Cell phone option in Europe

The phone number comes with the sim card. Depending upon where you purchase the sim card will determine where the number is based (i.e. if you buy it in the UK the number will be a UK number, if you buy it in France, it will be a french number). A US number is not assigned. If you want to use your US number, you can purchase an international plan from your US carrier - some have data included and some don't so be sure to check. Since data charges can be quite high (even with an international plan) the general "rule of thumb" is to turn off data roaming and only turn it on when you are in a wi fi spot to download emails, send messages or do anything else requiring the internet. Although foreign sims provide significantly cheaper call rates, bear in mind that you will be accessing whatever foreign carrier you purchased the sim from - in the UK language isn't an issue but in other countries it can be if you don't speak or read that language.

Thank you, Nancy. So if I travel from Belgium to Germany to Switzerland to France, and buy a sim card in each country, then I get a new number with each sim card?

Lucinda, yes, buying a new SIM card in each country will result in a new number with each SIM card. But why buy a new card? You can roam on the first phone SIM you get, assuming it was bought in a country that is a member of the EU. Roaming rates are higher than domestic rates, but they are capped by law at an amount less than the companies probably would like to charge. Europeans want their phones from home to work in every country they travel to, so the companies make it easy for them to roam when away from home. One caveat: Load enough credit on the phone before leaving the home country so you don't run out because it is hard for non-citizens to reload SIMs when not in the home country. If you do run out, buy a new SIM wherever you are. The easiest course is to buy a SIM from a company in the U.K. because all the instructions, messages, and customer support will be in English. If having a U.S. number is important, you may want to look into one of the travel phone companies and buy a SIM from them. Ken from Canada is very knowledgeable about those and he may chime in, or you can search the messages for one of the earlier threads about it.

Nancy, you actually don't want to reactivate data roaming when near a wifi signal just in case you don't really connect over wifi. Leave data roaming off for the entire time you are away. Data roaming only applies to transmissions over the phone connection. Just turn on wifi and you should be fine. This may be what you meant, but I wanted to clarify in case someone else was confused.

Paul is correct - if you are using WiFi, you don't need or want data roaming, so turn it off unless you are do want data and are not in a WiFi zone. While roaming rates are capped in the EU, remember that they are not capped outside it, so in places like Switzerland, Croatia, or Turkey, they can skyrocket. My friend has T-Mobile UK, and they charge £1.50 per minute for Turkey - ouch! He has been able to refill his account online with an American Express card, but someone here posted that US Visas and Mastercards did not work on their website. I agree that if all you want to do is make calls, get a UK SIM from Carphone Warehouse (assuming the UK is your first stop in Europe), and estimate how much credit you'll need to cover your trip, then load this before you leave the UK. If you run out, you can try reloading online; if that fails, you can buy a new SIM in the country you're in. You can always text or e-mail your new number to those back home. If you really need a US number, you can get one of the international SIMs that offers this. Here are some details of these: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.php

Lucinda, As the others have mentioned, the phone number assigned to the phone will depend on which country you buy the SIM card in (provided you buy the card in Europe). A U.S. number will usually NOT be provided. It would help to have some idea on what you plan to use the phone for. Will you be making calls mostly in Europe, or will you also be receiving calls from the U.S.? Could you confirm which countries you'll be visiting? Are you planning to buy a Smartphone? Buying SIM cards in some countries is not as easy as in others. For example in Italy, you may have to have a Codice Fiscale and present your Passport prior to activating the number. Also, menus and customer service may be in the local language, and topping-up outside the country of purchase may be problematic. Another option you could consider would be to use a SIM card from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial, Mobal, EuroBuzz or others. Many of these use SIM's with U.K. numbers and provide consistent rates across most countries in western Europe. Some use post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card), so no worries about topping-up. Check their respective websites for costs and other information. If you buy an unlocked quad-band GSM phone here, you'll have to verify that the Charger can operate from 100-240 VAC. Plug Adaptors will of course be required. Happy travels!

Hello Paul and Harold, Yes, turn data roaming "off" if you aren't using a foreign sim card. If you are using a foreign sim - you may or may not need to turn it off depending upon the data plan that comes with the sim.

Lucinda, I'd recommend buying your phone when you arrive in Europe. As far as I can tell, there is no advantage and potential disadvantages to purchasing a phone before your trip. I considered buying a phone to take but changed my mind after reading too many reviews of phones that either weren't unlocked or didn't work at all. In either case, the phones are expensive paperweights and you're left still needing a phone for Europe. Phones are cheap (depending on what phone you want) in Europe. I think it's better to just visit a kiosk, phone store, or department store and pick up a travel phone when you get there. Have them set up your SIM card for you before you leave the store and do a test call to make sure it works. If you buy, say, a phone from Vodaphone or Orange, there are stores all over where you can get help if you need it. The rates on the SIM card are always best in the country where you purchased it. I don't care much about the phone number. I try to use up the SIM card in one country, then just plan to get a new one in the next. For calls home and keeping in touch. I like using my Ipod touch. I set it up with Skype (and make a $10 deposit so I can call landlines) for calls home. I'd rather have people email me than try to phone me. When I'm at a WiFi location, I can both make calls home and check my email for messages.