Ok am off to germany in 2 months, any german members have any advice on the best pre pay sim cards, ie call charges, coverage and rates to the uk, am off to berlin if that helps?

I believe it has been discussed here a number of times. You may want to search the forums.

They say 900 is better than 1800 overall. If you are in large cities, it probably won't matter. I don't hink you are going to find bargain rates to the UK on cell phones. Try a calling card or call thrus.

PERSONALLY, I might go with Pennymobile (D1) 15 cents or next ALDI (E+) and 15 cents or SIMYO or BLAU (both E+), in that order -- for domestic German rates. But that may not matter.

Wait for the Germans to answer or search the forum.

Stan

In Berlin all providers have 100% coverage - most even trough the whole subway system.

So you can basically choose any card. Remind that the original provider cards mostly have longer validity-periods (but much higher rates) than the "discount" cards if you want to keep the card for further stays.

Rates to the UK direct are shocking high - except blauworld.de cards which "only" cost 0.99 Euro/min compared with 1.99 Euro/min with the other cards.

For calling the UK get a callingcard that can also be accessed from mobiles and public phones. (I'm sure someone here has a hint for him as i dont use calling cards in germany myself).

Chris

I think your concerns have been addressed, but it depends what you're looking for. If you're going to make a lot of calls within Germany, you should consider one of the discount chains' SIMs, namely Aldi Talk, Penny, etc., which have per-minute prices of about 15 cents.

However, if you just want to be reachable, don't plan on calling much within Germany, and want a card that you can keep for return visits, you might prefer one from the networks themselves, specifically Vodafone, T-Mobile, or O2, all of which last 15 months or so, are easy to top up in the UK to keep them going, and for which you can create an internet account to monitor. (E-Plus is the fourth network, but topping up can be more difficult in the UK, as it is not present there and does not belong to an alliance.)

Topping up the discounters' accounts from outside Germany will be difficult, although Aldi Talk can be extended to two years' validity by topping up with 15 euros after buying it. AFAIK, none of the discounters offer Internet accounts, and topping up with a credit card is not possible with any German mobile (except for Simyo, and then it has to be a German card).

Coverage is a non-issue for visitors, as all networks are pretty similar.

Note that all international calls from all SIMs (with the sole exception mentioned above) cost an outrageous 2 EUR, a rate that hasn't changed since prepaid was introduced nine years ago. Data rates are also among the highest in the world. Your UK mobile will probably offer cheaper calls back to the UK than your German SIM will, and probably better data rates as well (Virgin Mobile does, for example).

I've used Vodafone DE SIM with an Alpha Telecom account, mainly because my brother in Germany is on Vodafone and he could check the 0800 access number (others are barred). 13p a minute to UK landlines

If starting now I'd probably go for Aldi or similar with a Bizon calling card to call UK.

But actually, using one of the global SIMs with other callback is a bit cheaper for landlines

ok ta for info, looks like its a tough call about what prepay sim card to get....btw just one last thing, does germany use the same wall plugs as the czech rep?

German electrical outlets have a rounded 2-prong setup. One prong is on the left and the other is on the right.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Steckdose.jpg

looks like it will work, ta for that everyone

might be interesting -

Simyo just cut the start-up price of the SIM to ?9.95 with ?10 of calls at 16c, until mid-August

Bugger...and i am going in early september! aww piss pants!

you have to order this SIM on the internet anyway.
But as far as I remember they just accept german postal adress for delivery.

Chris

Mmmmm could see if the hotel i will be staying at will hold that post for me...mmmm would the network deliver to a hotel?

You can enter 2 adresses there. One for the card owner and one for delivery adress. Maybe you can put in your us-adress as the owners adress with some tricks. Might be worth a try

I wouldn't bother with Simyo, as the whole hotel-address thing is too complicated and IMHO not very reliable (hotels are good at losing people's mail, esp. if they're not guests at the time). Just go to Aldi or Schlecker (or Vodafone or O2, if you prefer a non-discounter) when you arrive and pick up your SIM there. They're everwhere, and it's no problem.

Again thanks guys am gonna pick one up whilst there, you all have been a great help!! (Though i am worried about the guy who thinks i live in the US??)

Erm. I was too quick reading the posts from you and didnt look closely at your flag. Sorry... :wacko:

Chris

thats ok no worries hehehehe!

Hello,

please be aware about the fact, that the prepaids which work on "e-plus" network (Simyo etc...) have a voice-mailbox, which cannot be disabled. For the prepaids working on T-Mobile and Vodafone, the voice-mailbox can be turned off. For me, I find it quite annoying if there's a voice-mailbox, that can't be disabled. I have to hurry answering the phone, as within 20 seconds, the voice-mailbox answers my call... And when the phone is turned of and someone tries t reach me, he or she has to pay, even I am not reachable. So my recommendation would be "D1 Xtra" or "Vodafone CallYa" if you mostly like to receive calls. If you want to do calls, then perhaps one of the e-plus prepaids like Simyo would be cheaper. Calling abroad with every German Prepaid-SIM is too expensive (like 1.99 Euro per minute), better to use Calling-Cards for this purpose.

Regards,
Klaus

its not really a problem for calling me (though thanks for letting me know,!!) umm mainly it will be a way for me to call german numbers while there and not pay a fortune on roaming rates, also a way for me to chat to my little cousin!

Malkav, NOT in the US....at least not knowingly!!!