Cell phone choice - France-Spain Vacation & then Semester in Seville

Mark,

Buying an unlocked GSM phone online, and using this with a "travel SIM" such as Telestial or Cellular Abroad is certainly one option. Be sure to buy a quad-band phone (there aren't many tri-bands on the market these days, but still worthwhile to check). Also, check the battery charger supplied with the phone to ensure this is designed to operate with 100-240 VAC (you will need a Plug Adaptor though).

Another option would be to buy an unlocked phone with PAYG plan when you're in France or Spain. One point to consider though - I've seen a few Posts on various message boards regarding problems with non-residents obtaining a phone in France. Not sure of the circumstances though?

The problem with buying a PAYG Phone in either France or Spain, is that if you "roam" in the other country, the call charges can add up very quickly. I use text as often as possible, as that's very cost effective.

Good luck and happy travels!

Greetings

I think your plan sounds fine. As long it is unlocked, you can get a Sim Card for your travels.

Then your daughter can get a new Spanish Sim card when she goes for her semester abroad. I don't know about Spain, but certain companies in the UK offer special deals for students. So your daughter will probably want to wait and see what the other students recommend.

And pay per minute is usually the best way to go - I found my monthly plan useful at first because the phone (and the subsequent upgrade) were free, but I've never used all the minutes and would have saved a lot by only paying per text (your daughter will probably text more than she calls) and per minute actually made.

The EU has pushed through new regs, so prices for between-country calls with EU mobile companies have been capped. So it's not bad from country to country and if your daughter is in another country for more than a few days she can buy a sim card very cheaply for local calls. Or just text.

Kat

I live in England and have a Skype option on my mobile phone---I can phone family/friends in the US (or anywhere in the world for that matter) for free---if they are at the computer and logged on to Skype. So, this would be a free way for your daughter to call home--as long as you have Skype in the US. There is an actualy Skype mobile phone but I don't have that, just a normal Nokia. I don't know if they have this in Spain though.

If you can buy an unlocked phone in any country, take it to France and Spain. You can then buy a cheap pay-as-you-go sim card in each country. It will be expensive for your daughter to call the US, but it is free to receive calls---so as long as you phone her it will be fine.

For her own personal convenience, having an unlocked phone with a local SIM card is the best option. But for communicating with you back home, just install Skype on both your computers, and you can talk for free.

Thanks so much for quick responses! I will focus on finding a reasonable quadband (investigating that), and we will probably go with prepaid Telestial - they have a Passport Lite card for 19$ with 20$ US airtime. We will get it ahead of time, as we need to have a phone number we can be contacted at soon.

Maybe my daughter can check with other students about student cell phone deals - her University has quite a few students who have done the same semester abroad in Seville - thanks for that idea.

Yes, I want her to have a phone there. You know, I have never used Skype, that sounds like a great idea! And she will have her computer with her. Just checked out Skypes web site - would love to be able to video chat to Spain using a webcam :D ! Will try and set Skype up while we are here and work out any bugs.

Thanks, Mark