International Phones

This is EXACTLY what I needed! Thank you so much and we will travel with confidence now.

You can either buy an unlocked quadband phone to take with you or just wait until you get to the Athens Airport and buy one there for about $50. This is what I did in June ($48 and change). There is a store near Exit Door 5 on the Arrivals level, the Germanos Store, that sells phones and SIM cards. The one I bought came with a Cosmote SIM card, and while I was there I just paid for some extra time since the card only has 1 or 2 euro worth of minutes on it.

They speak English there and will help you activate the SIM.

This is by far the most convenient way to insure you have a way to communicate when you're moving around the country.

I've also carried an OTE phone card with me but if you're stranded someplace where you can't find a card phone you're out of luck.

Just to be clear I realized that I might have misled you a bit. The phone I bought in Athens is NOT an unlocked quadband phone. It is an unlocked dual-band phone specifically for use (contract-free) with a SIM card in Europe and any other country with cell phone service on the same 2 frequencies as are used in Europe, 900 & 1800. These two frequencies cover most of the world outside the U.S. You can't use this phone in the U.S. The frequencies don't match up. If you want a phone that you can use both in the U.S. and in Europe you have to buy an unlocked quadband phone.

http://allworldcellphones.com/gsm-frequencies-list.htm

Keisha,

In addition to the options previously mentioned, you could also rent or purchase a Phone from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Roam Simple, Mobal or Telestial. They also supply SIM cards for those that have their own quad-band phone. The rates charged for these services are fairly consistent throughout most western European countries, but increase for eastern Europe and other areas. If you consider one of these services, be sure to check their rate structures carefully so that you have a good idea what the costs will be.

You could also buy a quad-band unlocked GSM phone off E-Bay and just purchase the SIM card at the outlet mentioned in the previous post. As with anything from E-Bay, caveat emptor. That would allow you to also use it in the U.S. if desired (with a U.S. network of course).

It would help to know whether you presently have Cell phone service in the U.S. and if so, which network are you with?

One thing to note is that if you buy a Phone in Greece, the Charger will be equipped with a Plug for that area, so you may need a Plug Adapter to use in other parts of Europe (on future trips?).

Finally, CONGRATULATIONS!

Happy travels!

If you already have a US GMS phone that is locked for American service, you may be able to get it unlocked. it won't affect your US service at all, but you will be able to use the phone with any prepaid SIM card in Europe. Just bring the phone to a non-affiliated cell phone shop (one of those shops that sells AT&T, Verison, Sprint, etc. all under one roof) and they should be able to unlock it for you for about $25. You can also usually find unlock codes on ebay for about $10 - $20 and unlock it yourself.

I wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I actually plan to implement all three ideas from above. First, I have purchased a quad-band unlocked phone on line, then I plan to get a Greek SIM card at a store in the airport. Then, for safe measure, I will purchase a prepaid phone card. That should about do it and cover all my bases in case of emergency.

After doing research of my own, I discovered that purchasing a SIM in the country you are traveling, usually allows for FREE incoming calls. A lot of Europe and Middle East countries subscribe to free incoming, and Greece is one of them.

Thanks again and happy travels!

PS..I love Rick Steves...:)

"If you already have a US GMS phone that is locked for American service, you may be able to get it unlocked."

True enough, but it would still have to be a quadband phone for it to do you any good in Europe......Just thought I'd point out that distinction.

Dear Keisha,
I just wanted to warn you that when you buy the SIM card in Athens, and run low on minutes or something, the voice message you will get telling you that you need to buy more minutes will probably be in Greek! We had that problem with the SIM card we purchased in Italy and we don't speak Italian! Since we are going to Europe again soon, I decided that this time I would buy a SIM card before we left home from an English company. Therefore, I posted a question on the Traveler's Helpline regarding this. I got only 1 reply a month later, but it was the info I needed! My new SIM card just arrived and it works! Go to the following website: http://www.wizzairsaversim.com. For E30 I got the SIM card with E20 worth of calls.(€0.28) (inc VAT) to any landline or mobile in the EU! They have other plans as well, Also, if you need a SIM card where inbound calls from the U.S. your cell phone in Europe are free, go to http://www.wizzairsaversim.com

Go to Enjoyprepaid.com to purchase the best international calling card - I think their emerald card is best. Calls will be about 7 cents a minute!

Kitty

If you buy a Cosmote SIM card in Greece all you have to do is dial '1314' and it will tell you in English what is left on your card in Euro.