Our cell phones do not have international roaming, and to rent one here in the U.S. for Europe is cost-prohibitive. Does anyone know of a good way to get a cell phone for each of our 4 family members at a reasonable cost? We will be in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Holland this May.
Posted by
Anaheim
38 posts
Julie, I may not have the answer that you are looking for but I have T-Mobile and I activated the international access so I could stay in touch with my family and it worked great. – this was the best option after exploring every other option out there. I just came back last week and was in Munich, Vienna, Poland, Prague and Amsterdam which is close to your itinerary so if you have any questions I can help you with, feel free to contact me.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Julie, there have been numerous discussions here lately about cellphones. You might want to scroll down through the topics to see what others had to say about the various options.
Posted by
Ardmore, PA, US
225 posts
One of the less expensive methods is to buy a phone from a company such as Mobal Rental. There is also Cellular Abroad and Telestial which have similar options.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32363 posts
Julie,
I'm assuming that your present Cell phones are either with Verizon or Sprint?
Using rentals from Mobal, Cellular Abroad or others as suggested in the previous post, is one option. Be sure to review the rate structure carefully so that you have an accurate idea on what your costs will be.
It probably wouldn't be cost effective to purchase four inexpensive Cell phones in Europe, due to the fact that you'll be travelling in different countries. You would only enjoy inexpensive rates in the original country. As you'd be "roaming" in the other countries, the cost would be higher.
You might also check with your present carrier (Verizon?), as they may offer rentals or upgrades of your phones to "dual technology" (CDMA / GSM) models such as the Motorola A840 or Blackberry 8830.
Good luck!
Posted by
Clothier, Oklahoma, USA
10 posts
Here in the US you can get those inexpensive (domestic) phones, like a Net10 phone, at the Dollar store. Is there something similar to a Dollar store, in terms of price, in the UK?? I was thinking I could just get a cheap little Vodaphone or something like that, when I got there. Thanks!
Posted by
Hendersonvlle, NC
486 posts
You buy a tri/quad band phone here, have it unlocked and buy a SIM over there. Simple, cheap (good for many trips and local SIMS give you best rate).
If anyone PMs me, I'll send them a step by step approach that we used. We had two phones and called each other a lot. Worked out great!
I have since loaned the phones to locals here going to France and others to Italy and I am loaning my SIMs to a third person when the phones come back.
Posted by
HARPERS FERRY
1 posts
We bought cheap unlocked cellphones on ebay several years ago. Initially we bought specific country SIM cards from Telestial for $49 each. This worked well in China last year. For my upcoming Balkans trip I bought a $19.00 SIM card from Telestial that covers 129 countries. You can also buy cheap SIM cards when you enter a country and switch them for each new country but that means your number changes each time. If you recharge a SIM card within 9 months you can continue to use it. Otherwise it expires and you must buy a new one for your next trip.
Posted by
Ardmore, PA, US
225 posts
The more the better, but generally only two frequencies are used. Most of Europe uses 900/1800 and you can search by country at the following website. The US uses 850/1900.
Posted by
Clothier, Oklahoma, USA
10 posts
For travel in the UK, does it need to be a tri-band, or must it be a quad-band?