We will be using a JT Buddy simple flip phone and need to only be able to take or make calls to US. Is one card recommended?
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
You can browse SIM card options in Spain and Portugal here - I'd buy a SIM in the first country that you can use in the other. Not sure which one you will visit first.
Some specifically include calling minutes to the US. However, people calling you will have to call a Spanish or Portuguese phone number to reach you.
https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Spain
https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Portugal
Posted by
OP
Charlottesville
12 posts
To be clear we have a simple flip phone at home and do not use it much at all. I would like to buy a SIM card before we get to Spain where we will be except for two days in Lisbon. Anyone know where I can purchase one online for use in Spain as this is what we did before going to Italy a couple of years ago.
I do appreciate the first response, but it was like Greek to us. We have an adult daughter with a disability so that is why I would like to know ahead of time that we have contact. If not then, we would get it at the airport as our hotel is there before we join a trip.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I don't really know what in my response was "Greek" to you? What is confusing? If you get a European SIM card, you'll have a European phone number while that SIM card is in your phone. That means you'll have say a Spanish phone number. Will your daughter be able to dial a Spanish phone number (international call) for cheap/free? I'd guess not.
If it is really important to you for her to call you at random and have a working phone when you land in Europe, go to a T-Mobile store and sign up for T-Mobile right before you leave on your trip. Then you can make or receive calls for 25 cents/minute, your daughter will be able to dial a US phone number, and the phone will work as soon as you land.
You can buy an Orange SIM card (French) on Amazon and set that up before you leave. But...that will give you a French phone number. I'm not aware of a Spanish SIM card you can buy ahead of time or another one that gives you US calling minutes.
You can also look into Mobal, not cheap either but for simple calls, maybe what you want. Not sure if they have the option for a US phone number or not:
I know you have a flip phone - that's what makes your situation more expensive than it might be for someone else. I use Google Voice to make free calls to the US from my smart phone while I travel, even to landlines. If I really needed to receive incoming calls too, I'd get a US phone number with Skype - then for about $10 USD I could get free incoming calls and cheap calls home to the US - and anyone can call me from any phone, even a pay phone. Not possible with a flip phone.