Cell Phones for Europe

[Gary]

Daughter gets to spend a semester in Holland. Wish they had these kind of vacations....err.. programs when I went to college! Her existing cell phone (Verizon) will not work in Europe. There are a multitude of options available on the internet. She only needs it for 90 days, cost is not necessarily the overriding factor, would prefer ease of use, coverage area and reliability. She will have a number of trips as part of the program including Berlin and Paris. Would be nice if it worked in all those places. Most likely option is for her to buy a prepaid phone once she gets there, but I don't mind getting one ahead of time.

Know we have a number of seasoned international travelers here, anyone have some first hand information on a reliable phone to get?

Gary

 

[astanley]

This is always a challenge.

Rental phones and pay-per-call phones purchased stateside can be notoriously expensive, but are the easiest to procure.

"Local" phones are far cheaper per minute but can be a pain to procure in the US.

The best option, overall, is to have a GSM-compatible phone that is "unlocked" (e.g. you can swap any providers GSM SIM card in and out) that you purchase here in the states. Then, you purchase a "local" GSM SIM card, with a "local" number, which you slide into the phone when you arrive abroad. I've done this with varying success; Orange was the best provider I ever dealt with when doing this.

That said, I'm debating trying a VoIP solution and roaming from hot-spot to hot-spot. My cell phone bills when I travel border on the insane and I am trying to do things "cheaper" this year.

Cheers,

-Andrew

 

[wsuffa]

This is always a challenge.

Rental phones and pay-per-call phones purchased stateside can be notoriously expensive, but are the easiest to procure.

"Local" phones are far cheaper per minute but can be a pain to procure in the US.

The best option, overall, is to have a GSM-compatible phone that is "unlocked" (e.g. you can swap any providers GSM SIM card in and out) that you purchase here in the states. Then, you purchase a "local" GSM SIM card, with a "local" number, which you slide into the phone when you arrive abroad. I've done this with varying success; Orange was the best provider I ever dealt with when doing this.

That said, I'm debating trying a VoIP solution and roaming from hot-spot to hot-spot. My cell phone bills when I travel border on the insane and I am trying to do things "cheaper" this year.

Cheers,

-Andrew

I'd add to Andrew's advice:

Buy a cheap unlocked cellphone. I've done OK on Ebay, but there are a number of other places on the web to get one (starting with ubid, overstock.com, newegg etc. etc.).

Buy a local prepaid SIM card in country of arrival. Orange, Virgin, etc. serve a number of countries: check rates before purchase. Insert SIM card, and go. Heck, at Heathrow and Gatwick they sell 'em in vending machines right outside Customs.

Another alternative is to get a prepaid international SIM card that allows free inbound calling. IIRC, you can get one at http://www.telestial.com/. Then use SKYPE or another cheap VoIP service to call her via the internet. Much, much cheaper than roaming a US phone number over there. This is probably the best solution if she'll be traveling to more than one country. She can call you for a fairly low rate ($0.29 - $0.99 per minute, depending on the plan) and you call her back using your cheap service at a free inbound rate. I seriously looked at this when I went to Japan recently but decided I wouldn't be there long enough to get my money back vs TMo's international roaming.

Telestial has cheap international phones, too, so it can be a one-stop shop.

At a fixed location, if she'll have a laptop & aa broadband connection, Skype is really the best solution. Free calls computer-computer and a very low rate/minute back to the US. I can more than cover the daily hotel internet charge if I use Skype to call back to the US instead of a cellphone (but I don't do it for business calls as there is no encryption).

 

[bbchien]

My daughter bought a cheap prepaid cell, and uses skype. The cell is to hit us on demand, and then we skype to skype.

Internet cafes everywhere.

 

[Ghery]

I have a Verizon Motorola world phone. Works here and in GSM countries. You wouldn't want to use it outside the US on a routine basis as the per minute charges add up quickly. Check the Verizon web site for the charges for each country. I carry it for emergency use only. Got the SIM card with it for no cost. Would have cost $40 if I had bought it later on.

 

[Maverick]

(but I don't do it for business calls as there is no encryption).

Bill I have always understood Skype's end to end transmissions to be encrypted. I just did a Google search and found the following document that gives a very high level evaluation of their encryption and security. FWIW

http://www.skype.com/security/files/2005-031 security evaluation.pdf

That being said and depending on the sort of business someone is conducting such as legal where confidentiality is key, the use of Skype may not be appropriate.

Jean

 

[woodstock]

This isn't the cheapest way, but it's convenient in a number of ways:

Get her a blackberry and make sure she is on the international plan AND has unlimited data (KEY KEY KEY).

I have a Sprint 'berry, and, I can surf and email to my heart's content anywhere in Europe. Calls are a 1.29 a minute, which kinda sucks, but, it's my own number which means someone calling me isn't making a long distance call. Just make sure to keep the actual calls to a minimum. Emails are instantaneous. I can't text in Europe but I can email.

Several years ago when I was spending a lot of time in London (on a job search) I bought a "pay as you go" Vodaphone in London. It worked well and you just had to top it up when your minutes ran out. There was no plan so there wasn't a monthly fee. The minutes were very cheap.

 

[CJones]

Hmm.. My dad is in Italy right now and I've been trading text's with him easily for the past few days. He's using his Blackberry from work, but I'm not sure what version. I'm pretty sure his company is still on Verizon. I'll check and get back to you.