Cell Phone in Switzerland (and Austria, France and Netherlands)

Yes and no. Two cell phone are a great idea. We tired that but it did not work because our phones were not "unlocked": ie the code must be changed in the phone so that it will accept someone elses SIM card. If you have the correct type of phone(tri-band) you can have it unlocked here. Generally, you need a "tri-band" phone. Some of our phones over here will not work thruout the EU because they are not built to use the EU phone frequencies. A cheap way to get around this is to just buy a couple of "unlocked tri-band" phones on EBay; usually $35 +. Now you need an EU SIM card. When we were in Italy we just walked into any small Electronics store, and bought a pre-paid SIM chip, that they installed in my "unlocked an jailbroken" IPhone. The only problem was that I don't speak Italian, and he only spoke limited English, and I ended up with a chip that did not have English prompts. I am going to try this again when we go to Spain in June. This time I will make sure that I have unlocked phones, and that I find someone who speaks good enough English to help with a chip that will prompt me in English, and can be used in many countries. One other option; go to your current providers web site and see if your phone will work in the EU. Investigate to see hat they would charge to provide you a phone, and what the costs will be to use it there. Costs can be quite high!

Casey, A few comments on your questions.... "Can I bring two cheap used cell phones from the states" You can only bring phones from the U.S. if they are quad-band, unlocked GSM Phones. If they were previously used on Verizon or Sprint, they won't even work in Europe. This topic has been covered in other Threads here on the HelpLine (check the "General Europe" section). Rather than re-type the same information, you might have a look for those. If you want phones that are operational as soon as you step off the plane, you might consider buying some inexpensive phones with Euro SIM's at one of the "travel phone" firms, such as Roam Simple, Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Telestial or Mobal. You could certainly also purchase compatible phones off E-Bay and use them with Swiss PAYG SIM's. Happy travels!

Steve is partially right, two cellphones might be a good solution for you. He's a little inaccurate on the details, though. What you need is two unlocked GSM phones, preferably quad-band phones (not tri-band). You can buy unlocked GSM phones on eBay or when you arrive in Europe. If you buy phones there, they will come with SIM cards. You can use the same SIM card when you go to the other country, but the minutes will be used up faster (because you are "roaming"). If you take unlocked GSM phones from here, you can buy SIM cards there, loaded with a minimum amount of minutes. Your phone number is determined by the SIM card, so if you use one SIM in Switzerland and a different one in Austria, your number will be different. The same phone will work in both countries, you just need to swap out the little cards if you change SIMs.

you can buy 2 cheap quad band phones in the US, have them unlocked (many local malls have cell phone booth can do for $20/phone). or, if you have 2 smart phones with skype, then skype to skype call is free. wifi hotspots are widely available.

One further comment to add.... Given the fact that you're travelling with your "elderly parents", it would probably be best (IMHO) to stick with basic phones, rather than fancy Smartphones with Skype and other features. The cost will also be higher with Smartphones. Of course, if your parents are up to speed with modern technology and you have a large budget, more elaborate phones may be an option. Cheers!

I really appreciate comments from everyone. A lot of information to digest! The cell phone I currently have is a cheap old flip phone with a prepaid plan, so I am sure it won't work outside of the US. Also, I would like the phone as simple as possible for my parents' sake. Ok, so what I understand and what I am not sure about are... 1) The cell phones have to be quad-band and unlocked. Can I really go to mall cell phone booth to get them unlocked? 2) Verizon or Sprint cell phones don't work even if they are unlocked. 3) If I bring those quad-band unlocked cell phones, I will need to buy EU SIM cards, so I can use the same card in Switzerland and Austria. Well, I will also be going France and/or Netherlands. I checked some websites Ken mentioned. Do you think these are good options? Option #1: http://www.mobal.com/international-cell-phones/ Option #2: http://www.telestial.com/promo/packlite.php#none Option #3
http://www.cellularabroad.com/internatdualRcell.php Would it be cheaper just to get two used quad-band unlocked cell phones on ebay and buy EU SIM cards once I get to Zurich? http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTO-V180-UNLOCKED-QUADBAND-WORLD-PHONE-NO-RESERVE-/270724239049?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item3f086c0ec9#ht_904wt_1141 Thank you! PS: I just checked "General Europe" section and found a couple threads about cell phone in Europe... I did't know that's the section I should have checked. My bad! I am learning a lot.

Casey, A few answers to some of your questions (in the same order).... (1) Yes, they must be quad-band, unlocked GSM phones. Rather than try to find somewhere to unlock phones, it's much easier to just buy them unlocked from E-Bay. (2) NO, Verizon or Sprint phones won't work. They use a technology called CDMA, which is different than GSM which is used in Europe and much of the rest of the world. (3) If you have quad-band unlocked GSM phones, you can use these either with SIM cards purchased in Europe or SIM cards from one of the travel phone firms I mentioned previously. The Euro SIM cards will offer cheaper rates when used in the country of purchase, however the rates will increase when used in other countries as you'll then be "roaming}. You'll need to become familiar with how to "top-up" when the minutes are depleted. The travel SIM's offer consistent rates in most countries in western Europe (these are usually arranged in "zones"). These are usually structured on a post-paid basis, with calls charged to a credit card. That has the advantage that users never need to top-up, and never have to worry about running out of minutes in the middle of a call. However, if the phone is lost or stolen the user could be liable for calls until the theft is reported. I used one of the "travel SIM's" for my trip last year, and it worked well. Regarding the "options" you listed, Mobal and Cellular Abroad tend to be a bit more expensive than the others. You'll have to check their rate structures and decide what works for you. If you're only going to use the phones occasionally, there probably won't be much difference regardless of which one you select. The V-180 phone you listed should work fine (I use a Motorola V-551). Good luck!

Hi Casey Of the three options you mention, I would go for the Mobal phone. Mobal use a direct dial system (like with a regular cell), but most other international phone providers use callback. Callback is more complicated to use, so it may be inconvenient for your parents if they're not too tech savvy. It's also less reliable because the callback sometimes fails. Mobal Pros: direct dial, best quality calls, cheap phone Mobal Cons: calls more expensive Telestial Pros: cheaper calls, cheap phone Telestial Cons: callback dialling, prepay Cellular Abroad Pros: cheaper calls
Cellular Abroad Cons: high rental costs, extra expense and hassle to return the phone Anyway, I hope you enjoy your trip - Switzerland and Austria will be beautiful this time of year. Al

Hi Ken
This is an interesting topic that maybe you can put me in the right direction. While in Sicily last year, I missed having a cell phone. We were driving and thought that if I had a breakdown how to call for assistance as we were in some quiet areas. We got lost once and could have used a phone to call the B & B for directions. Off to France this year. I do not want to take by BB as I am on holidays, but does it make sense to purchase a cheap phone in France just for the reasons above and we could use it for future trips. Is one able to buy a phone if not a resident of France and I presume that the number can be used elsewhere in Europe.