Renting a cell phone in Europe

On 20 août, 01:15, larry.y... DeleteThis @gmail.com wrote:
> I'll be traveling in UK-France-Italy-Germany in late Sept early Oct as
> part of a bus tour. I was wondering what the best way to rent a cell
> phone in case I have to call home in case of emergencies. I won't be
> using it for daily chit chat. Someone said that phone cards work just
> as well as renting a cell phone. Some companies here in the US work
> in Europe unfortunately our company (Sprint) isn't one of them.

Prepaid SIM-locked gsm-phones with a SIM-
card and a call credit are sold in most countries
in Europe at such low prices that renting makes
very little sense now (especially if you have to
rent a phone in UK for returning it in Germany).
The major drawback for most prepaid SIM-cards
are prices for international roaming. If you plan
to use such a phone for emergency calls only,
then probably best ist to buy one in UK (very
competitive prices) and make sure you have an
option reloading your credit for calls without
having to return to a shop in the country you
bought the phone (most companies operate
nationally only) in case you have to use the phone
more than your initial credit allows.

Option would be to get a non-locked gsm-phone
so you have to buy only a SIM-card with the
possibility of changing for a new one in an
other country during your trip if needed. Least
expensive non-locked, no contract gsm-phone
should be available for prices around USD 50
(such as a new Nokia 1110i). And you might
find a buyer after your trip ..... .
 >> Stay informed about: Renting a cell phone in Europe 

Am Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:15:54 -0700 schrieb larry.yano.DeleteThis@gmail.com:

> I'll be traveling in UK-France-Italy-Germany in late Sept early Oct as
> part of a bus tour. I was wondering what the best way to rent a cell
> phone in case I have to call home in case of emergencies.

It is not too common to rent phones in Europe, as you can cheaply buy one.
Here in Germany you can always get pre-paid phones for something like 10
EUR. They are sim-locked, so you can only use the pre-paid cards of the
same provider, but as an emergency-backup thats just fine.

You will have to show you passport or ID when buying the phone most of the
time, as it will be registred in your name.

Regards,

Frank
 >> Stay informed about: Renting a cell phone in Europe 

to consider also :

in some countries, the communication credit on the SIM never expires,
and the SIM is not cancelled, if not used or reloaded after
a long period .( Germany )

in others, credit expires after a few weeks, and SIM is cancelled
after 6 months of non use or reload ( France )

To consider if you come back to Europe after one year or so......

Brussels European Court has recently forced the GSM companies
to lower Roaming charges by 50%.................





<larry.yano.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1187565354.842353.313200.TakeThisOut@r29g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> I'll be traveling in UK-France-Italy-Germany in late Sept early Oct as
> part of a bus tour. I was wondering what the best way to rent a cell
> phone in case I have to call home in case of emergencies. I won't be
> using it for daily chit chat. Someone said that phone cards work just
> as well as renting a cell phone. Some companies here in the US work
> in Europe unfortunately our company (Sprint) isn't one of them.
>
 >> Stay informed about: Renting a cell phone in Europe 

<larry.yano RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1187565354.842353.313200@r29g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> I'll be traveling in UK-France-Italy-Germany in late Sept early Oct as
> part of a bus tour. I was wondering what the best way to rent a cell
> phone in case I have to call home in case of emergencies. I won't be
> using it for daily chit chat. Someone said that phone cards work just
> as well as renting a cell phone. Some companies here in the US work
> in Europe unfortunately our company (Sprint) isn't one of them.
>
Don't rent -- BUY! But watch out for the "reloading" trap. I bought an
Orange phone in Paris, and was told by store staff that it could be
reloaded in any Orange country. Not so! It can be reloaded only in the
issuing country. So buy a big chunk of time when you first purchase the
phone.
 >> Stay informed about: Renting a cell phone in Europe 

France has the less favorable conditions
for prepaid phones from almost all European countries..................

I dont know what in UK, but used German Prepaids a while..............

You can buy German prepaid voucher for reload abroad ( they are valid for
2-3 years )

You can also reload with cards bought in another country, however
you loose a 5 Euro charge when you reload

There are also reload possibilities by wiring money to a Account in
Germany...
( its a bit slow, need several days to reload, but if you do it before
departure...)


"David Gee" <scoop604 DeleteThis @hotmail.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
Z8Cyi.110$Pd4.44@edtnps82...
> <larry.yano DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1187565354.842353.313200@r29g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>> I'll be traveling in UK-France-Italy-Germany in late Sept early Oct as
>> part of a bus tour. I was wondering what the best way to rent a cell
>> phone in case I have to call home in case of emergencies. I won't be
>> using it for daily chit chat. Someone said that phone cards work just
>> as well as renting a cell phone. Some companies here in the US work
>> in Europe unfortunately our company (Sprint) isn't one of them.
>>
> Don't rent -- BUY! But watch out for the "reloading" trap. I bought an
> Orange phone in Paris, and was told by store staff that it could be
> reloaded in any Orange country. Not so! It can be reloaded only in the
> issuing country. So buy a big chunk of time when you first purchase the
> phone.
>
 >> Stay informed about: Renting a cell phone in Europe