I am a newbie and failed to find a definitive answer through searching the forum.

I have an unlocked GSM phone and would like to purchase a pre-paid Sim card upon arrival in France. As a non-resident, can I do this? Or must I go with the seemingly far more expensive option of buying a card in the USA?

Thanks for any insights.

Yes you can get a prepaid card.
With somes provider you can even get a sim card in a "magazine" in a news stand.

Don't forget to have a 900/1800 phone unlocked.

Hi Don,

If you're anxious about setting it up right (I know I was the first time I did this), just go to one of the providers' shops--Orange, Bouygtel, SFR--to buy the SIM start-up kit, and ask the staff if they'd do the set-up for you. I'm not even sure I asked. The help was simply offered. You may be asked for an address (obviously not if you can buy your SIM at a newsstand--I never knew you could do that). A hotel address will do.

Have fun.

Marc

I also have read and read so many postings in many different forums but am still confused. Perhaps if I list my intention, someone can clarify or rectify me?
Itinerary:
My family and I are flying to Paris in May.
We are renting an apt. for 6 days.
Upon our arrival at CDG we are to call the rental agency IMMEDIATELY.
After 6 days, we are taking the TGV to Avignon, renting a car and driving around Provence for a week. We will turn in our car in Aix en Provence then a take train one day to Lyon, then Beaune, then back to Paris where we will stay one night in a hotel before returning home.
Phone idea:
Buy unlocked GSM phone on eBay.
Buy French SIM card where? In US so that I can give phone number to relatives or in France is the only option? If the latter is the only option, will I be able to buy the card and activate the phone at CDG so that I may call the apt. rental agency?
Many thanks for your guidance!
Michele

You can easily find French prepaid cards on eBay as well (look on ebay.fr), but I think that at CDG Airport there should be at least 1 mobile phone shop of the 3 French operators. I suggest NOT to buy a French prepaid from an American dealer since they usually have incredibly high prices.

I second ebay. especially since you mentioned you would like to give out the number before you leave.

Here is an ebay listing. It has already been overbid though. Seller is located here too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/French-SIM-Card-for-Fr...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi Michele,

If you wind up not being able to get a SIM before you leave, and if you find it difficult to find one at CDG--it is a very spread out airport and services are not evenly distributed it always seems to me--I'd just buy a normal phone card (for use in a pay phone) for the call to your rental agency, then pick the SIM up in town. My guess is that you'll use up all your minutes on that card as well as your SIM before you're done with your vacation. A phone card ought to be findable at any of the newsstands. (Mind you, it's possible you could find your SIM there, too, though that's more variable. Worth asking, though.)

Have a nice trip.

Marc

Many thanks for your prompt replies.
I have been 'watching' 2 phones on eBay but am reconsidering going this route. For one, if I purchase a phone then I am stuck with a phone I will not use again. Then I have to purchase a SIM card and then also prepay for minutes??? I don't know how many minutes I will require on such a trip.
I believe there are companies in the US from which I can rent a phone I am able to use in France. One fee would mean less of a hassle.
I must sound pretty dense which truly is not how I am in 'normal' mode. I guess it is because I have so much pending on the 'to do' list before our departure.
Any suggestions?
Michele

Yes, you can rent a phone. But it will probably cost you a whole lot more than buying a phone and sim. I do not think anyone in this forum would advice you to rent a phone. If you buy a phone, it's yours to use, just in case you need to go out of the country. It will also be a backup phone, if it happens to have the bands used n the US. I'd really like to find out how many people rent phones in this day and age. Remember, you do not have to buy a sophisticated phone...just one that has the appropriate bands and works. A good phone with + france sim and minutes will surely cost you less than renting a phone. Not only would you be charged daily rental (even if you do not use it), you would be charged exhorbitant per minute rates!

Even renting from Mobal?
http://www.mobalrental.com/gsm/handsets.as...0006DN07NMOBWEB
After this upcoming trip, it might be another decade before I get to travel outside the US.

Ignore last posting...
According to cellular abroad http://www.cellularabroad.com/franceRcell.html
when I purchase the French SIM card I will have prepaid for minutes. Is this correct? Judging from their prices, you all are correct that it would be very expensive to go the rental route.
:wacko: I guess I am just so obviously confused about what ought to be something logical.

All I want is to be able to have a phone in France to communicate with hotels as we journey across the country for 19 days. That is primarily the reason. It might also come in handy for other reasons and give us a sense of security if let's say we were to breakdown somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Provence.

From the standpoint of cost, let me see if I understand now:
1 - Spend $ to buy phone here.
2 - Spend Euros and buy SIM card there. Turn on phone and make calls.

(3 - All set or do I have to spend Euros to make calls?)

Michele

Of course you have to spend euros to make calls, they are not free! :D
My suggestion is always to buy a phone (maybe tri or quad band, so you can use it at home in the US as well) and a sim-card on eBay. The starting kit always include some "free" credit, but it can be not enough for your trip and so you'll probably need to buy some refill cards during your stay in France.

I don't have time any more to waste on being outbided on eBay like I have been for the past 48 hours. Right now I am considreing a 'buy now' option of a SONY ERICSSON T200 GSM UNLOCKED TRI-BAND CELLULAR PHONE (Item number: 9711462941) for a total of $55. Does this seem like a good deal? I thought I could get a decent package for $30-40 but apparently not at the present time.
Michele

Not bad for a basic phone.

But see if you can grab one of these very similar but much better phones for around the same price (remember to do the conversion and contact seller for shipping cost to US). Specifically look at the "buy it nows". You have enough time for shipping from UK. I went to ebay UK, because 90% of the same phones sold here do not haev the 900 band, they have the 850 band instead. I have one of these bought brand new on ebay UK for less than $100 about a year ago. You may also need to get a US Nokia charger or adapter. That can be done for arount $10


OTOH, you can just buy the one you posted above and close the deal.

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll...3120&category0=

Hi Michelle,

I hope you bought the (a) phone. Looking at how long you're going to be in France and the rental prices, either on-line or through US cellular carriers, buying a phone is more cost-effective. As people have pointed out already, with a tri-band you can use the phone as a back-up here in the States, or, even if you're not going back to Europe for a while (and how do you know that?), you could lend it to a friend going overseas and have them eternally in your debt.

Buying the phone separately will also avoid being overcharged for your SIM card. The one rental place you mentioned doesn't seem to rent you a phone without your also buying the start-up SIM from them--at $60 was it?!! My start-up SIM package purchased in Paris was only 15 euro, and included 5 euro of call time.

As Effendi mentioned, you're going to have to recharge whatever SIM you do get. Even though the French companies all charge by the second, it's a rare call that stops under a minute. Those initial few euros of credit won't last long. If you're calling ahead to a hotel, think of the seconds flying by as they find your reservation record, look it up . . . ask someone a question about it . . . answer a question from someone else. You get the picture. Also, you'll find other uses for the phone. It's always a good idea to make restaurant reservations, if you can. And when you're tired from running around, it's nice to be able to call a shop or a sight to be sure they're open before you trek out to them.

The fact that you're gonna use the phone more than you expect also rules out international roaming with your US carrier. My carrier, T-Mobile, I think has the lowest international roaming rates of the big carriers--but they're still 99 cents/minute, and they charge you for incoming as well as outgoing. (Other US carriers run as high as $1.49/minute.) The French prepaids are all in the 0.50-0.60 euro/minute range (60-70 cents), and DON'T charge you for incoming calls.

There's detail on a few of the French cards in the sticky at the top of this European forum.

Have fun.

Marc

Marc and others,
Many thanks for your tremendous help. :thumbup:
I have decided to buy this phone on eBay:
NEW SONY ERICSSON T200 UNLOCKED GSM WORLD CELL PHONE
Item number: 9712532318
Mich?le

Good choice. Enjoy your trip!

The Sony Ericsson T200 arrived a little while ago. There is no instruction manual and I cannot figure out how to open the cover on the back. I called the seller's number and was instructed to go to their website www.mrwireless.us to find the corresponding owner's manual.
I downloaded the manual but apparently I need to insert the SIM and then the battery (the diagram and instruction still don't instruct on how to open the cover).
I was going to buy the SIM in France but wanted to charge the phone to make sure it is working before our departure. Any suggestions?
Mich?le

There has to be something on the back that you need to press/pull in order to open it. I also find it suprising that you can not charge the phone unless the sim is in it.

Try the SE forum at howard forums:

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37

http://www.travelcell.com/PDFs/SE_T200.pdf

Not much info on removing the cover!

FROM THE DIAGRAM of closing the thing......

There should be a button at the top of the sliding battery cover that you DEPRESS and slide the cover down or away from the remaining phone body.

There were other google entries that might have other info.

Google can be your friend.

Stan

Why be roundabout? Here's the URL for the users guides for the T200. (Dunno why there seem to be two versions of the guide.)

http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=us&...=ps1_1&pid=9975

They don't outright say you have to have the SIM in to charge the phone, but they show the SIM being put in place before the charging.

(As Stan says, though, nothing about how to get the cover off. They obviously assume that's easy! Ha! It looks like there's a latch button about 1/3 of the way down the back--the sliding cover Stan refers to.)

Good luck.

Marc

Again, many thanks for your helpful suggestions.
The reason I could not open the back panel was simple enough: I wasn't being forceful enough (I tend to go easy on new little plastic gadgets).
So I inserted the battery and charged it. I am able to turn on the phone but cannot do anything with it. It asks that I insert SIM, and since I have been advised to wait and buy one in France, I will have to wait and see if it works when we arrive there in 3 weeks.
Mich?le

Don't know much about the T200. IF it has 1900 band, see if you can find a friend, family member, colleague, etc who has GSM serice (T-MO, ATT/Cingular, for instance) and TRY to use their SIM card to make a test call to customer care (usaully 611).

I think you would be wise to TRY out the phone here.

Good luck.

Stan