I have a pre-paid cell phone my parents picked up in the spring in Germany from Vodaphone, which will most likely not be working anymore when we land in Paris in two weeks. Where can I find a SIM card when I land on a Sunday? Someplace at CDG? Or do I need to suck it up and wait until Monday morning? We are in the 7th arr. Thank you!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I'd think that if the phone were bought in Germany, it would be unlocked. But it wouldn't hurt to check anyway. The sim card probably expired itself, but you can make a quick test call to yourself to see: 001 goes before the area code. You'll pass a couple of spots after you exit the arrivals hall if you want to buy one there - - the price won't be much higher, if any. There's a phone joint in every block once you get into the city. They're open on Sunday.
Posted by
OP
Tacoma, WA, USA
671 posts
Thank you- very helpful!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32363 posts
Cate, The first question that comes to mind is whether the "prepaid cell phone" is unlocked. You can easily verify that by going to your nearest AT&T or T-Mobile stores and try one of their SIM cards in the phone (if they'll co-operate with that). If the phone is unlocked, you could also consider using a SIM from one of the "Travel SIM" firms such as Roam Simple, Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Telestial or Mobal. That way the phone would be operational right away. In my experience, some of these firms can provide a SIM card almost overnight (well within the two weeks until departure). Which option to use will depend to some extent on what your intended use for the phone (ie: frequent voice calls back to the U.S., mostly texts, etc.). Happy travels!