Mobile Phone in rural Scotland

Carephone warehouse only sell unlocked ,also called SIM free phones.
Argos tends to sell the cheapest uocked phoned.
I would get a monthly deal ,PAYG gas pretty poor rates for everything, indeed doing g even a half dozen short calls would be more costly than a month deal

I don't know why (or even how) a person going to Scotland for two weeks would sign up for a monthly phone plan in the UK??!!! Of course pay-as-you-go is more expensive for a resident than a monthly plan is, but for a visitor, a pay-as-you-go lets you get what you need with minimal expense.

I went to a Carphone Warehouse when in Glasgow this summer and yes bought one of their baseline phones -- I needed it only for text and calls, not for internet access. it had a certain amount with it. I really don't believe it was anywhere near 49 pounds, and the fellow in the shop set it up for me. I'll see if I can find a receipt . . . I had to add some more money on to it because I had a specific need to be able to call/text French phones (my husband) and U.S. phones (my dad and brother, with whom we were traveling), but if you're only calling local numbers in the UK, you wouldn't have to mess with that. Whatever came with the phone would have done me just fine if I hadn't had that extra requirement.

Ken or one of our other knowledgeable Forumites on this topic will hopefully be by to provide some advice.

If you have ATT service, look at their passport international plans.
https://www.att.com/offers/international-plans/passport.html $40 for a month of service overseas. You keep your phone number and your phone. Unlimited texting, sending pictures, etc. Phone calls are $1 a minute. Only a small amount of data available, so if you are a big data user, try something else.

This has worked great for me because I just keep in touch with my travel companions as well as family back home by text and I use wireless at the hotels. I have elderly parents and it makes it so I have a little more peace of mind when I know that they can still call the number they are used to calling if they need to get me. There may be less expensive ways to do this, but I find the convenience makes for a good value for me.

"We have AT&T for cellular service so popping in a new SIM in the UK isn't an option (I don't believe)."

If your phone is paid off, you can get an unlock code from AT&T, and then can indeed use a UK SIM in that phone. If your phone is not fully paid off, they won't allow you to unlock it, and you have to either use AT&T's rates abroad, or buy another phone and SIM for use there.

At least, that was true last time I looked. These things change all the time, so it can't hurt you to call AT&T and ask if your phone can be unlocked. If you have an older phone, that can probably also be unlocked; if you're just looking to make calls and texts rather than use internet, some old AT&T "dumbphones" will work in Scotland. Of course, other models won't, as they won't have the needed frequencies; again, you'll have to check. If you have a Motorola RAZR, that will work (they're all quad band).

A one-off monthy plan often gives 1GB of data, unlimited UK txts and hundreds of mins of UK call time, and in some cases free credit to call US at 3c a min.
Typically PAYG runs at 20 p a min to Uk cell/home phones.
An unlocked phone can be picked off the shelf for £15 TO £20

I checked Carphone Warehouse. They have a decent looking Alcatel phone for about 20 pounds. I can link it with the EE network and get 7 gigs data and 500 minutes of talk for 15 pounds.

That gets me more data and minutes than I will need for $43.75 - a better deal than I can get with AT&T International.

EE isn't great for where we're going but the others are 2 gig or less for the same cost.

I think we'll take that gamble.

I think that the key word in the question is "rural Scotland".

No matter what plan you get, if you are in a "NOT-spot", of which much of rural Scotland is - you won't get a signal.

Before choosing a provider it is well worth carefully checking the coverage maps of each provider.

Good luck...

The monthly deals are typically £10. It's a one off no need to cancel a contract.Sims can be picked up in nearly every corner store and supermarket
The phone companies sometimes sell a PAYG phone for 99p but soon get money back with the (relatively) pricey call rates.
There's plenty of not spots in the Highlands but the settlements are pretty sure to have coverage, Durness has 4g..

Nigel is spot on about the coverage. We were there last May with phones with international capability and they worked fine when there was coverage. Unfortunately the coverage was pretty limited except for the medium or larger size towns. We just turned them off when out and about in the rural areas and turned them back on to check our messages when we got to town.

Oddly you might be better off with an 'international' roaming SIM as this could potentially pick up any of the networks that happens to be available, rather than it having to be a specific one each time. Not up to date on the options with these though.

I remember renting a flat in an isolated village in west Wales for a week where the owner advised me in advance the only coverage was Vodafone 2G, provided I stood near the back door.