phone card in Switzerland

Looks like you posted this same question last September. Is this a second visit to Switzerland since last time? If so, what did you do last time?

An AT&T iPhone may be locked, so you won't be able to use another SIM in the phone. In that case, using AT&T's international roaming plan probably makes the most sense. It is $10/day for the days you use it...or you can get a plan with 1GB of data and 35 cents/minute calls for $60 for the whole month. If you plan to make many calls, I'd do the $10/day plan so you get as much data as you need.

If your iPhone is unlocked you might try this for tips on SIM cards:

http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Switzerland

Thanks, Andrew. I had to cancel my trip last year and didn't recall--or see--that I had already asked this question!

The $60 plan is probably the easiest for you. 1GB of data should be enough for 10 days - but be careful, if you go over even one byte over 1GB you get charged another $50! You can set your phone to warn you after you hit a certain data usage - not sure how to do it on an iPhone. Don't stream video on your phone while using data - that really eats it up.

Learn how to use WiFi Calling, a feature that should let you make phone calls home to the US for free while connected to WiFI vs. 35 cents/minute. If you can't get that to work or your phone doesn't support it, consider installing Google Hangouts on your phone, which will let you make free calls home to the US, even to landlines (like to your bank or airline or whatever), whether you are on WiFi or on mobile data. (Of course, if you make a Hangouts call while using mobile data, you are using some of your 1GB for the month. Hangouts seems to use about 2MB of data per minute.)

bmerten, you really need to know how much and what, you expect to use your phone for. If just for emergency phone calls, and you can use wifi for email and communications back home, then you can get by with ATT's $10/day-of-use plan. Just keep phone off, or on airplane mode most of the time, and turn wifi on when you are in your hotel. The plan for a set amount of data and time, as mentioned, may be right if you are planning on using your phone constantly, like at home. A European SIM may be appropriate, but note that it means you will have a new European phone number, and have to dial and use the phone like a European (e.g., calling the US is an international call). So think about how much you're going to use it and what for.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I think given my limited usage the AT&T $10-a-day-of-use would be the best option. Betty