Cost to buy phone in Europe.....

Angela, Which network is your Son's Smartphone attached to? It may or may not be capable of accessing the cellular network in Europe, depending on which technology it uses. If the phone is with AT&T or T-Mobile, it will likely work on Europe, so the cost of data roaming will be a DEFINITE concern! He WON'T be able to use it for surfing the net as he does at home, as cellular data roaming charges can be extreme! There was an example last year of a traveller that went abroad for 2.5 weeks, and returned home to a $37,000 bill waiting in the mailbox!!! As Sarah and Tom have mentioned, you could easily buy an inexpensive PAYG phone when you arrive in Germany, however keep in mind that as you plan to "call each other in Germany", the costs could be an issue. For example: > If you call your Son, you'll have to dial his U.S. number and pay applicable long distance charges. Assuming he's using roaming from his home network and his phone will work in Europe, he will also pay for the incoming call at a cost of perhaps $1-$2 per minute. > If your Son calls you, he will pay for the call according to the roaming charges set-out by his home network. Again, that could be $1-$2 per minute. Using text messaging is by far the easiest and cheapest solution, especially between two phones from different countries. I'd suggest keeping voice calls at a minimum. Cheers!

Yep, you can buy cheap "handys" here, with prepaid minutes that you renew as you go. I think most of the phones like that around here start at 25 Euro or so.

Vodafon's cheapest pay-as-go set sells for about €20. Minutes come in intervals of €15 and €25.

Ok great! Thank you, this helps a lot. We'd rather leave our phones at home, just bringing one smart phone for internet purposes. Angela

Angela, I assume you're going to switch off the data portion of your Smartphone and ONLY use Wi-Fi access?

Uh, I'm guessing that's what I'm supposed to do? Lol! I know nothing about smart phones, but I'll pass this advice along to my son who has the smart phone. Thx,
Angela

Shoot, you can pick up cheap handys at Saturn, the big electronic stores for as little as 9 euro. If all you are going to do is use them in Germany, why pay more? Text each other to keep it even cheaper.

If I buy the basic phone in Frankfort will the sim card work in France? My daughter is in France and has a phone. We are flying out of Paris. How much does it cost per min? We will only be using it if the family splits up so not a lot of minutes. Our local US company said they would RENT us a phone plus a usage fee PLUS 1.25 a min.

@David, If you buy a SIM card in Germany, it will work in France however the rates will be slightly higher as you'll be "roaming". The "cost per minute" will depend on which plan you choose when you buy the card. Is your "local US company" Verizon? If so, they do have a "global phone" program. $1.25 / minute is a bit expensive, but if you're only going to be making occasional calls, it's an option to consider. You may find some good information in some of the other Threads here, as HelpLine members living in Germany have posted good information in the past. Happy travels!

I bought two phones in Europe in April (one died, I think it got wet from all the rain). I looked for the cheapest option. I found two options for 25 euros, both included credit for minutes. The one I bought was ten euros credit at 8 cents a minute through Vodaphone.