SIM card at CDG

Poster Tocard stated on 5/20/19 “Orange sells the SIMs at the CDG airport. In terminal 1, they have a sales desk at the Customs exit.” I believe someone recently mentioned buying SIMs from kiosks in Terminal 2E or 2F. Personally, when we were in France last month, I waited until we got settled at our hotel to find an Orange store. My reasoning: 1) The 14 day clock starts ticking when the SIM is turned on so why start it before you really need it, 2) Orange is a big company with stores all over the place in cities - should be easy to find one. Sure enough we walked right past one within minutes of leaving the hotel without even looking yet, and 3) I'd rather have an Orange employee do the setup just in case there's a problem. Best wishes.

Your experience may be different since you are in Canada, but when I tried to buy a foreign SIM card I learned they would not send it to an address outside their own country. As the previous post mentions, there are Boutique Orange stores all over -- however, I also learned that not all of them sell SIM cards. The larger ones do, such as the one in the mall adjoining the Montparnasse train station.

Personally I didn't have a good experience with Orange, as I bought the 14-day card (supposedly unlimited) but on the 4th or 5th day (I forget which) I could no longer use it, as it was sending me a message that I needed to give them my credit card for more minutes or more data or something. That was the day we were leaving France, so I didn't take the time to find an Orange store to sort it out.

Leaving on Friday for France and bought our Orange Tourist two week SIM's through Amazon. Link below:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBYMX58/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Uncovered this re-seller of Orange network cards. Same card as listed above.

https://www.simoptions.com/prepaid-sim-card-france/

I as well wanted to get them in advance so I would have one ready once I hit the ground and would not have to scramble at airports to locate an Orange store/kiosk.

Have fun!!!!!

I know this has been asked a hundred times but I can't find any recent posts using the search function. Being from Canada, I don't have the access to Sprint and Verizon that Americans do and my carrier has awful international rates. I am going to get an Orange Holiday card, and am wondering where the easiest place to get one is from Terminal 2 in CDG. I don't want to have to go hunting when jet lagged if possible. Alternatively, I could get one online in advance, as we're not going until Aug.

How long is your trip? Do you need the SIM for calls and texts or mostly just data? The Orange Holiday SIM from Amazon is probably your easiest choice to get one in advance. But, even though it comes with a lot of data, it's good for only two weeks - then you need to extend it

If your trip will be longer than two weeks and you don't need to make many calls - that is, mostly you just want a SIM for data - consider the Dutch Vodafone SIM instead. You can buy one on eBay, and it will work in France. I have used one on three trips to Europe now and have used it in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Slovenia. (Not in the Netherlands yet, actually.) It's not a great choice for calls, because their 30 day bundles only include minutes to Dutch phone numbers (otherwise, 20 euro cents per minute). But it's valid for longer than two weeks. I find it a much better value than the Orange SIM would be. But, I don't really need to make calls in Europe - I just need data. The SIM does have free incoming calls and texts, though, so you can give your Dutch number to locals who need a European contact number.

Orange has boutiques at the Customs exits at both terminals 1 & 2 at CDG. The Mobicarte is very popular, the boutique will set up your phone and make sure it works. These boutiques can answer all of your questions about service and recharge.

The Mobicarte shoud be valid for two weeks without recharge. I would not attempt to set one up in advance of your arrival. Any of the prepaid cards can be recharged and service extended but unless you can do it on line, not always easy, you might need to be in the country of issue to recharge it.

I've used Orange for two trips in France and had no issues. I wonder if the issue mentioned was buying something other than the "Holiday" SIM? The card works for 14 days from the day you activate, after 14 days you can add time/data to the card but you have to go to an Orange store to do it (rather than online or a Tabac).

Orange isn't cheap, I think I paid 50 euro last June. I just got back from Ireland and 3 Mobile offered a card for 20 euro that worked in Ireland and England, unlimited, for up to 28 days. It may be worth checking whether that's an option (probably not)? That said, Orange is considerably cheaper than using the international option on an American SIM.

I generally have the boutique activate my SIM and make sure it's working before I pay them. My trips have been more than 14 days so I've planned on when I would go to a store and activate the SIM - getting by on WiFi in the meantime. I've also added time after the 14 day period and didn't have any issues, other than cost. You don't have to add another 50 euro, usually another ten or so.

The other company I've purchased SIMs from in France is SFR. The first time it worked reasonably well. Second time, however, the SIM never worked. I went back to the shop and they said there was a temporary problem with their system and suggested it would work soon. I ended up being out 30 euro with no service (their SIM costs 30 euro but you have to add data/time so ends up around 50 or 60 for the entire vacation).

The only thing I'll add is not all Orange stores in the city sell the tourist card options. I trekked to the Orange store in Les Halles and was told to go to the one in Opera. Only the bigger stores what have the extra "+1 Point" or whatever their store is called within a store sell them. (It's downstairs at Opera.) Remember you will need a passport per SIM card you want to buy.

Also it is not a quick operation. The poor kid wore out the carpet between the desk and the copy scanner with all the paperwork, printouts and copies. In Spain they literally have a kiosk that gets a scan of your passport details and kicks out a SIM card and it takes <2 minutes and requires no human interaction. But remember that "bureaucracy" is French word.

[Update] Orange page in English claims Relay and Tabac shops as well. That would have been more convenient:
https://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/carte-prepayee-orange-holiday-eng
FAQ: https://topup.orange.com/faq-transpays/faq-about-orange-holiday-france-offer/

Had no problem with Orange - it's not cheap but it works well and was straightforward. There may be cheaper options out there.
Whatever SIM card you plan on using make sure your phone is unlocked and will take a new card before you go.

=Tod

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful replies. We will only be there ( and Germany) for 9 days total, so the Holiday card will be perfect.

Tocard, is Mobicarte a store in the CDG that sells Orange products?

There is an Orange Boutique in Terminal 2E right across from baggage carousel 32. The agent has always been very helpful, installing and activating the SIM, and securing my original SIM. Takes about 5 minutes.

Thanks, hiredman, for the laugh! <> I will remember that for sure, LOL!

I just got home from France. There was a kiosk right by the luggage area that sold orange holiday sim cards. It was quick and easy. The girl put the card in my phone, made sure it worked and I was off. I did not have to show my passport or fill out any paperwork!