We will be arriving at the Frankfurt airport then renting a car to tour around Germany. We want to purchase a cell phone with some prepaid minutes on it as soon as possible after our arrival. Are they available in the airport?
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9220 posts
Yes, you can buy these phones "handys" all over the place. Seems to be a store on every street corner in town.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA
56 posts
Any idea how much they cost?
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
Of course it's more expensive at the airport than downtown. What I would do is take the S-Bahn to Hauptwache, alight, locate that ultra-modern glass building with a whole in it (you'll see), enter it (It's a shopping mall called MyZeil). Go to the top floor into the Saturn store and buy the cheapest non-SIM-locked phone you can get (usually around €50, but some start from much lower). Do not buy any calling card in that store though. Then take the escalator down into the basement of the same mall, enter the REWE grocery store. At the cashiers get a starter set for JA-Mobil. They use the T-Mobile network, which is available anywhere in Germany (Aldi-Talk use E-Plus network which is even hard to find in some parts of Frankfurt). Get the JA-Mobil "easy" rate plan: 9 cents per minute and SMS for domestic calls into any network, 0 cents for call to your free voice mail, 0 cents for incoming call, 0 cents for airtime, 0 cents for calling 800 numbers (provided that you still have at least a few cents left on your SIM card). You can buy top-off cards at any other REWE store in Germany. REWE is one of the country's leading grocery stores, they're everywhere.
Posted by
Hendersonvlle, NC
486 posts
Why not buy the phone here before you go? There are great deals available on used phones that are unlocked. One suggestion: find a friend that has T-Mobile, Cingular or AT&T. Ask if they have their old phone and do an online search to see if it is tri or quad band. If so, have them ask their carrier to unlock the phone and use that one.
I have 2 unlocked phones. One I bought for $30 used from someone who had AT&T and so I asked them to call (you have to be a 90+ day customer) and AT&T provided unlock info. The other had the unlock code posted on the net. Both phones have been on 2 European trips with us.
Extra bonus: I bought a pre-paid AT&T SIM card for use on the U.S. portion of trip so I could leave my Verizon phone home but which would allow me to make calls before I left the country and after I arrived but before I got home. I figured, worst case if I lost the phone was to have to buy another $30 one instead of losing my expensive Verizon phone.
I have lots of info on phones, services there, unlocking, etc. I will share that info (and ask nothing in return but your thanks). PM me with any questions and I'll try and help.