European Cellular Phone help:

Rasa · Post by **Rasa** » Thu 10th Jun 2010 04:32 pm

I will be traveling to Amsterdam in the beginning of 2011 and will be spending 4-8 months traveling around Europe. I will need a cell phone to make calls in Europe not as many to the States. Can anyone give me any suggestions? Pay as you go? Vodafone? I have no idea about European Cellular.

-Rasa

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Thu 10th Jun 2010 05:59 pm

I think buying a SIM card in every country you want to make many calls from is the best idea. You can get a cheapie phone and your first SIM card in Amsterdam.

Once you leave NL, the calls will be pretty expensive, so when it runs out you can get a new one.

Rasa · Post by **Rasa** » Thu 10th Jun 2010 06:49 pm

cool, thanks for the input Marco

Ghostie · Post by **Ghostie** » Fri 11th Jun 2010 02:12 am

Take an unlocked phone with you then you dont need to keep buying a new phone and sim in every country.

abcdabcd · Post by **abcdabcd** » Fri 11th Jun 2010 02:56 am

Ghostie wrote:Take an unlocked phone with you then you dont need to keep buying a new phone and sim in every country.

You still need to purchase the sims as far as I know but, you don't have to purchase the phones. Different carriers in different countries have their own sims and for a local number so you're not charged long distance fees, you'll want to get a new sim.

cantona7 · Post by **cantona7** » Fri 11th Jun 2010 04:34 am

unlocked phone
pre paid sim card in each country you visit

its worked in every country iv visited except japan.

I use vodafone and orange. in a snap if i have no choice i'll use my gsm or w/e its called phone and just use the local networks. i dont reccomend it though because its incredibly expensive. but in a snap ..lets say u touch down in europe and notice you forgot your atm card and dont have time to grab a sim and have to call home. as long as your phones unlocked and triband(i think) it will work. when i first backpacked in europe i got so high in the dam i forgot to use my nederlands simcard most of the time and used roaming. i came home with a $2500 cingular bill.

stecleary84 · Post by **stecleary84** » Fri 11th Jun 2010 04:38 pm

vodafone are your friends here(cant belive i said that i hate vodafone and have had many a word with them) but the have no roaming charges in the EU so one sim card will save you money but cost others more to call you once you are outside the country you bought the sim in. bring an unlocked phone with you or find a shop the sells/can unlock it for you. vodafone(and many other networks) have a €127 euro min usage on their handsets before they will give you the unlocking code for it so you could find yourself stuck in a country with a new simcard and a locked phone, thats if you dont get a sim with cheap/free roaming to use everywhere

weedhog · Post by **weedhog** » Tue 3rd Aug 2010 06:57 pm

Ok, Im from the U.S., can I just buy a net 10 or some other prepaid and just change sim cards or do I need to buy an unlocked phone off ebay?
I'm not very up on the tech for this so explain in simple terms please lol
Thanks

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Tue 3rd Aug 2010 07:56 pm

weedhog wrote:Ok, Im from the U.S., can I just buy a net 10 or some other prepaid and just change sim cards or do I need to buy an unlocked phone off ebay?
I'm not very up on the tech for this so explain in simple terms please lol
Thanks

you can get a phone, and minutes for like 30 e at albert, in a can (literally)

dude65 · Post by **dude65** » Thu 12th Aug 2010 11:28 pm

Previous comments are spot on:

1. Get a GSM phone, with no SIM-Lock. I would look at getting a smartphone with internet access and a decent browser. Oh, and Google maps. It also does turn-by-turn navigation in many countries now. These start around 200€ in the Android flavor.

2. For every country, pick the best/cheapest provider and get a prepaid SIM card. While you're in that country, you can keep topping it up and - if going the smartphone route - book your internet packages.

3. Once you get to the next country, repeat step 2

I have found this Wiki to be extremely useful in finding operators abroad: http://paygsimwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/P ... _data_Wiki

4. If you want mobile internet in the Netherlands, I have posted my recommendation in the trip planning section.