delicia, without getting too techy, Verizon is an unusual cellphone company in that they do not use the worldwide standard GSM system. They use another system CDMA which doesn't work outside the US.

However, just to muddy the waters, some of their newer phones combine the 2 systems so you can call and ask them to give you the international plan. My cellphone supposedly would work on both systems, before my trip they sent me a new SIM card to stick inside and supposedly tested it out. But guess what, no work. Which is why I was glad to have my backup Eurocell phones.

My wife's Verizon iPhone, OTOH, was activated before the trip and it worked fine.

Oh another consideration, if your phone is new-ish, they may not be willing to unlock it.

Delicia,

In addition to Phred's points, there's the issue of cost. Depending on your carrier, what international plans they offer, and what you're doing with the phone (talk, text, and/or data), it can be affordable, or it can be exorbitant, even with an international plan (and without a plan, the costs are almost always really high).

Another problem is getting accurate information. Many people have posted about the difficulty of doing this; the regular customer reps (for all the companies) simply don't know much about international use, and can tell you anything, which may or may not be true. So you may be told a certain activity is covered by a plan, then come home to find it isn't and now you owe a lot of money. Or, as Phred said, your phone may not work at all. Another poster said that she has had good experiences dealing directly with Verizon's international department, and now simply refuses to deal with anyone else for these issues.

Thanks so much to all who replied. You've given me a lot to consider. We leave late June, so I have time to research. I guess I'll start with whether our I-Phone 5S can go both ways.

Thanks so much to all who replied. You've given me a lot to consider. We leave late June, so I have time to research. My son walked the Camino last summer, and he says just bring my Verizon iPhone 5S to a Vodafone store in the Paris airport and buy a data plan there and they will put it on my phone. But I thought phones were "locked." ???

It's incredibly cheap to buy a phone there. The cheapest minutes are for one country, simply pick up a basic phone at the airport or one of the ubiquitous phone shops in town. The cheapest deal is a basic phone, SIM card, recharger and ten euros of minutes for about 25 euros. I think they gave me a choice between 60 free minutes, then 25 euro cents or a straight 8 euro cents per minute. I went with the lower per minute cost. We also took Ipods for Skype calls home, email, and weather reports/maps/directions on internet - we used the phone to call ahead and book rooms as we traveled. The only inconvenience is having to stop by a store to add minutes to your SIM card (there really should be other options) but, as I said, they're everywhere if you pick any of the big companies.

"The only inconvenience is having to stop by a store to add minutes to your SIM card (there really should be other options) "

There are. Many newsstands, cafes, etc will sell phone refill cards. Often it's not a physical card; they just put the refill numbers and codes on a receipt. Just look for the logo of your phone carrier - you'll see them everywhere.

My husband and I are late adopters of cell phones. We traveled in Europe for 30 years without with no problems, but decided after an ER visit where he couldn't contact me that it was our time of life to be more connected. We bought a couple of cheap phones in Paris and just get a new sim card for each trip and buy minutes. It is very cheap. He now has an unlocked Iphone and we hope to be able to just do the same with it for him on the next trip. I still have my 'travel phone' and will use it until the battery no longer charges.

If you only need the phone for emergency calls and for hotels and won't be using lots of minutes you might be better off just using your US phone if it works overseas. If it is TMobile or ATT all you need to do is make sure to call and have international capability turned on so it works when you get there. We have ATT and TMobile and have international turned on at all times even when home, it does not cost anything. If you think you'll use a lot of minutes you could buy a plan with your carrier.
If you'd prefer to buy a SIM there you'll need to have an unlocked phone to be able to use it.
We use our phones very little when overseas so we just pay the going rate when needed.