Cell phone rentals

Yvonne, Just to clarify, you plan on buying a PAYG cellphone when you arrive in Spain and not rent one? Cell shops are ubiquitous in most places in Europe. Stop at the first one you see and buy a phone. I'd have to check on the networks in Spain. You could also buy a phone from one of the "travel phone" firms here, and that way you'd have a working phone as soon as you step off the plane. The rates are slightly higher than phones bought locally in Europe. Many of these use post-paid billing so no worries about topping-up. Happy travels!

Yvonne: I have been in Spain since October. I walked into a phone store, got a cheap "prepaid" Nokia with service package and SIM card from Lebara, and have been very happy. The plan covers calling TO the Iberian peninsula and 50 countries. My hotel desk or a phone store can "recargo" (re-load) my phone with more Euros any time, the service is great and I have been surprised at how slowly my credits have been spending. Lebara also has specials that get me 30Euros credit for 20 Euros. (I think it's a special promotion.) You will get what you want, cheaply, here -- cell phones and cheap pre-paid (no contract) plans abound. It's so much simpler than I had feared. Phyllis

Best idea is to buy one there. That way, you know it works. Be sure to ask the salesperson to set it up in English, not Spanish, unless you are fluent in Spanish. Once you have the phone, you can go other countries, buy a sims card there and use the phone. You only have to buy one phone to use multiple countries sims. When I was in Paris last year, I bought a phone and sims for 35E. Used it for 3 weeks, went to Valencia, bought a 10E sims used it for a week, went to UK, bout a 10(Pound) sims and used it there. Brought phone home. Next year, I have a phone, all I need to do is buy a sims card.

John, where are the phone stores located in Valencia, Are there stores in the airports? Do you generally buy a phone and then purchase a sims card or do you rent the phones. What is the average price of the phones?

You can buy a phone (it comes with the SIM card and some minutes loaded) for around $50 or less, either at the airport or at any one of the numerous phone stores (Orange, Vodafone, Lebara, Movistar) that you will see. They will set it all up for you and have it working before you leave the store. I took an unlocked phone with me to Spain, and bought a SIM there. It was 9 euro, and had 9 euro calling credit on it. I used the phone for three weeks, and made three calls home to the US, and I did not use up the time.

Yvonne, Renting a cell phone is often difficult and usually expensive, so it's not too cost effective or popular. You can buy inexpensive PAYG phones in all countries in Europe at very reasonable prices. These are supplied with SIM cards and call credits. I don't know if there are any shops in the airport, but you shouldn't have any trouble finding one in the city. Cheers!

We bought a phone at El Corte Ingles, a large department store, in Barcelona. You have a ton of choices, Vodaphone, Orange, kiosks, etc. that will offer similar deals. At 25 euro for the phone, sim card, recharger and 10 euro call credit - it didn't seem like we needed to shop around. Checking around, we found similar deals (25 euro, with 10 euro call credit) at Vodaphone, Orange and a place in Toledo called "The Phone Store". You shouldn't have any trouble finding a similar deal in Valencia. I like Rick's advice to let the person at the store install your SIM card and activate your phone - the directions are "todo en Espanol". Make a call before you leave the store to make sure it's working. My only gripe is you have to visit a store (in our case any Vodaphone store) to add value to the SIM card, and you start getting warning messages (in Espanol) long before your time expires.