Please help me find a phone that will work in France

This worked for me in Italy.

I too have a 4s. I called, or maybe i emailed AT&T, and they sent me an unlock code. I unlocked it using the code, and I believe they sent me an confirmation email. It was a couple of years ago and I can't remember. Stop by your local AT&T store for help.

Failing that buy a cheap one when you arrive. I have done that before at a TIM store. I think it cost me 30 or maybe it was 50 euro, but it included time/credit. No data.

I've bought phones in Italy for about 30 euro, you can probably find the same (or similar) thing in France. Go to the Orange store and ask them to set it up for you, with English as the default language (you still may receive texts from the carrier in French). Tell them you want to use the phone on future trips and in other countries, they can let you know what additional charges may apply. I just top up the minutes on my phone when I need them. I use the phone to call the US as well, it's less than one euro per minute with the TIM plan, the Orange one may be a little different.

Chris,

If you can get the iPhone 4S unlocked, that would be the least expensive option. No need to buy a new phone. I don't deal with AT&T, but I believe they will provide the unlock codes if the contract is finished. Check with them for details.

" Is there a way to tell if it is before I leave the US?"

Yes! Once it's unlocked, see if you can "borrow" a T-Mobile SIM and insert that in the phone. If it works, the phone is unlocked.

If you're not currently on a contract at home, you might look at T-Mobile as they seem to have the best global roaming packages. However, I believe data is provided at 2G speeds and if you want faster, the cost is higher. If you currently have a contract with AT&T, check with them on the costs of international roaming. For occasional voice calls to hotels and texts to family back home, that will likely be the most cost effective option.

Buying a SIM in each country is a real pain! Each change of SIM means a different phone number and different terms of service. If you want a SIM that will operate in all the countries you're travelling with fairly consistent rates, you could also look at a SIM from one of the travel phone firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial, Mobal or EuroBuzz. Their voice and text rates are usually quite inexpensive, but data can be a bit pricey. One other advantage of these is that they use post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card), so no need to top-up.

Chris, We just got back from France last Sunday. I took two phones that were supposedly unlocked by AT&T. I found out that my Samsung Galaxy S4 was NOT unlocked (AT&T had told me it was. I went to their website and followed the instructions for unlocking the S4, but I did not verify...my bad.) Ken is correct. Borrow someones T Mobile chip and verify that your phone is unlocked. Go to their website and follow all of the instructions/procedures to un-lock your phone. Once you think it is unlocked you could also take it into a TMobile store and ask them to check. Many TMobile stores are quite happy to help.

Anyhow, my iPhone 4 was unlocked, and it was easy to set-up and use. I went into a small electronics store and bought a LaBara SIM card. The card was $5, and had $2 worth of credit. It had talk, text, and data. Talk to anyone in France was free. I found that texts (outside of France) cost me $.45 each. I only used data for emergencies. I then loaded a $5 credit on the phone, and promptly used that up when I left data "on". Next I bought a $10 refill card which I used in France, the Netherlands, and it is now switched to AT&T at home! ( I don't know what the rates are outside of France.) My brother bought his LaBara SIM at a Tabac store and installed and initialized the card himself. He followed the instructions written in English that came with the card. They had handy text prompts that would tell you how much you had remaining on your card, etc.

Last year I used my iphone in Greece, and the previous year I used it in England and Ireland. In each country I went to a local cell phone store, found someone to help, and bought a local chip that would work where I planed to vacation.

I really like having a smart phone because I can use data in emergencies, or use wi-fi and Skype for free calls, and use wi-fi to read news, emails, and weather reports. I also downloaded a free GPS program (Mapfactor Navigator) that I used while walking thru towns to find locations. My brother used it as a turn-by-turn, voice instruction GPS when he was driving in France and in Ireland. It DID NOT need data to function. He played with it at home, and had "favorites" loaded for all the stops on his trip.

Just went through this. Had unlocked Blu studio 6. Lebara only worked one day on it for some reason. Went to SFR store and got a 30 day 2 g card and it has been working great so far. It cost €39. Just wish i had not waetwd time and energy on the lebara one. It had been bought in Germany to be used in France, so dont know if that was the problem or not. Good luck. Wish i had known this!

Just went through this. Had unlocked Blu studio 6. Lebara only worked one day on it for some reason. Went to SFR store and got a 30 day 2 g card and it has been working great so far. It cost €39. Just wish i had not wasted time, money and energy on the lebara one. It had been bought in Germany to be used in France, so dont know if that was the problem or not. Good luck. Wish i had known this!

Those 1 off ,monthy deals tend to be country specific.If the same card just had your money as credit it would have worked,albeit at roaming rates

Thanks to everyone for your expertise and advice. In the end, I decided to forego the expense of another phone I don't really need and did an online chat with AT&T support. The very helpful representative walked me through the multiple steps needed to unlock my iPhone 4s and checked at the end to see that it was unlocked. As added insurance, two days later I went to the IMEI site to check the phone's status myself and saw that it was unlocked. When I get to Paris, I'll get a new SIM card and pray that everything works! If not, I'll just buy a cheap phone there to make calls.

I have had pretty good luck with Truphone, which uses AT&T and T-Mobile towers in the USA, and also provides service in many other countries. The best part about Truphone is that they do not charge for incoming calls, and, at least in the USA, only charge for outgoing calls, text messages and data. Being a reticent kind of guy, I have spent less than a dollar for very good service in the past six months. It's a whole lot better than the other guys. At home, I use the Talkatone VOIP app over Wifi, and am very happy with that.

Do a google search on "Truphone SIM Rate Checker" and see if this is the kind of service you might need.