Smartphone in Europe

There are phone rental agencies that will give you the phone, some time on it, and send it to you before you leave for Europe. Just search the internet. That might be easiest (since terms, etc, will all be in English, so you know what you're renting), and you may want to purchase extra time/data (beyond the minimum they give you), unless you speak Spanish/German. You can buy more time/data while you're in Europe, but i've found installing it to be a hassle; all the instructions will be in Spanish or German, and I've usually had someone at my hotel install it. The other choice, probably cheaper, is to buy a cheap phone when you arrive in Europe (although you want a smart phone, and I'm not sure you'll find a cheap smart phone; the ones I've seen are simple "dumb" phones). Just make sure you understand the charges associated with using the phone and data plan. I'm assuming you can't get a phone through your internet service provider, since you say you don't have a cell phone (eg, Verizon has a good loaner program for their customers). But you may want to check with your internet provider. And as many will tell you, data charges can become very high very quickly. So make sure you understand those charges. It's easy to use 'data' without realizing it; you may want to turn data off UNTIL you want to use it. That will prevent inadvertent use.

Someone on the To The Boot forum asked a similar question a few minutes ago. I suggested getting an UNLOCKED QUAD-BAND phone from eBay. Unlocked means the phone can accept a SIM card from a variety of service providers, not just one. Which means you would be able to take the phone with you and purchase a SIM card from the country you are traveling to. A GLOBAL or QUAD-BAND phone means it will work overseas. Also, get a smartphone that has WiFi. This will mean you can check email and AirBnB or use the internet for any purpose using WiFi instead of using data from your phone's plan, which can be expensive and add up. eBay has a good selection at a good price, because while everyone wants the new and latest, you can easily find an old model that does everything you need at a good price. You just have to make sure it will work with any SIM (ask the seller). SIM cards overseas are not expensive either. I am not a cell phone geek, but this method works for me!

Let me suggest a different solution which I think would work better. If you are only going to use the smartphone to access the internet, check emails, etc. You can do that with a smartphone but the data packages for that can be expensive unless you use free wifi. And smartphones are not really great for surfing the web and sending emails. I would suggest an ipad or similar tablet computer which is much better at those function and use the free wifi which is nearly everywhere. As for the occasional phone call for confirmation , just get a local 10E phone card.

Thanks! Frank, the Ipad sounds like something we should look into. We took a laptop with us on the last trip, and it was too heavy and too much trouble to mess with so we decided to try the smart phone (making our kids happy.) But maybe the ipad...

Frank makes a great suggestion! And if you download Skype to your iPad or whatever brand tablet you choose to get, you'd be able to call those hotels for confirmation (if you add some credit to the account, but the calls themselves are very inexpensive).
I cannot afford an iPad, but got a workable tablet made by Polaroid at Big Lots for less than $100.

A tablet (iPad or Android version) or iPod work nicely and avoid data bills. Load free Skype software and add a small amount of money to your account (say $10) and make calls within Europe or to relatives in the US for a few cents a minute with a WiFi connection (available at some restaurants, coffee shops, and most hotels).

Monique thank you for that information. Where would I go to buy a SIM card in Spain? I mean, what kind of store sells them? (Actually, I guess I wouldn't even know where to buy one here.)

Orange and Vodafone are two of the big carriers over in Spain, so you could pop into one of their stores. I am sure there are other carriers too! Unfortunately I don't know about Germany, but if it's like many of the other European countries, finding a cell phone store won't be an issue. What cities are you visiting?

Monique, thanks for all your advice. We'll have to discuss the tablet vs smartphone now, but we'll get it figured out. We're cruising over on a repositioning cruise (so cheap!!) to Barcelona, then to Madrid, Toledo, Seville, a run in to Portugal for 2 days, then to Jerez, Arcos, Cadiz, Terifa, Morroco, Gibraltar, Ronda, Grazalema, Setenil, Nerja, Granada, Valencia, then to Andorra for a quick visit before we go to Munich for 4 weeks. We have about a month in Spain.

If you kids have iphones, then face time on an ipad is free and terrific. We use face time to stay in contact with our kids and it is ten times better on an ipad than an iphone.

I prefer to use a notebook running on WiFi. Just about every hotel is wired for WiFi, and it's easy to keep track of all your regular websites while traveling. You can buy phones in Europe similar to our TracPhone, and the prices are very reasonable. Last year, I carried an unlocked GSM AT&T phone, however the Italian SIM card purchased wouldn't work. Call customer service, and all you get is an Italian automated attendent. I gave up.
I enjoy not talking on the phone. If anyone back home really needs me, they can just email me. I lived 37 years without cell phones, and barely use them now.

Yes, David, we've got along without cell phones for all of our 60+ years and have usually been able to survive unscathed. We usually use internet cafes for overseas communication, but we're trying to get into at least the 20th century, if not the 21st. Especially when we're doing so much more traveling now that we're both retired.

'20th century, if not the 21st' That's about the dividing line for when internet cafes started to disappear.

We have been traveling under the retired banner for a number of years, and for us, all we need and use is an ipad. Prior to that was a netbook but the ipad is so much simpler and easier to use.

Bonnie, Given your age bracket (I'm also 60+ so can say that), using a Smartphone (or an iPod Touch) for E-mail and web surfing is NOT a real good idea. They're fine for limited use, but squinting at the small screen and using that tiny keyboard is for any length of time painful and awkward! Also, you'd have to be VERY careful using data on a Smartphone, as the costs can be astronomical (five figures!!!). I definitely agree with Frank's suggestion that an iPad or iPad Mini would be a great solution. The advantages.... > small, light and easy to travel with > while you could also use an Android device, I find the Apple products very intuitive, so the learning curve would be minimal. > having Facetime is a nice option, should you decide to use it > you could also pack along E-books, including Rick Steves Guidebooks for the places you'll be visiting > a 3G tablet model is not necessary. Most hotels these days offer Wi-Fi with the cost of the room or for a small charge, so easy and cheap access to the internet > you could also use it for storing trip files, photos, etc. (be sure to buy a model with LOTS of memory) While a tablet will take care of the internet and E-mail, you'll still need something for calling for confirmations, etc. An inexpensive quad-band GSM cellphone will cover that. There are several options you could consider: > Buy an unlocked quad-band phone off E-Bay and use it either with a SIM card purchased in Europe or from one of the travel phone firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial, Mobal, EuroBuzz or others. Using a phone / SIM from one of the travel phone firms would be an easy solution, as you'd have the phone before leave, and it would be active as soon as you step of the plane. Continued......

Bonnie - Part 2..... > Buy a phone when you arrive in Europe. As you'll be in different countries, the rates will be higher outside the country where the phone was purchased. The phone will be on a "pay as you go" basis, which requires top-ups when the minutes are depleted. Topping up outside the country where the phone was purchased may be "problematic". > Sign up with AT&T and obtain a basic quad-band phone from them. The rates will be higher than some of the other options but for limited use, it's a reasonable option to consider. They offer "travel packs" which reduce the costs somewhat, however in some cases these are only valid for 30 days (that's the case with my home cell network). You'd have to ensure that you could pay your monthly AT&T bill while you're in Europe. With cell phones, the cheapest way to keep in touch with family back home is to use text messages. They're usually only about 50-75 cents for each sent message, and received messages are free. There are all kinds of choices regarding the best electronic devices to travel with. You'll have to decide which method most appeals to you. Happy travels!

@Ken Someone else mentioned Skype and putting some money in an account for confirming reservations, etc. while traveling. This is a great tool as long as WiFi is available. Do you believe getting a quad-band phone and SIM cards is a better option since WiFi is not needed? My family will be renting cars and driving and I worry about having an emergency while on the road with no cell phone.

@Pam, I don't use Skype, so don't have any experience using that during travels. However, only having phone access when Wi-Fi is available would be severely limiting and a MAJOR issue with me. If I'm between hotels, stopping to find a hot spot to make a phone call is more than a bit of a nuisance. I've used my phone to call hotels when in transit, and also sent text messages to family at home during long rail journeys, and I like the convenience and flexibiity to be able to do do that. For many years, I travelled with a basic Motorola flip phone, and found that to be very cost effective. With that phone I've used both roaming with my home network as well as using a SIM from one of the travel phone firms. I travelled with an iPhone for the first time last fall, and it worked well for the most part. I wanted data capability and that turned out to be slightly more expensive than I anticipated, but not excessively so. Having data was VERY useful on a couple of occasions. I'll be re-assessing and fine tuning that for my next trip to make sure the costs remain low. Having a cell phone when travelling by rental car is definitely an advantage, but you'll have to be sure to have information on what numbers to call and the dialing sequences in each country. Cheers!

"Someone else mentioned Skype and putting some money in an account for confirming reservations, etc. while traveling. This is a great tool as long as WiFi is available. Do you believe getting a quad-band phone and SIM cards is a better option since WiFi is not needed? My family will be renting cars and driving and I worry about having an emergency while on the road with no cell phone." I can't remember the last time I stayed in a European hotel that didn't have Wifi. So unless you really need to communicate throughout the day, Skype is a viable option. If you have an emergency on a German road, all you need to do is place the warning triangle behind the vehicle, and someone will stop to assist within 5 minutes.