European Pay as you go cell phones

[AccountingDrone]

mrDrone and I are heading over to Germany [and possibly England, Holland and Belgium] in July ... I am assuming they have some form of pay as you go cell phones? Where do you buy them? I really hate traveling without a phone because of health issues.

So ... what can someone tell me about them? [I do not want to buy a regular phone, and deal with messing about with roaming charges from hell on my american account ...]

[Chromatix]

Unfortunately roaming also apples between EU countries - there may be no border controls in most places, but the politics and some of the economics remain separate. So to avoid roamng at all... Buy a SIM-free phone.

A basic model might only set you back €30, depending on where you get it - though that will be *truly* basic. You might find a second-hand one for less, but you have to know where to look for those. You might be able to use your existing phone if it is unlocked, or get one while still stateside, but be certain that it works with European GSM networks, which use different frequencies than the Yank ones. I would recommend a Nokia over other brands, because the interface is easy to learn and their low-end phones are reliable.

Anyway, there are phone shops, usually affiliated with one of the major networks, on most high streets, and you might find some independents floating around as well. If you get stuck, try looking for T-Mobile, which should be available in all of the countries you mention.

Then buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card. These are normally sold in newsagents, and there you'll usually get a choice of them. If you buy one in a phone shop while buying the actual phone, you might only get one network's selection. Most come with credit already on the SIM, which might actually be more than you paid for it.

Ask how wide an area it covers, how much calls cost and how much SMS costs, including the costs to call back home. If possible find out the costs when roaming to the other countries you plan to visit - you might be pleasantly surprised. It may be worthwhile choosing a different network for each country you visit, just so you can tell the SIM cards apart.

Most phones can call emergency without even a SIM card installed. (The emergency number is 112 on the Continent, and that should also work in Britain.) Others will work for emergency with an expired or roaming SIM installed.

[AccountingDrone]

I have a verizon droid, it will not work outside the US, which is why I will need to get something over in europe =)

So, think I can buy a phone in the Frankfort airport? The way it is looking we will fly in there and hop the train to Ramstein, unless we fly into Amsterdam, or Bucharest.

I did mention that our plans are rather fluid right now =)

[Soulstealer]

I have a verizon droid, it will not work outside the US, which is why I will need to get something over in europe =)

So, think I can buy a phone in the Frankfort airport? The way it is looking we will fly in there and hop the train to Ramstein, unless we fly into Amsterdam, or Bucharest.

I did mention that our plans are rather fluid right now =)

The airport website will list which shops they have. If there's no mobile store in it there should be one nearby and then just follow the advice already given.

[crazylegs]

The airport website will list which shops they have. If there's no mobile store in it there should be one nearby and then just follow the advice already given.

Even if there's no phone store there have a look in the stores that sell 'a little of everything', you may be suprised.

[Chromatix]

If not the airport, look in the immediate vicinity of the main railway station. Airport prices can sometimes be a bit silly, and they might not bother with the low-end gear that would actually save you money.

[telecom_goddess]

wow doing a temp cell phone in europe sounds complicated. On on another note I have a verizon droid phone too and I love it...how do you like yours?

[Soulstealer]

wow doing a temp cell phone in europe sounds complicated. On on another note I have a verizon droid phone too and I love it...how do you like yours?

It really isn't, when I did mine when I first moved to the uk. I couldn't find a shop at the arrivals so I just stowed my bags at the hostel and got one at the shops.

[draggar]

If you decide to get a phone in the USA to bring over there make sure it is quad mode GSM.

The US and EU use different frequencies. In the US we use (GSM and CDMA) 800MHz and 1900MHZ while in the EU they use 900MHz and 1800MHz. If you buy a phone in the US make sure it also will be able to utilize the 900/1800 MHZ spectrums used in Europe (not all US based GSM phones do).

Also, make sure the phone is unlocked (meaning you can put in other SIM cards). T-Mobile is pretty good with these and I think they're backed with Deutchecom (sp?) in Germany. You may also look into what Verizon has, they're backed by Vodaphone (I think they're in the UK?).

Other than that, get a generic phone with some pre-paid SIM cards for each country.

[AccountingDrone]

I know all about the phone system differences, my husband used to do CS for Verizon in the Wallingford call center =) which is why I am planning on getting the european equivalent of a tracfone =)

I adore my droid. I had to replace my moto 9m and got lucky that the droid was just coming onto the market. I am not normally a first adopter when it comes to new tech toys but I needed something that I could read ebooks on, surf the internet and do email, and play media. I spend a lot of time stuck in doctors offices and need to be able to amuse myself if I get stuck in a hospital bed for divers reasons =)

I am somewhat disappointed that amazon is abandoning mobipocket now they have the kindle as i have in addition to the thousand + books in nonDRM mobipocket files, some 60 or so from fictionwise that are DRM locked and I can not just convert them to epub to be read on alibris =( so I have effectively wasted several hundred dollars in ebooks I can't read.

I do find it odd that the jack for the headset is nonstandard, and it takes a little adapter to jack in a headset. Oh, and apparently the password for the visual voicemail function will randomly decide to change its password. It would be nice if it would actually let me know what it was changing it to ...

[Lady Legira]

I have a verizon droid, it will not work outside the US, which is why I will need to get something over in europe =)

So, think I can buy a phone in the Frankfort airport? The way it is looking we will fly in there and hop the train to Ramstein, unless we fly into Amsterdam, or Bucharest.

I did mention that our plans are rather fluid right now =)

Nothing to add on the phone side but Ramstein. Germany is lovely by all accounts. I love to visit it sometime.

[Chromatix]

I need to buy a shockproof/waterproof phone for someone soon anyway, so I'll run my eye over the cheap end of the display to give you an idea of what you can get.

Of course this is at the flagship Nokia Store in Helsinki, so finding the equivalent selection in Germany may be slightly tricker. But maybe I can extract some useful advice from them about that, too.

Frankfurt Airport is several miles from the main railway station, so I think it will be well worth shoving your luggage in lockers when you get there and exploring for a suitable shop. Once you do find a shop, buying a phone should be simple.

A quick look at T-Mobile's website suggests that €44 will get you a fairly decent Nokia. This includes a prepaid SIM with €15 credit, on which phone calls are 29c/min and SMS is 19c/unit. The credit can be topped up, of course, but best to ask the shop how to do that.

ETA: a closer look at their tariff seems to indicate that within-same-country calls are also 29c/min in pretty much all of Europe, including the countries you mention wanting to travel to. So it looks like you can buy one of those and use it for your whole holiday. But confirm this at the shop before buying.

[bean]

Something to keep in mind as an alternative...

If you're taking a laptop with you, look into a Skype account and headset. For a few bucks you can call almost anywhere in the world, far cheaper than with a mobile.

Since you have a Droid, you can also install Skype on it and use it for calls when you can find wifi.

I'd still snag a mobile too, but at least this way you can save some money when you're not on the move.

[AccountingDrone]

Wonderful, thank you all =)

yes, I do have a skype account, and both a droid and a netbook that are going with me so I will put skype on both of them [it is already on my laptop but I don't tend to carry my laptop around with me unless I intend to game, and I don't foresee having the time to game =)

I never thought to try to use my droid as a wifi microcomputer - I tended to worry about roaming charges from the cruise ship when in the Caribbean [at $2.99 per minute that would be some expensive calls! ] though I had been thinking of just using the camera function - the camera actually is pretty decent for a phone.

That is actually a nice little nokia - I have had smart phones/PDA phones for the last 5 or so years, so it will be interesting i wonder if I can manage to keep the number up so I can send SMS to people through the internet [I see that I can send SMS from my GMX account if I have a german phone number LOL]

[and if people are interested in skyping me, PM me and we can exchange info =) I also just added a false identity facebook account so I could look at someones pictures I play eve online with ... ]