Intn'l Phones: the Mobal® GSM World Phone Classic??

I love my Mobal phone! I only use it for brief, necessary calls (rates vary depending on where you are calling). What I love about it is that I don't have to pay anything while I'm not using it. It just sits in the drawer until my next trip. I don't have to worry about buying minutes (or leaving some unused), the number doesn't expire, and you don't have to find a new SIM card for each new country.

Verizon will loan you a phone that will work in Europe. See http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Global_Travel/index.html I don't know their rates since I have an ATT phone, but I suspect it would be about the same as what ATT charges ($1/min)

Outrageous price per minute. Why not buy an unlocked tri/quad band phone here or buy a phone in Europe then you can buy local SIMS for single or multiple countries. I paid less than 0.13€/minute for service in Italy and not that much more in Ireland.

Here's an ad for a new unlocked tri-band phone:
http://dealnews.com/Unlocked-LG-Shine-KP220-Bluetooth-Camera-Phone-for-70-free-shipping/297651.html

I think the Mobal phone is very easy to use, and yes it's pricey but I only have it for brief calls home saying I arrived, etc..

But it is great to have in case of an emergency and works in so many countries - easy to call back to the US too

It really depends on two things: how much calling are you likely to do, and how many countries are you likely to visit? I don't use my cellphone much--quick calls to confirm hotel bookings, making a restaurant reservation, and the like. (For calls home, I use Skype.) So, for my pattern of usage, buying local SIM cards is way too expensive no matter how cheap the minutes are. And each country visited means another SIM card. For me, the Mobal phone has been perfect--I've had it since 2003 and used it all over the world. What I also like is that I always have the same phone number, so my nearest and dearest can always reach me wherever in the world I am in case of emergency.

On the other hand, if you are a heavy phone user or you will be in one country for many weeks so that you will be making a lot of use of one provider, you are better off getting the local SIM instead of the international one through Mobal.

Hi Sarah,

I usually rent from a local company in San Diego (I think they ship all over the US). Service is great and calls in Europe are pretty cheap. Website is phonerentalusa.com

My husband and I are currently traveling through Europe. We picked up an unlocked pay-as-you-go phone in the UK at the Carphone Warehouse, http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/, for under £30.00 with just £10 on the SIM (with Vodaphone). We then travelled throughout France (Paris though Provence) and made our way up here to Holland. We used up the 10 pounds and purchased a new SIM. We went through another phone broker called The Phone House. We told them that we make only local calls in Holland and calls to Canada. They recommended the company to us. Lebara, http://www.lebara-mobile.co.uk/en/, they have amazing deals.

You can get great prices here anywhere in the EU. I would not waste my money in North America where cell phones are outrageously priced. For example, we pay nothing for incoming calls, even if they are from Canada or the USA.

Thanks for all this input. I'm considering getting the Mobal since it'd just be for emergency or local calls to cancel reservations or call for directions etc. BUT since that is still $1.50 a minute, I'll check out the labara address. Don't want to use SIMS just because they change with each country. Feel free to offer more tips though!

Hi Sarah,

I would highly suggest going to www.callineurope.com and getting one of their phones. We have one and have used it extensively in England and France. 39 cents a minute is a great rate and even the rates to the U.S. are good. Just be aware of the problems that can occur with the country codes etc. when in Europe. We had difficulty at first knowing when to include the 0 that is the first digit on most phone numbers. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't include it.

Hi Sarah,

Here's another vote for callineurope.com. We used ours extensively, our son even called us while we were in Madrid to let us know that we will be grandparents! It was a big help to just pick up the phone and make a call when needed.