travel phone while in Spain and France

Getting a phone there is an easy, affordable option. We flew into Barcelona, took the shuttle into town and bought a cell phone at El Corte Ingles off of Placa Catalunya for 25 euro (included ten euro credit for calls). I needed to buy a new phone because my old Razr phone stopped working. Anything from the states needs to be the correct kind of phone AND unlocked before you can simply plug in a SIM card in Europe. I saw too many negative reviews of phones purchased online either not working at all or not being unlocked - which meant they were worthless - so decided it was better to simply get a phone there. Incoming calls are free and outgoing calls, within the country where you bought your SIM card, are cheap. You will still be roaming when you travel to the second country. I think it's easiest to use up the value on your SIM, then buy another in the next country - but that will give you a new phone number for receiving calls. For making calls home. I really like using Skype with my Ipod touch. We set ours up to call landline numbers (requires a ten dollar deposit) and called home for a month without spending ten dollars (while spending about 20 euros total on local calls in Spain with our cell phone). The cell phone we bought is now our travel phone. Next trip, we'll just take the phone and charger and get a new SIM card when we arrive.

I took an unlocked GSM phone with me and purchased a SIM when I arrived in Spain. The SIM I bought cost 9 euro, and contained 9 euro credit. During the three weeks I was there, I made a few local calls and three calls home to the States. I didn't use up all of my credit. Be conservative in buying time. SIMs do expire eventually, even if you don't use up the time. You can always add more if you run out.

Purchasing in advance from onesimcard.com has gotten good reviews here before. Buying sim cards in Europe usually requires you to purchase them in each country which means different phone numbers and trying to set up the phone in a foreign language which is almost impossible unless you have someone at the store do it for you. Retrieving messages requires you to understand the language as well. The reality is not as great as the idea. If your main concern is someone back home having an emergency you may want to think it through some more. What kind of emergency would require you to be notified immediately and what could you possibly do from that far away? With the time change you really don't want to be called for something small. Skype over wifi with prepaid minutes and planned times to call when everyone is awake is a much more practical solution.

Because you asked about a pretty specific, limited use, here is another option: Get a phone account with AT&T or T-Mobile. I'm pretty sure both offer plans that don't require you to sign up for long-term contracts. There have month-to-month plans, or at least they did. These are different from prepaid plans. Then contact your phone company to be sure your account allows international roaming. Finally, be sure the phone you use has the correct frequencies to work in Europe (900/1800; in the U.S. we use 850 and 1900 plus other frequencies for new 3G and 4G services). The advantage of this approach is that family members at home can simply dial a U.S. number and get you. Plus, you'll have a phone you can use in emergencies while in Spain and France. Warning: The cost to use this phone can be very expensive (over $1.40 a minute for calls). And, be sure DATA usage is turned off on any phone you get. For more routine communication, tell your relatives to text you. If this sounds like it is too much trouble, and you're willing to try something a bit less involved, T-Mobile has started letting its prepaid customers roam in Europe. Same advantages as above, but no need to set up a billing account, etc. Here is a message thread that discusses the subject (look for my post for links to other threads): Help me sort out a phone for limited use in Europe.

Buy a pre-paid once you arrive in Europe. I wouldn't bother with trying to get a SIM card, as there is a chance it will not work. You can buy a cheap pre-paid for less than 20 Euro, which, to me, is a no-brainer. We bought a magic-jack when before we moved to Europe and set it up with our former US-based area code. We have it hooked up in our house and we can receive calls/make calls for FREE. It is pretty much the best thing we ever did - we can call home at any time, or they can call us, and it doesn't cost us anything. You can even use it in your hotel room while travelling, you just need to have a ethernet hook up or hook it up to your computer. Skype is a good option, too - we tend to use both frequently.

Speaking as an AT&T customer with an iPhone - no issues AT&T works in Europe, you can prepurchase a reduced rate package for minutes and for texts (or not)