My husband and I will be traveling in Germany, Switzerland and France this summer. I currently have a Cingular phone (company phone) that does not have International capabilities. I am looking into getting an upgrade to a quad phone (900/1800) ..... or do I even need to get a phone with 900/1800? I've been reading on Fodors as well as this great site as to how to go about having cell phone coveage while in Europe and it's very confusing to me. We don't need to be on the phone daily (i.e. for work). Our purpose for having the phone is to keep in touch with family back home ... touch base and in case of emergencies. We are hopping from hotel to hotel so we won't be staying in 1 place the whole time. I've read about using different sim cards, international phone cards, pre-paid phone cards from Sams club and I'm overwhelmed. Can anyone point me in a very direct, easy direction? I'd appreciate any help I could get. :wacko:

If you need a cell phone in Europe (in most of the world, in fact ;)), it must support GSM 900 or GSM 900/1800 bands.

PLEASE take a good supply of US calling cards with you OR purchase some locally. Calls can be made toll free from hotel rooms (check, however, sometimes they also
bill for toll free calls) using these calling cards AND the cost is usually less than with
a cell phone.

You WILL need an unlocked GSM phone with at least 900, best 900 & 1800 for Europe. I have bought ALL my phones on Ebay. You could go with a quad band,
but that is not NECESSARY for Europe.

Leave the CINGULAR SIM out of the phone or leave the CURRENT phone in your
car or at home or with whomever takes you to airport in USA and picks you up. See below on SMS from that phone if it stays in the US.

IF you choose the european cell phone, I would recommend one of the international cards, UM, 09, travelsim, etc. You are travelling in multiple countries. If you go this route, make sure you have a high enough balance to cover anticpated costs BEFORE leaving.

Realize there is NO perfect solution. The trade-off is IF YOU CHOOSE FREE INBOUND, the calling party will probably have to pay more to reach you. One antidote is to have them send you an SMS to your european phone and request you call them. You might also consider Callbackworld if you go free inbound.

YACKIE (new) gives you a US number so you are easy to reach, BUT you will pay to receive calls. If you are cheap like me and don't expect many incoming calls, I'd go with the free inbound. If you have money to burn then this does not matter - if you or family will not be travelling soon again, then also look at the entry price. Why invest a bundle?

Bon voyage!

Stan

Thanks Przemolog. I'm afraid I phrased that wrong. I do understand that in order to make calls from Europe back to the US I will need a phone that supports GSM 900 or GSM 900/1800 bands. I was more or less wondering if there were other avenues to take (i.e. the prepaid phone card from Sams Club and such places that I've read about) that would make it easier as opposed to upgrading to a 900/1800 band phone for the sole purpose of our trip. I'm looking for an easy, cheap, no-fuss way to keep in touch (maybe twice a week) with family back home as well as being able to receive call in case of emergencies ... if a solution even exists. Thanks :D

Assuming you are on cingular, the easiest is simply to call them and activate international roaming...you keep the same number, people can reach you and you will pay $1.29/minute to make and receive calls. If it is truly simply for emergencies and to touch base quickly and you will not be making very many or very lengthy calls, this is the easiest.

You will have to make sure your phone has international capabilities...at the very least you need a phone with either 900 or 1800 frequencies....you'll be okay in the big cities...better is a phone with both 900 and 1800....unfortunately cingular sells tri bands geared to its service and if you've been reading all the stuff, the United States in its usual contrary minded way uses different frequencies than most of the rest of the world...Cingular uses both 850 and 1900 in the USA so their tri band phones only have room for one of the world frequencies which in this case would be 1800 leaving you without 900 service which could be detrimental in many parts of the world but not the big cities in Europe for the most part.

Now next up the ladder, you can buy a cheap European dual band (900/1800) either on ebay, or from internet stores or when you arrive in Europe for around $50 US...the phone has to be unlocked ( if bought on the web it probably is but you have to make sure it is dual band (900/1800)) or you can buy a worldwide tri band (900/1800/1900) which would be a little more expensive.

But if you're going in that direction, the next step for the 3 countries would be to buy an international sim card say from www.united-mobile.com.

It depends on whether this is a one time only trip or whether you're serious about having mobile phone coverage while traveling in Europe.

The prepaid card will allow you to call out. If you have US voicemail @ home or work or on your Cingular phone, that would allow people to call YOU. Albeit not directly.

Watch the ATT cards. I happen to need to use the * key to enter my Verizon home mailbox. On ATT, that is the sign for a new call. SOLUTION: MCI or other card.

Stan

Thank you Stan for the feedback!! We don't have the money to burn and there is a slight chance we will be making another short trip in December to Germany/Italy but other than that .. we don't travel for work or leisure abroad too often (only when the purse strings permit). :) I'm questioning is it worth purchasing a new phone with sim card and such .. or just purchase the prepaid phone cards from the local walmart, sams club in the U.S. That may be beneficial to us but if someone had to reach us in case of an emergency .. that might be a bit tough since we are hotel hopping every 2 nights. I guess it really is a coin toss. Thank you for the help. I am going to have my husband review the thread and this site as I've officially put him in charge of the cell phone issue. :)

Thank you Stan. We keep posting at the same time .. :)

I think the current phone was unsuitable.

You are correct about the easiest solution BUT, I am always skeptical. People may be calling that CINGULAR # to reach them and even if they don't answer, they may incur charges. At least it is so with T-MO. Could be a sizeable bill. COULD BE.

Stan

Matha531, thank you for the information. I am on Cingular through my company but have the Samsung SGH-x497 (tri-dual mode) phone which does not have international capabilities. I'm currently having my HR person price out an upgrade, which has the international capabilities. I'm reading here dual and tri band .. where did I come up with quad band ... does this exist? Shoot, I've been inquiring about the quad bands (motorola V557, RAZR V3 type phones). The more I read the more I think it's easier for me to get an upgrade and pay the 1.29 (or .99 a minute I've also read .. if I sign up for international service per month).
At this point in time this is a one type trip .. a slight chance we will be going again in December for a week ... This is my first time back to Europe in 10 years .. if that gives you any inkling of how often I go. :) Thank you again!

Stan...

This rebound effect is a problem, I would admit. Prepaid ld cards are best bought in the country you are in and give you more minutes than you might ever need for around $5 US or the equivalent....with the exception of possible surcharges by hotels and the like to reach the outgoing number, even if it is a local 800 number, that is I would agree the cheapest for outgoing.

The problem is incoming......you can leave a copy of the hotels you will be at but I don't know any solution without a mobile phone...to avoid the charging you can set your mobile phone to direct all calls to voicemail....the call will never get to Europe so no worry about the rebound effect and double billing...you get a voicemail notification in the usual manner and can call, using the local ld call, into your voicemail....however

It still requires a phone capable of registering on a European network to see the vm indication which means you still need a 900 or 900/1800 phone...of course with rates as cheap as they are, you can simply call into your voice mail a couple of times a day to see if there are any messages.

A quad band will resolve the problem and if you're up for an upgrade on cingular, you might just as well get a quad band....you can call them if need be to unlock the phone for later use.

As you have described the problem and your use, you will be fine on the international plan of Cingular....Cingular charges $1.29/minute to make and receive calls in Germany, Switzerland and France....for an additional $6.99/month, you can cut this to 99?/minute and people used to turn this on and off; now I have read you have to turn it on for a minimum of 6 months so in your case it wouldn't pay.

As you noted, for emergency use, it is the easiest solution to the problem. What you have to watch out for is calls to your mobile that go into voicemail...you get charged twice for this...once to complete the call to you and then forward it back to voicemail...seems to be a rip off and it is but that's the way it is. Also, shutting off the phone might not work to avoid this as sometimes it takes a little while for a phone to de-register from a roaming partner.

Despite this my advice is...upgrade to the quad band phone, use your Cingular account while in Europe for the odd call or two, get a local long distance card at tobacco shops or whatever for outgoing calls and without too much fuss you'll be all set.

Its a late reponse, but I'd thought I put my 2 cents in worth anyway :)

If your upgrade falls thru, a international triband (900/1800/1900) bought on ebay still might make sense. Even if you don't travel overseas alot, you may have friends and relatives that make the occasion trip and they can use the phone. I'm borrowing a 2nd phone from a friend for my father to use when we travel to Europe this summer. My friend went to Europe only once, but this will be the 4th or 5th trip for the phone :)


Plus you can always list it on ebay when you get back and recoup some of your costs.

For years I had a prepaid phone with a Virgin Mobile SIM in it. All of my talk on it was free because I always loaned it out to my friends travelling to London. I never made a profit off it, but their recharges always put me ahead.

It's never too late to respond :) To update my own thread .. I have upgrade with Cingular .. through my company I was able to get the Samsung SGH-x507 which is a quad band and which has the international capabilities. Our service is through Cingular. The lady at my company who deals with Cingular said "Apparently Cingular doesn?t unlock phones so that you can use other SIM cards. But they?ve added the international roaming to your phone do you can use it abroad."

So this probably isn't the cheapest route ... but we are only taking the phone for emergency purposes (receiving calls from the US) and keeping in touch 2 or 3 times with the family back home (calls from Europe to the US). I think with International roaming I'll be paying $1.29 a minute. eeks.

Any tidbits of information on how to cut down on cost other than telling my family not to call all the time. The only good thing is that my friends have my 'normal' cell number and not my 'work' cell number, which is what I am taking to Europe with us ... so I won't be receiving calls or voicemails from them. I thought about using a calling card ... but not sure how that would work or if it would save us money in conjunction with my new cell I got.

Forgot to mention that the phone came with the standard 100-240V AC 50-60HZ charger. Will I only need an adapter in order for it to charge properly while in Europe?
Thanks!

Just an adapter PLUG. Have done it myself.

You WANT a calling card, both US-based and possibly purchased locally. Should be able to use from hotel rooms, BUT CHECK WITH FRONT DESK FOR POLICY. Some charge for 800 (toll free) calls, just like in US.

Would NOT recommend public pay phones but if you must, you must.

Stan

Cingular does unlock phones. You just have to call the right dept. They will unlock any Cingular phone. And, that includes those that were not purchased at a cingular store. It just needs to be cingular branded. If you want to get it unlocked, just ask the lady to call and tell them she is going overseas and would like to use her phone there. Depending on the phone, you should get the unlock code in 3 - 7 days. Most of the time it's even less than that.

snaimon, why would I need a US based one as well as a local one? For the US based one .. can I get this in Sam's Club or Walmart? I'm assuming it has on the card "for international calls or something like that"?

Bossman, the lady who is our main contact with Cingular has not been so easy to deal with. My trip is 'personal' as opposed to 'business' so she isn't bending over backwards to help me out!! Unfortunately, I did call and because I don't know our tax ID number they wouldn't discuss my phone with me!!

Recommend BOTH US-based and local.

1. Backup -- mainly -- once you leave the city where you purchased
local card, you may not find anyone who can help you with it.
2. You can always use the US for overseas calling from US later
3. You may be more familiar with US cards dialing instructions, etc.
4. You can usually recharge the US card with a credit card.

Bottom line, more flexibility.

Indeed, you need one with international dialing and SAMs or whatever is fine. Go for a 120 Min card -- especially if you don't think you'll need much outbound dialing. You can always add money, even from overseas. Be sure to find the local toll free #s for your countries before you leave.

If you do lots of overseas calling AND from US, I would recommend looking @ Onesuite and Enjoyprepaid, both available only online. The rates are better than either ATT or MCI.

Stan

Thank you Stan! So if I use a calling card that I purchase at Sam's Club or Costco .. I need to make sure that it's for international use right?

Once I get over to say Germany and I go to make a call back to the states from my cell phone using the calling card or do I use a hotel? ... am I still being charged the $1.29 per minute if I use my cell phone to dial the calling card number? Sorry if this is so basic .. I may have missed the boat on this one!

Any call placed from your phone (with cingular's sim in it) while there will be charged whatever the roaming rate is. The phones in your hotel room will probably not be free either. It might even be more expensive than Cingular's roaming rate. If there are pay phones there, thet will probably be your best option. Some calling cards also levy a surcharge for using a pay phone. Also, as posted my the experts here, a UK calling card will be a whole lot cheaper than the Sams/Costco calling card you take from here.


Here is the sams card. You probably will need to contact the CSR to get the rates from there to US, and the number to dial from there.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate....3786&pCatg=5875

As to hotels....

A hotel we stayed at in Duesseldorf allowed no cost toll free outbound, so both the US or local prepaid card worked fine.

We stayed in a hotel near the Frankfurt airport (Gross Gerau) and I foolishly did not ask about 800 calls; I was charged for each one.

We stayed in another hotel in the south and were not charged for toll free calls.

We also stayed in several places in France and were not charged.

It is best to ask in advance about phone charges.

Agree with B that calls on your Cingy phone while abroad will be billed at the romaing rate REGARDLESS of what # you call or if you receive a call.

There are stories in German papers (teltarif) about the influx of foreignors for the world cup and some of them are buying German prepaid packages to save money.

Keep asking questions if you need to.

Stan

Hey. Just to add my $.02, there seem to be a lot of companies on the web that will unlock phones. I've never tried any of them, though, but at least they may be a good option for you since Cingular doesn't seem so helpful.

As for the upgrade to international service, that's cool. If you think you'll travel outside the US even one more time, you should get an international sim. There are a few in the market, but they generally offer free incoming calls in a variety of countries and service worldwide (so you get the same number). Plus, they are prepaid, pretty cheap (esp. when compared to international roaming), and tend to last indefinitely. Outgoing calls aren't so expensive (they would probably be cheaper than calling cards, but make sure you check out the rates beforehand). Good luck, and happy travels!


Khalisha
Zengo Wireless

Thank you for the very helpful replies!!! I've been looking at Calling cards in various stores ... the ones I'm seeing are International phone cards .. but it seems they are for calls made from the U.S. to foreign countries. Is there one out there that has from foreign countries to the US ... or is that the one I purchase in Europe? I apologize in advance if I am being daft!! I've a planned a 3 week trip with no problems .. but for the phone, camera and laptop .. I'm ready to pull my hair out. :wacko: :D

Obviously, it would be easier to find those in the country you will be calling from. But, the sams club/costco international cards (see link I posted above) should also work from abroad. You may need to contact cust. serv. # on the card to get the rate and the number to dial.

Check out www.idtcalls.com they sell calling cards to call FROM EUROPE.

Still contemplating this phone ordeal .... has anyone used or heard of skype? We will be taking our laptop and a friend suggested we look into it. Thanks!