Phone for use on the trail

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by samoht

Only used for calls thanks.

http://www.piranha-mobile.com/index....te=common/home
Piranha costs $17.11 with a £5.00 Credit.
I believe shipping is included.
In Spain, making a call is 0.12, receiving a call is 0.06 US.
In Spain calling the US is the same rates.
The US number is great for people to call you assuming they have
no charge long distance if you do not get a local area code which
you should be able to get. [I have a Piranha SIM with a local area code so
that should not be an issue for you.]

I have no qualms to reccomend it to you.
That it can use the four Spanish networks is a great thing.
That you can test the SIM in the US at home is also a nice thing.

Another option is Truphone.
https://www.truphone.com/us/consumer/sim/
It also has a US phone number.
You should be able to get a local to you area code.
Calling in Spain is $0.09 per min. Receiving calls in Spain is free.
So people could call you [hopefully for free] and you would be able to answer for free.
Calling from Spain to the US are the same rates.
This SIM can be used/used up in the USA also.
Cost is $30 with $15 credit.
No indication on what networks it uses.
For that reason I would encourage use of Piranha.

I have both SIMs and they both pretty much do what they claim to do.
By getting one you will know what US number you have before hand to give
to people that really need to be able to contact you.
You can also know that the phone/SIM combination works before you leave.

[sperial]

Living in a small country I take 1-3 vacations in Europe every year.

As roaming charges are extremely expensive I take a multiband phone with at least 3G, preferably LTE, compatible with the European bands, and buy a local prepaid SIM card with 1-3 GB data which usually are far more than I need for a 1 week vacation. The data package is very useful for two reasons:

1. It allows me to be in contact with my family from almost everywhere for free, using Skype, Whatsapp or any other VoIP and IM service.

2. I surf the web to plan the trip, check weather, check the news etc., even if there is no WiFi service at the hotel.

I usually buy the SIM card at the airport immediately after I arrive and inform my sons of the phone number, so they can find me even if VoIP does not work for any reason.

[bylo]

Originally Posted by sperial

As roaming charges are extremely expensive I take a multiband phone with at least 3G, preferably LTE, compatible with the European bands, and buy a local prepaid SIM card with 1-3 GB data which usually are far more than I need for a 1 week vacation. The data package is very useful for two reasons:

1. It allows me to be in contact with my family from almost everywhere for free, using Skype, Whatsapp or any other VoIP and IM service.

2. I surf the web to plan the trip, check weather, check the news etc., even if there is no WiFi service at the hotel.

I fully agree. I use Skype (and the Canadian version Fongo) almost exclusively to make calls in Europe because it's much cheaper than roaming, but most importantly because everyone can reach me on my Canadian phone number on Fongo. That way there's no need to advise anyone of my local EU numbers, or indeed even advise them that I'm out of the country. To them it's completely transparent.

As for 2. I can't imagine not having data while travelling in a foreign land for no other reason than the free use of Google Maps. Paper maps cost as much or more than a disposable SIM in every country I visit. Everything else I get is just a huge bonus.