Cell Phone in Barcelona

John, have you considered Skype? It works over Wi-Fi which is most everywhere and it's free. No phone charges if both ends are on Skype. I do work with Corporations in the famous Silicon Valley here in California and several have operations in India and Asia. Instead of incurring large phone bills, they use Skype.

Actually I do plan to use Skype as much as possible. But I would still like the convenience of cell phones if the price is right.

John, You have a three choices: > Use the Verizon calling plan and pay their rates. > Use your "cheap phones which work in Europe" with SIM cards purchased in Spain (provided the phones are unlocked). > Use your "cheap phones which work in Europe" with SIM cards from one of the other travel phone firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial, Mobal, EuroBuzz or others. The advantage of that is that you'll have working phones as soon as you step off the plane, and billing will probably be post-paid (calls charged to a credit card) so no worries about having to top-up. I've been using one of those for the past few years on trips to Europe and it's worked well. Happy travels!

I agree with Ken. We travel to Europe about every other year and use the Mobal phone we purchased years ago. We use it only to contact hotels in the event of changes and/or to keep in touch with fellow travelers that we intend to meet up with. The phone has worked great in every country we've been to and provides us with a number out of England. We'll be heading to Spain next May and intend to use it once again.

So, I will go to Mobal first and then the others unless someone convinces me that one of the others is better! I just got my loaner Verizon smart phone which works globally since I don't currently have a global smartphone. But they sent the wrong charger (hopefully the nearby Verizon Store can correct that quickly since it is now activated and is replacing my cell phone). And also their rep did not emphasize that there is a 30 day limit. If not sent back by then, there is a big fee. Fortunately I have 10 days between a trip to Canada and our trip to UK and Spain. So, I can either convince them to give me more days or send it back and get another loaner. That would mean another shipping charge but i can deal with that. I do want the Verizon phone since it is a smart phone which would connect with the internet. I have a Galaxy Tab which will only work when there is wifi.

John, I'm a bit confused on what you're planning to do. In on sentence, you mention using Mobal and then talk about using the Verizon global loaner program. Could you clarify? I've been using one of the other travel phone firms (Roam Simple) for several years and very pleased with the service so far. However if you want data, that will not be cheap. Cheers!

I, too, am confused about what you are intending to do. Are you going to use the Verizon phone for one of you and get a SIM card for the other one? If your other phone is unlocked, you can easily just pick up a SIM at Orange, Vodaphone, or somewhere else once you arrive. That would be the cheapest option. If you really want a post-paid "travel" SIM, Eurobuzz is Mobal's cheaper brother (they are owned by the same company). No difference in call quality or ease of use. If you intend to use your Verizon loaner for internet, be VERY careful with your data usage. It will get expensive very quickly. I have a smartphone, but NEVER use it for internet in Europe unless I am in a wifi area (which is pretty much all over). I keep it in airplane mode with the wifi turned on, just so I can't accidentally use data. I think if I were you, I would return the loaner (and get off the international plan), put Spanish SIM cards in your two cheap phones, and take your Galaxy to use, on wifi, for the internet.

I don't mean to confuse you. I have begun to realize that Verizon is expensive whether its voice or data so I probably will send it back after using it in Canada as our only cellphone but only when absolutely necessary. The information you have all provided is extremely useful. I have about 10 days between our trip to Canada and our trip to UK and Spain so I will have time to decide what to do.

John, If you're not using a Smartphone and don't require cellular data, the solution becomes very simple. With unlocked phones, you can either use a SIM purchased in-country or one of the travel SIM's I mentioned earlier. Cheers!