Travel abroad - what kind of phone to rent/buy?

[embrassezla]

I'm reading about unlocked, quad band, GSM phones and global pre-paid SIM cards and pretty much getting lost. I am going to be travelling to various parts of Europe over the next year, and would like to have a cell phone while there. What is the best option for me - rent/buy? Is there an option that costs nothing (or very low) for people from home trying to reach me (i.e, the bulk of the cost is on my end?).

I have Sprint service here at home.

Thanks for any help, technical people!

[WorkInProgress]

Well, the last time I traveled in central Europe (two summers ago), I didn't take/have a cell phone with me...I relied entirely on email and a phone card that I didn't end up using. But I was visiting short term.

And, it seemed as though T Mobile was very popular there. I can't recall seeing a single ad for another cell company the whole time, and I recall seeing zillions everywhere for them.

EDIT: I looked into renting a phone for my trip, but it was going to be cost-prohibitive, since my trip was so short.

[embrassezla]

T-Mobile and Cingular phones are GSM. Sadly, Sprint (&Verizon) are not, so I can't use my phone without switching to int'l roaming.

I'm reading that purchasing a phone is much less expensive than renting, if you travel abroad even occasionally.

[J-girl]

Well eventually all phones will be switching to GSM why dont you just switch for good to a GSM provider.

[LakeJay]

T-Mobile and Cingular phones are GSM. Sadly, Sprint (&Verizon) are not, so I can't use my phone without switching to int'l roaming.

I'm reading that purchasing a phone is much less expensive than renting, if you travel abroad even occasionally.

Yeah, I think purchasing a phone that will allow you switch sim cards might be the way to go. I was overseas in a couple different countries over the past year and I was not able to bring my Verizon phone while those with Cingular and T-Mobile phones were able to purchase sim cards and use a temporary phone number whereever they were. I remember calling Verizon about renting a phone and the pricing seemed ridiculous.

[embrassezla]

Well eventually all phones will be switching to GSM why dont you just switch for good to a GSM provider.
Everyone I call regularly is on Sprint, so it's definitely not cost effective for me to switch to another provider.

[J-girl]

Everyone I call regularly is on Sprint, so it's definitely not cost effective for me to switch to another provider.
Oh okay. In that case I would suggest Lakejay's advice and check ur PM.

[WorkInProgress]

T-Mobile and Cingular phones are GSM. Sadly, Sprint (&Verizon) are not, so I can't use my phone without switching to int'l roaming.

I'm reading that purchasing a phone is much less expensive than renting, if you travel abroad even occasionally.

Are all T Mobile phones GSM? Because when I was checking it out (a couple years ago), a bunch were, but not all of their phones were adaptable. It was kind of annoying, actually. It might have been that they were phasing in phones that were/are and my older one just wasn't. I haven't checked into it since then.

[wordsmith]

I went abroad long enough ago that this wasn't an issue...relied totally on phone cards and e-mail.

[embrassezla]

Are all T Mobile phones GSM? Because when I was checking it out (a couple years ago), a bunch were, but not all of their phones were adaptable. It was kind of annoying, actually. It might have been that they were phasing in phones that were/are and my older one just wasn't. I haven't checked into it since then.
I think all current/new T-Mobile phones are GSM.

[SunDevil]

Verizon has three phones that can do CDMA and GSM. But the per minute fees are crazy. In some countries it is $1.49/minute, others it is $2.49, and the most expensive countries are $4.99 each minute.

I was wondering if you take a US phone (that does both bands) to a foreign country and call someone locally in that country, are you charged the international rate, or is it a local call and your minutes apply? You would only be using the cell phone towers and network in that country, but your phone might not be in their system. If it is a local call, that would mean someone could buy a phone card from the country they are in and make that local call, and then use the phone card's rate for international calls.

http://aboutus.vzw.com/internationalsvcs/globalphone/index.html

Also, what happens when people try and call you, and think you are in the US? They would assume it will be a local call (They dialed a US phone number), but if you are in a country that has the $4.99 minute rate, that is going to add up fast.

[dengeist]

I'm thinking your best bet would be to just buy a disposable cell overseas or do the phone card thing. I leave mine when I go.

[nat_johnson]

Hi! I haven't posted in a long time. It's good to be back. I think I can solve your problem. I've been to 14 countries and am currently living in Russia. First of all, forget about bringing ANY American cell phone to Europe. It's true that you can find an unlocked GSM phone in America that takes SIM cards and use it perfectly fine in Europe, but there are two problems: 1) Such phones tend to be expensive in the US, and 2) Unless you are able to articulate exactly what you need, you could be misled by some unknowledgable salesman into buying some ultra - expensive "international plan" or some such nonsense.

What you need to do is buy a phone and SIM card in Europe. All phones in Europe take SIM cards and "plans" are very rare - every provider operates on the "pay as you go system". You can buy a cheap Nokia phone for as little as $40 (in any store which sells phones) and a SIM card starter pack for just a few bucks. With a SIM card starter pack you'll have your very own local phone number and you won't be charged any roaming fees unless you use it outside of the country where you bought it. If you plan to travel between countries often, you can buy a new SIM card for each country you're in - just make sure your phone is "unlocked". It doesn't matter what provider you use - all of the major ones provide adequate coverage: T-Mobile, Vodaphone, Orange, Megaphone, etc.

A caveat: some countries won't allow a foreigner to purchase a phone or a SIM card starter pack - which means that you have to bring a local friend to buy it for you and put it in their name - always has worked out for me. If you're overly worried about this, you can of course purchase an unlocked GSM phone in America, and you can even buy a SIM card for it online. Just don't get ripped off and watch out for stupid salespeople!!!

Hope this helps. It really is a great thing to have a phone in Europe though - phone cards only work if you're there for like a week and you only plan on calling back home. If you want to have any friends in Europe then you need a phone! It's the only way to meet people and keep in touch with them....

[SunDevil]

But even if you buy a disposable phone, don't you still have to pay the high international per minute fees? But I can understand that making the local calls within the country you are in would be cheaper.

[LaFille]

if you buy a european phone, be careful when traveling to a country besides the one where you bought the phone because even with incoming calls, they'll get you on fees. i accidentally had a 20 euro conversation with my mom on my french phone when i was in italy. it's great to have a european phone for convenience and emergencies, but i definitely think the cheapest way is to buy a phone card for the country you are in and use a pay phone.

when i lived in france i used orange and i was pretty happy with it. also, t-mobile is a european company so you might want to talk to them and see what options they have that you can take care of here.

[SunDevil]

Payphones might be hard to find, and the phone cards charge you every time you make a call on one of them. Then again, don't most of the disposable phones and GSM phones make you pay per minute fees for every call?

[LaFille]

if you're in a metropolitan area payphones won't be hard to find at all and you can buy phone cards for much better rates over there in tobacco stores and newsstands. i really think that would be the cheapest way to keep in touch with people.

if you insist on having a cell phone, try to text as much as possible because international texting is really cheap. if you're in the country where you purchased the phone then incoming calls should be free, but if you're not then you'll spend 20 euros on a 5 minute conversation like i did.

also, i just remembered that when i came back to the US with my french phone, i had a situation at the airport and desperately needed to call my brother, so i figured i'd give my french phone a try and it actually worked... which makes me think you really might be able to get a phone here that will be compatible with their networks. like i said before, try t mobile...

[analogman]

You want Quad band because the GSM frequencies in the US are different than Europe (there are two freqs here and two there).

Cingular and T-Mobile are the two big GSM carriers in the US. However, in the US all the phones are locked to a particular carrier (since the price of the phones are somewhat subsidized by the carrier). You need to unlock the phone for it to accept SIM cards from other carriers. I think T-Mobile is willing to unlock your phone after you've used it for 6-months with them (call customer service). You can probably buy unlocked phones off EBay too.

When you get to Europe you'll need to buy pre-paid SIM cards. Calling the US is still going to be expensive though.

http://www.telestial.com/ is a good place to browse and learn. I do not know if their prices are competitive though.

[spokes]

i would jsut wait until you get over there to buy a horn - from what i have read people in england pretty much treat thier phones as disposable (i.e. they leave them in cabs and don't really fuss to much over the loss).....