Using a U.S. Cell Phone in Europe

Steve -- what about data service using a local country SIM? I don't believe you can use a "convenience store" SIM to check your email from your phone. And I won't be running to hand over my credit card information to them either. Say hello to identity theft!

And I paid the same 50 cents or so whether I was calling back to the U.S. or to my Italian hotel for example.

So far I'm unconvinced that there's a better alternative to what I've been using...

Here's the way I handle it. When traveling, I use a seperate cell phone which I bought from mobal.com. It has a UK number and works most anywhere in the world. No monthly charge, no roaming charge, no contract, no prepaid, no buying sim cards, no nothing. Calls show up on my credit card at about $1.25/minute. I keep the thing turned off except to check my home messages once a day and occasionally to call ahead for a room. The drawback is that I get charged at the same rate for incoming calls. In this regard I do turn it on twice a day for an hour at agreed upon times, but only when not traveling with my wife. Paid about a hundred bucks for it several years ago and it still works fine. I/we travel a lot and this seemed the simplest to us. Only other drawback I've found is that when a credit card self-expires and they send you a new one, you have to tell Mobal or you wind up listening to dead air -- the real kicker is they won't take the new CC number/info over the phone so you have to scurry around and find an internet cafe or something.

Art,

The rates provided by OneSimCard seem to be really good, so I'm not sure if any of the other providers (Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Mobal, Telestial, MaxRoam, etc.) can match those.

OneSimCard appears to operate on a "callback basis" using an Estonian phone number. What has your experience been sending & receiving texts with this service?

I've used roaming with my home cell network (Rogers) up until now, but given the current roaming rates I might consider using a travel SIM on future trips.

Cheers!

Ed -- it sounds like Mobal is really quite expensive, which is what I've read elsewhere. You could still just buy a OneSimCard SIM and use it in the phone you already have. Incoming calls are free in many countries. There are also none of the extra charges or contracts that you mention, you just pay for the calls you make. But it IS prepaid, which I prefer, so I have total control over my usage. You can set up your credit card to automatically recharge your airtime once it hits a certain level so you will never run out of minutes.

Ken -- texting worked fine the little bit that I did. You just text like you normally would, and it was around 35 or 40 cents per text. Incoming text messages are totally free.

Do you have to use a different SIM card in EU from the States? I have a quad-band blackberry and will be traveling with a group. The only calls I plan are between us if we get separated. Rather than getting a new SIM, and thus a new number, could I just use my existing SIM and pay the international calling charges? I am with T-Mobile in the States.

Thanks!

Steve -- I've tried buying SIM cards in foreign countries, and while you can usually find them in corner-type stores, you have to keep buying a new one (with a new phone number) every time you go to a different country. And they are not easy to add airtime to. I just want one international cell number for all my trips. The less I have to worry about while I'm traveling the better...

I don't see OneSimCard listed on your website, have you tried/reviewed their service?

Tim -- you would not want to use an international SIM card to make calls while you're in the U.S. as it will be very expensive. If your blackberry is unlocked, then you would just take out your SIM and replace it with the international SIM when you arrive.

I think T-Mobile has an international calling plan, but you should check the rates as they are probably very high. The OneSimCard website shows T-Mobile & AT&T rates along side theirs, but check T-Mobile for yourself.

You may consider Mobal expensive, but it's really a function of your usage pattern.

We don't make many calls but it's convenient to have a cell phone. The stored value on a OneSimCard SIM expires after 10 months, and then there's a $25 minimum refill. So if you go to Europe once a year you're in to the tune of at least $25 every trip. On my trip to France in May I ran up a total of $18 in charges on my Mobal SIM.

The upfront cost of the SIM is also a consideration, athough currently it appears to be a wash between Mobal and OneSimCard. A Mobal SIM is $19 (it was free when I got mine about a year ago) vs. $40 (with $10 credit) for OneSimCard. Add in shipping for the Mobal SIM and it's about even.

I use Mobal, too. When I got mine, the SIM card was free with the phone ($49). For that, I have a permanent phone number for which I pay no monthly fees, no roaming fees, buy no minutes that will expire or run out, and I never need to change the SIM card when I change countries. Yes, the per-minute cost is higher, but overall I save money with Mobal - and even if it was a wash, the convenience of the Mobal system still makes it a better deal for me, since I only use it for brief, infrequent calls. For longer calls, I use a phone card at a pay phone.

Thank you to the couple of people who replied with real advice. The others I think work at Mobal. It just isn't logical to me to pay $1.25 or more per minute through Mobal when I can spend 50 cents per minute through OneSimCard.

If anyone else has any input then I'm all ears. thanks again!

gee Art, you seem so quick to shoot down other suggestions AND don't seem to miss a chance to add it a boost for your card. Are you a troll for OneSimCard or actually a traveller asking what other people do?

I have an iPhone and used the wireless at the hotel when we were there. Then I just used my Skype account to call the states. I was in Italy.

Cost is a function of how you use the phone.

On a recent six-country, three-week trip without wife called home every couple of days and ahead for hotel three times. The total bill was under thirty bucks.

Similar three-week, seven-country with wife, called home every couple of days to check home machine. A few calls required action. Total bill was just under twenty-five bucks.

Have no idea what each country's sim card costs but we only had a one-country overlap for the two trips, so that would have been twelve cards, plus cost per minute.

Plus, I was able to concentrate on doing what I wanted to do rather than consuming time chasing down a place to buy the things or reload them. Plus, I didn't have to keep track of the little buggers. Plus, I didn't have time left on them that expired even though I'd paid for it. (I might get to France several times a year, but can't remember being in China but maybe once on two consecutive years.)

I'm not a big phone talker; you might be. Take all the advice and do whatever suits your needs.