Roam4Zero?

[Stu]

Your right on the setup fee. Another thing worth pointing out is that someone posted a link a while ago about where you could buy the SIM for US$9 off Ebay.

For EU use only, the new Maxroam is pretty good as well. Their rates to h--- for non-EU use.

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by Stu

Your right on the setup fee. Another thing worth pointing out is that someone posted a link a while ago about where you could buy the SIM for US$9 off Ebay.

For EU use only, the new Maxroam is pretty good as well. Their rates to h--- for non-EU use.

except their stupid policy to charge from the second you pick up the callback - no matter if the other party will pick up or not. In my opinion that makes the card also useless for EU usage

[sng]

We are traveling to Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. Which SIM-cards for our GSM compatible phones would work in these three countries for our primary purpose of calling between our two cell phones, and secondary purpose of calling local numbers. Calling USA is unlikely. Should we get SIM-karte when we arrive in Germany (1st country on our itinenary) or get one in USA (for example roam4zero)? I think the latter is UK based and has free incoming calls but we do not know which German (or Czech and Austrian) network is being used to connect. We think that all calls are US $0.50 per minute which is lower than $1.29 to 1.99 rate from Verizon. Our German friend recommend T-mobile and Vodaphone over Telefonica (which may not work in Austria any way). When you recommend SIM-karte, please be specific in name and cost. Thank you very much.

[andy]

Originally Posted by sng

We are traveling to Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. Which SIM-cards for our GSM compatible phones would work in these three countries for our primary purpose of calling between our two cell phones, and secondary purpose of calling local numbers. Calling USA is unlikely. Should we get SIM-karte when we arrive in Germany (1st country on our itinenary) or get one in USA (for example roam4zero)? I think the latter is UK based and has free incoming calls but we do not know which German (or Czech and Austrian) network is being used to connect. We think that all calls are US $0.50 per minute which is lower than $1.29 to 1.99 rate from Verizon. Our German friend recommend T-mobile and Vodaphone over Telefonica (which may not work in Austria any way). When you recommend SIM-karte, please be specific in name and cost. Thank you very much.

Most of the global SIMs roam on most main networks in many countries, and so too would most single country SIMs, which aren't restricted to needing a network of the same name in the visited country.

It depends a bit on how much use you expect, but if it's more than only a few minutes I'd say that given your preference order, calls between you, then local calls, not much international, I'd say get a pair of local SIMs in each place

In Germany you'd get 3 cents a minute calls to the same network on some brands, including Solomo (order online) or Aldi (supermarket chain), 6 cents local landlines with Solomo, and 9 cents for local landlines and mobiles on several brands

Czech Republic and Austria, I'm not so sure about, but see the National Operators link at the top of the page

I'd be quite tempted by yesss in Austria, but most bramds have calls for single figure cents a minute

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by sng

our primary purpose of calling between our two cell phones, and secondary purpose of calling local numbers. Calling USA is unlikely.

One thing to keep in mind with any SIM that uses a callback system. The call must go from where you are, back to the switch and then to wherever the called party is located. This means that a conversation between two people must make multiple international hops. I knew someone who used a SIM like this to make local calls in Japan and found the delay was so bad that his wife refused to talk on the phone. Bottom line is that if you plan to use the SIM for local calling you should find one that does not have to make intercontinental hops.