I am going to Europe with 2 of my buddies in June. I do not want to use my cellular service there at all because of the costs, and am not too concerned with calling home to the US. For communicating with home we will use our personal devices and wifi. What I am curious about is how to communicate with my buddies if we get separated. When I travel I often like to go off on my own. Is there a cheap prepaid phone that you would recommend to communicating within Europe? I want to be able to call my buddies if we get separated and won't be using to call home at all. The phone doesn't have to be anything special as it will pretty much act as a glorified walkie-talkie for our small group.
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5836 posts
Old fashion (non-tech) way is to agree on rally points to regroup if separated. As a for example, train stations and airports have designated meeting points. Museums generally have gift shops that can be meeting points if separated while touring a museum. Designate a pub and time for lunch for mid-day regrouping. And there is always the hotel at the end of the day or evening if the group really gets separated.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
We bought a pair of Mobal non-smart phones a few years ago for where-are-you calls and very occasional calls within Europe to hotels and airlines for things that could not wait until we had WiFi. Charges are high -- $0.79 per minute or per text -- but on a month-long trip we only needed three calls. And between trips the phones sit quietly in our travel gear.
Mobal now sells smarter phones which have worldwide (not just in Europe) coverage.
Posted by
836 posts
Have you tried here?
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
You can pick up very basic phones with a SIM and some time for about 25 euros. You can choose from a variety of pay as you go plans. I think the last one I used like that came with unlimited texts and a choice of either 20 minutes of talk then 8 cents a minute or 60 minutes of talk then 20 cents a minute (something along that line).
Another option is to bring your own phone (assuming it works in Europe and is unlocked) and buy a local SIM. The SIM will give you a new phone number, so you won't get calls or texts from home until you put your home SIM back in. I used this option last time. The SIM cost 30 euro and included 2 GB data, 5 minutes calls and unlimited texts. I added another 30 euro (and changed some phone settings to save data usage) during my 17 night trip.
Local phones/SIMs are best if you use them in one country. When you cross a border, you are roaming. Their roaming isn't as bad as here though.