Europe Prepaid Cell phones

If you currently have TMobile or ATT compare the cost of their International plans with the other options. Remember for long family or business calls you might probably be in a hotel or establishment with WIFI making the calls free on what ever service you have. For the quick 2 minute emergency call with either ATT or TMobile you are talking less than a dollar. The international service on TMobile is part of the basic service I believe. For a sim card, I would wait till I get there and maybe buy a prepaid one. I use to do that, but time in the shop can be just like the US, an hour of vacation spent. Then there is the phone / card compatability issue? I'm not a tech need, do they still lock phones? So maybe a $100 throw away phone will be required ..... what I use to do. Now I just use my TMobile. And I've used it in every country you mention.

Our local "Handy" [their nickname for them] little cell phone worked in all of the places you mentioned - and adding minutes was easy enough through pre-paid cards. You might want to contact your hotel for their advice on a convenient place to buy one near their establishment, which will almost certainly be cheaper than at the airport. Our Aldi-talk SIM for our iPhone worked in all of these countries too. If your current cell phone is unlocked you can just buy a SIM at the airport or in Amsterdam from multiple vendors. Airport SIM sales again are not the cheapest option if you can wait until you get to your first destination. The newest option is an eSIM which can be installed on newer iPhones - no actual nano-SIM involved.

When buying a sim card in person, be sure to bring your passport.

marctshark, I was hoping that had changed. When I use to buy throwaways in Hungary the paperwork was a pain. Easily took an hour to wait in line, overcome language issues, and do the paperwork.

We were just in Germany this summer. We landed at Frankfurt airport, and at our first stop in Marburg, tried to get local SIM cards so that my husband and I could stay in contact if we ever split up. We went to the MediaMarkt and were told that unless we had some sort of address in Germany, we could not get SIM cards. The first person I spoke to said that if I could produce proof of address, such as the hotel we were staying at, I could get it. When my husband went back later with the address and a letter from the hotel attesting that we were staying there for a few days, he spoke with a different person who said that they could not sell SIM cards for tourist use.

Alternatively, you could buy a European SIM card online (I got mine on eBay) before you leave, add minutes online from home, and pop the SIM into an unlocked phone. Advantages: you get the number ahead of time to provide to family/ friends/ work for emergency calls; you know how your own phone works; you're ready to go the minute you reach Europe. I used a SIM from Vodafone NL -- Vodafone UK is easier to use because the instructions are in English. As I understand it, roaming extends to all EU countries on one SIM.

if you dont need to get phone calls from you business
just get a sim
install messenger and whatsapp
train your friends and family to use those or email to get a hold of you

Actually, if you rely on Wifi, then thats all you need. Turn your service off and just use the phone as a Wifi device.

As I understand it, roaming extends to all EU countries on one SIM.

Usually yes, but there can be certain limitations on the cheapest offers. Also note that it will probably not apply to the UK next year.

I wouldn't say "probably". I would probably say "might not".

With this lot you don't know where you are going until six months later when an inquiry might tell you where you have actually been but probably not without a translator

Hi, donbrink01.

I've had good experiences using my own unlocked GSM cell phone from the US, and a SIM card from o2 or Lyca, purchased in Europe.

o2 prepaid SIMs are easy to find at post offices, drug stores, and train station stores in Germany. The advantage is that you are just buying a prepackaged SIM card, which is cheerfully sold to anyone. You do the ID verification (required in Germany) and activation on your own, using WiFi in your hotel room or on your train. o2 uses the PostIdent app, which involves a brief live video interview during which you hold up your passport for the agent.

Lyca, whose SIMs are found all over the Continent, uses a different ID verification app, AutoIdent. AutoIdent is a bit faster than PostIdent, since there is no live video interview.

You can use your hotel address to register with o2. Lyca, which is a truly global service, will accept your US address.

Both companies have online portals where you can top up your prepaid SIM account with a US credit card (use your US billing address for that). You can also top-up by purchasing codes at the cash register, at the same businesses that sell the SIM card. In Germany, department stores also sell top-ups. Sometimes, you just tell the cashier what brand of SIM you have and how much money you'd like to add. In other cases, you take a branded, denominated cardboard card from a rack and give it to the cashier. Either way, you get a register tape with a code to enter online.

One prepaid SIM I don't recommend is T-Mobile's, which is ubiquitous at post offices and shops in Germany. As of the start of this year, their activation Web site still used Adobe Flash, which means you must activate with a real computer. Cell phone browsers don't support Flash. Without access to a computer, you have to wait in line at a T-Mobile shop, which I think is a waste of time when you're on vacation. In contrast, you can activate an o2 or Lyca SIM entirely from your own cell phone.

Regulations require that EU-wide roaming be provided on the same terms as in the SIM's home country. Some gotchas: If you choose a prepaid plan with no data, you won't get data in other EU countries, either. You might travel to a place where there's no network, or where the carrier that your SIM brand partners with offers slow data speeds. Last but not least, free offers might not work outside the home country. For example, a teaser earlier this year from o2 provided a generous amount of data for one month, but the free data allowance applied only within Germany.

Way, way back in my post history is a message in which I explain, step-by-step, how to set up and use an o2 SIM in Germany.

Do you already have a cell phone? If so, what kind? Is it locked, unlocked, or are you not sure? What carrier are you with, and in what country? Do you plan to be traveling again soon? When you return to the US, how do you anticipate using your phone?

As you can see from the varied responses, there are different approaches to this issue. If you already have a phone that will work in Europe, and don't plan on making too many calls, you may just want to stick with this. If not, you can buy a phone here that will work in Europe, and then get a SIM card either here or in Europe. Or, you can get a plan here that will also work in Europe. Which is "best" depends on your specific needs.

For instance, if you are in the US and will want to have a smartphone before and after your trip, getting (or switching to) T-Mobile or Google Fi for US use could make sense, since they also work in Europe at good rates. But if you're in the US and happy with your current cell phone set-up, getting a whole new plan just for a trip doesn't make sense.

Since you're primarily interested in voice calls, if you don't have a phone that will work for this in Europe, ask around. Someone you know may have an old "flip phone" that they can give you. However, you have to make sure it has the right technology (GSM) and frequencies (900/1800) to work in Europe. Again, let us know more specifics, and we can help you. It's not your imagination - it IS very complicated!

it all boils down to how you anticipate using the phone. Can you wait until you are at your hotel? Almost every hotel will have wifi and you can make free or low-cost calls using a variety of choices (skype, facetime, viper, etc). Your existing phone should work just fine. If you are renting a car then being able to make calls while mobile may be important in case there is car trouble; in that case a SIM card may make sense.