How much will it cost to use my phone in Europe?

[Syringer]

I have a Cingular Razr that I plan on using during my 5 weeks or so in Europe this summer, and was wondering how much it'll cost to use over there? How does the process even work? Can I just find a cell phone store in England to get a sim card from and get a pre-paid plan? Any tips?

 

[Koing]

You will get raped using your countries mobile phone service abroad. Best idea is to get a pre-pay sim card to use locally.

Will you be in one country or visit a few countries?

Koing

 

[SLCentral]

I believe Cinguar has European calls in Western Europe for $.99 to $1.49 a minute. Just call Cingular to activate it before you leave, and once you arrive, it'll work right away, and you'll retain your #. People can still call you with the same #, too.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: Koing
You will get raped using your countries mobile phone service abroad. Best idea is to get a pre-pay sim card to use locally.

Will you be in one country or visit a few countries?

Koing

A few countries..

Originally posted by: SLCentral
I believe Cinguar has European calls in Western Europe for $.99 to $1.49 a minute. Just call Cingular to activate it before you leave, and once you arrive, it'll work right away, and you'll retain your #. People can still call you with the same #, too.

Interesting..but ouch, $.99 a minute? Anything better for the more frugal among us?

 

[OdiN]

You should get a Spider Wireless phone while you are over there.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: Koing
You will get raped using your countries mobile phone service abroad. Best idea is to get a pre-pay sim card to use locally.

Will you be in one country or visit a few countries?

Koing

A few countries..

Originally posted by: SLCentral
I believe Cinguar has European calls in Western Europe for $.99 to $1.49 a minute. Just call Cingular to activate it before you leave, and once you arrive, it'll work right away, and you'll retain your #. People can still call you with the same #, too.

Interesting..but ouch, $.99 a minute? Anything better for the more frugal among us?

Gonna have to unlock your phone and get a SIM there 🙁.

 

[Atheus]

Just unlock your phone or buy a dirt cheap one over here. The plus side is it will be cheaper than using the phone in the states, you won't have to pay for incoming calls etc.

 

[Descartes]

I paid $1/minute I think last time I was there. I used it only when absolutely necessary, and for longer conversations I just used a phone card. They're readily available in the larger cities. I was able to use my phone in England, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria without a problem.

 

[FreshPrince]

hmm...

I have T-Mobile corporate plan and last year when I was there they only charged me $20/mo. for access...the rest of the minutes counted against my corporate plan's pooled minutes. So all we paid was $20 because I never go over my pooled minutes (around 700).

is your phone with your company or on your own?

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: Koing
You will get raped using your countries mobile phone service abroad. Best idea is to get a pre-pay sim card to use locally.

Will you be in one country or visit a few countries?

Koing

A few countries..

Originally posted by: SLCentral
I believe Cinguar has European calls in Western Europe for $.99 to $1.49 a minute. Just call Cingular to activate it before you leave, and once you arrive, it'll work right away, and you'll retain your #. People can still call you with the same #, too.

Interesting..but ouch, $.99 a minute? Anything better for the more frugal among us?

Gonna have to unlock your phone and get a SIM there 🙁.

It is unlocked 🙂

I'm looking at pre-paid sim cards here..and an England one goes for $39 with free incoming calls and $0.09/min to the US but $0.26/min for domestic calls..Hmm.

Should I buy a sim card here or wait til I'm over there? And since I'm going to be in multpile countries, what is my best option?

 

[fitz4521]

i'd say wait until you are there. i am in australia for a semester and when i was at my layover in melbourne, i went to the vodafone store in the airport and picked up my prepaid phone. stop at stores when you're in europe and ask them about plans and roaming throughout europe. when you figure out the best one, pick up a sim. i know that the price of texting will not change when you roam, but calls probly will. try to find a company that covers multiple countries, because it should be the cheapest. i know vodafone is all over europe.

also, see if there are some sort of cap prepaid plans. mobile plans work a lot differently outside of the US. I pay $49 AUD (around $38 USD) for $230 dollars in credit which lasts for 30 days. domestic calls cost 60 cents/min with a 20 cent connection charge and text cost 25 cents domestic and international. all calls and texts are free incoming.

i hope that helps

 

[miri]

I used my tmobile phone in Europe and it was .99 a minute. when I was in Morocco it was 1.99 a minute. Expensive but it was convenient and I got 6 full bars just about everywhere.