Cell phones to rent in England

Thats a loaded question. Full disclosure - I've never rented a phone at Heathrow. However... How long is your stay in the UK? If your US phone is unlocked, you could simply buy a UK sim card for use on your trip. In the UK - mobile shops are a dime-a-dozen, and an alternative would be to buy a pay-as-you-go phone in the UK. You could also use Skype to make phone calls relatively cheaply, assuming you had Internet access. If you want a discussion of options, check out the Graffiti Wall here under Cell Phone Tips: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/graffiti134.html Hope this helps!

Marianne, Renting a Cell phone tends to be expensive, so it's not the best option. Depending on what you're planning to use it for, the most cost effective method is usually to buy an inexpensive PAYG phone when you arrive in the U.K. Cell shops are ubiquitous and there are lots of other vendors including Car Phone Warehouse and Tesco (Supermarkets). It would help to know if you currently have a Cell phone, and if so which network you're with? You could also consider obtaining a phone from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial, EuroBuzz or Mobal. These typically use a U.K. number and offer post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card) so there are no worries about topping-up or running out of minutes during a call. The cheapest way to keep in touch with people at home is via text messages. That's a method I use extensively during trips to Europe. Happy travels!

Thank you, Tom and Ken. I will look into these options! Marianne

Marianne, you might check out this recent message thread: It goes through a lot of the options available. Cell Phone in Italy. There are a number of similar threads, but this one has a good amount of detail.

Thank you, Paul. Marianne

Vodaphone has a store on the departure level outside security in Terminal 5. You might check online to see what deals are available to buy a phone and a prepaid sim card.