Shoutbox

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Originally posted by djdannyp
Haha, Wacky's from Canada, not actually the Faroe Islands

Also, just a note for anyone here on a contract, texting abroad is included in your tarrif (on O2 anyway), so any messages you sent will just come out of your normal allowance.  There are charges for making/receiving calls......but if you keep it largely just to texting then you're okay without needing to worry about sim deals and stuff

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Well that sucks

http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/simplicity/12_months

I only get UK .

Lol @ rebelfone.com free sim card, $45 delivery.

£15 + £5 per week: http://www.cellhire.co.uk/products/international/simcards/europe

T-Mobile has OK deals: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/going-abroad/

Otherwise not having much luck.

I think I'll phone O2 and see if any of my Pay As You Go mins/texts "bolt-ons" work in Europe.

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Originally posted by Chris4
Lol @ rebelfone.com free sim card, $45 delivery.

£15 + £5 per week: http://www.cellhire.co.uk/products/international/simcards/europe

T-Mobile has OK deals: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/going-abroad/

Otherwise not having much luck.

I think I'll phone O2 and see if any of my Pay As You Go mins/texts "bolt-ons" work in Europe.

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If you have a smart phone DISABLE all data. You're like £6 per MB!

I like the idea of being able to rent a phone in europe. If I rent it in one country, can I drop it off in another?

Note that the phone must be at least dual-band. Most network operators in Europe don't support single band anymore.

Dunno what the cheapest phones costs. I guess it would still be around €50 or something. Unless you buy one like those very very cheap things (which might still be like €30), but then again, you wouldn't be able to properly use them; from what I've heared some only support text messaging, or very limited calls, etc, and you would have a hard time finding them (I've never seen one, yet I know they exist).

Another alternative is asking somebody to lend or give you a second hand phone? I know we had some old phones lying around here, but I'm not sure if we still have them (dunno if they are dual-band either). But I can ask. Maybe Sunshine/Menthix, or whoever you gonna see first can look around too...

As for sim cards. You can get prepaid sim cards almost everywhere in Europe, in most convenient stores, small supermarkets, etc. Of course, roaming will cost a bit more, but if you indeed stick to text messaging mostly, it wont be that much more. The number would of course be a number from the country where you buy the sim card though.

I never heared of renting a phone though.

I live in the US, but I am from Europe and go back there fairly often.  Basically, there are two issues for people traveling from North America and trying to use their phones:

1) US and Canadian carriers use several different mobile phone systems, Europe only uses one (GSM).  If your phone doesn't have a SIM card, it is not a GSM phone.  Non-GSM phones are bricks in Europe; the other networks (CDMA, TDMA, iDEN) simply don't exist there.

2) If you have a GSM phone purchased from your carrier in North America, it will be carrier locked -- meaning that locally purchased low cost European SIM cards won't work in it.  It is possible to "unlock" a phone using various hacks or paying someone to do it for you, or sometimes asking the carrier for an unlock code (though most of them are assholes about it and I only know of one US carrier that actually might give you one and then only if you are at least 3 months into your contract).  An alternative is to purchase an already unlocked (or never locked) phone from a third party; just Google "unlocked GSM phone".

So, what you need is an unlocked GSM phone.  If you want to keep your current non-GSM carrier in Canada and just have a phone for your trip, you could buy a very cheap basic phone.  If you are not opposed to switching your Canadian carrier, you could buy a nice phone of your choice and use it both at home and abroad.  I believe Rogers does GSM in Canada.

You could also try to buy an unlocked GSM phone in Europe, where you can probably pick one up at a local shop instead of having to mail order, but I have not tried this and can't speak about the pricing, etc.  In general, electronic devices are more expensive in Europe, but unlocked phones are a specialty item here, so the opposite may be true.

Once you get to Europe and have your unlocked GSM phone in hand, buy a prepaid SIM card.  These are typically sold at any news stand and similar places.  Your card will come with a local number for that country, which you may want to communicate to your friends and family so they can call you.  Incoming calls are free.  Calls initiated by you will be very reasonably priced, even calls to other countries and back home to Canada.  Just remember you have to dial your numbers with international country codes (e.g. +1 prefix if calling US or Canada).  Generally, the prepaid cards will still work at the same or slightly higher rates if you go to another country.  It's very easy and you really can't go wrong.

Most prepaid cards are also good for data service if you want to tether your phone to your laptop, and they can be recharged, although I have ran into situations where normal credit card payments were not accepted for the recharge and the only option was transfer through local banks.  In that situation, hopefully you will know someone in the country you can give some cash to and have them do it for you.

don't know about the rest of europe, but in the uk you can get pay as you go phones with £10 credit for as little as £20. so mite work out cheapest just to buy a phone in each country, use what you need, then sell the phones on ebay on your return.

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Note that the phone must be at least dual-band. Most network operators in Europe don't support single band anymore.

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Good point I forgot to mention.  If she purchases a phone in Canada, that means a tri- or quad-band phone (the two North American GSM bands are different from the European ones).

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Originally posted by wacky
I can't use Sim Cards.. that's what I meant by having a crappy mobile company

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Are we on CDMA?

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Originally posted by John Anderton

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Originally posted by wacky
I can't use Sim Cards.. that's what I meant by having a crappy mobile company

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Are we on CDMA?

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ya I'm pretty sure

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Originally posted by Adeptus
So, what you need is an unlocked GSM phone.  If you want to keep your current non-GSM carrier in Canada and just have a phone for your trip, you could buy a very cheap basic phone.  If you are not opposed to switching your Canadian carrier, you could buy a nice phone of your choice and use it both at home and abroad.  I believe Rogers does GSM in Canada.

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I know Rogers would work but I checked to see how much they charge and it's way over what I pay every month so I don't think they're a possibility for me

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Originally posted by Adeptus

Once you get to Europe and have your unlocked GSM phone in hand, buy a prepaid SIM card.  These are typically sold at any news stand and similar places.  Your card will come with a local number for that country, which you may want to communicate to your friends and family so they can call you.  Incoming calls are free.  Calls initiated by you will be very reasonably priced, even calls to other countries and back home to Canada.  Just remember you have to dial your numbers with international country codes (e.g. +1 prefix if calling US or Canada).  Generally, the prepaid cards will still work at the same or slightly higher rates if you go to another country.  It's very easy and you really can't go wrong.

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thanks, this is great information

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Originally posted by toddy
don't know about the rest of europe, but in the uk you can get pay as you go phones with £10 credit for as little as £20. so mite work out cheapest just to buy a phone in each country, use what you need, then sell the phones on ebay on your return.

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from what I seem to have understood, the UK does have some great deals but the rest of Europe not so much.. and I won't be visiting the UK so the great deals don't apply

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Originally posted by Adeptus

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
Note that the phone must be at least dual-band. Most network operators in Europe don't support single band anymore.

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Good point I forgot to mention.  If she purchases a phone in Canada, that means a tri- or quad-band phone (the two North American GSM bands are different from the European ones).

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I think I'll be purchasing my phone once in Europe

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
As for sim cards. You can get prepaid sim cards almost everywhere in Europe, in most convenient stores, small supermarkets, etc. Of course, roaming will cost a bit more, but if you indeed stick to text messaging mostly, it wont be that much more. The number would of course be a number from the country where you buy the sim card though.

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roaming will cost me if my phone is bought in Europe? or did you mean if I bring a phone from Canada? cuz I'll be getting it in Europe, most likely


btw, thanks everyone for the help. I greatly appreciate it it'll be a great first time in Europe