[snaimon]

A technicality, but there probably is no SINGLE best solution for everyone.

I would be VERY careful with the ATT SIM. I don't know what ATT's practices are, but if the SIM is active and receives a US call, you will be billed call-forwarding to Europe. If no answer, you may then be billed for the call EU to US voicemail. Could be quite expensive for a missed call.

I would agree that, for the moment, the VODA UK passport option looks very good. One # for the whole trip with decent roaming. Most (if not all) of the countries you mention have VODA providers where the passport can be used.

Make sure he has a tri- or quad-band with adapters and a good calling card for land-line / toll-free calling. He should PREFER to make outbound calls to US from the calling card...... if you can get that thru his head.

Stan