<p>I will be in Europe for a month and am wondering what my options are in terms of phone use. I really only need data for things like whatsapp and skype, and i have a Samsung galaxy s3. International roaming data is SUPER expensive so i’m hoping there are cheaper options within europe that i can use in multiple european countries for the month. Any help would be much appreciated. :D</p>
<p>I got a really cheap phone in England at a Carphone Warehouse that also worked in France (and, the sales clerk promises, will work in other European countries when I return later this summer). It’s an old school phone - no camera, no smart phone capability, but I paid something like 15 pounds which included a couple hundred minutes of talk time to the US.</p>
<p>Some of my colleagues either bought sim cards while there or bought a short term international plan from their carrier.</p>
<p>(Have a great trip!)</p>
<p>Thanks. I should mention that i will be in eastern europe and will be in contact with family and friends in several different countries in the world. :)</p>
<p>If anyone has specific experiences; are there sim cards that i can buy once i get there that works for multiple countries?</p>
<p>There is a somewhat related thread ongoing at this point…it’s the reverse question…European phone in US…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1519058-cell-phone-help.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1519058-cell-phone-help.html</a></p>
<p>The reason I bring this up is that there seems to be some sort of glitch (origin undetermined) when it comes to texting. Seems that some phones bought in Europe will not send texts (SMS) to the US. Not sure if this is phone, carrier or SIM related.</p>
<p>Also, once you put in a foreign SIM, all instructions will be in the native language. This became a problem for me when my text error messages we displayed in Polish.</p>
<p>I recently bought a prepaid Orange sim card in France to put in my Galaxy II. I was able to make calls in multiple countries, but the data capability only worked in France. (Apparently there isn’t a data plan that works in all European countries, strange as it seems in this day and age.) Nevertheless, I was able to use my phone for internet access at any wifi hotspot, including cafes, hotels, and so forth. I didn’t text anyone, so I don’t know what the capability there would have been.</p>
<p>Giving us specific countries you’ll be in will yield more helpful advice. But I will say that in general, you’ll need a new sim card for each country you visit to get full functionality. </p>
<p>Europe actually has fantastic laws about intra-EU data roaming charges and whatnot, but I could never get a straight answer as to how it worked in practice with pre-paid SIM cards, so I ended up buying a new SIM card in every country I went to. Worked out very well, with one notable exception. Was able to get a few hundred minutes and either unlimited data or a large enough data cap that I wouldn’t likely hit it in the week I was there, and all for around $20. </p>
<p>The notable exception was France. Had a miserable experience trying to get a SIM card for a reasonable price that included more than 200mb of data. Then when I did find such a card and bought it, I couldn’t get the data to work. Apparently, Orange is the company to use in France if you’re going there (I skipped Orange because the line in their store was ridiculous)</p>
<p>Search the older posts. This is one question that has been answered a lot of times. Buying one or more SIM is the usual answer, as well as using wifi when available. Roaming in Europe is still a hit or miss, but access is quite good and cheap locally. </p>
<p>Europe wil have a better roaming system soon as Brussels is bound to bring down the excessive roaming charges. Soon means that it is not today. Do not expect to cross borders and keep low cost data access.</p>
<p>For instance, I had to use different chips in Spain, France, Belgium, and Holland. None of them worked as soon as the invisible borders were crossed. Note that cheap carriers do not work well everywhere.</p>
<p>My kid will be in Spain for a month. She has an iphone 4S with AT&T. Do you have to call AT&T to let them know she will be in a foreign country? She doesn’t plan to call except in an emergency.</p>
<p>No real need to call AT&T except to make sure to get the iPhone unlocked. Then get a google voice number to forward all US calls BEFORE leaving and STORE the US chip away. Once in Spain, get a prepaid local number at a good store such as El Corte Ingles. The store carries most suppliers.</p>
<p>I took my new AT&T to EU country last month and just used wifi with it. I have a phone to use for calling when I’m there. It’s an old iPhone original. 
since I had two phones, I made the mistake of trying to call friend with new one. It couldn’t find a connection.</p>
<p>By the way, getting one of those universal SIM cutters and adapters is useful. To use the same chip in an iPad and iPhone, one needs to adapt the SIM card. The new iPhone is even more different. </p>
<p>When looking for a local plan, be aware that locals have embraced texting over voice since texting is way cheaper and minutes less liberal than in the US.</p>
<p>For AT&T there are conditions to get the iPhone unlocked. For example, it must be out of contract, bill must be in good standing, etc.</p>
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<p>No, but I would take the SIM card out of the phone as soon as the plane takes off from the USA. This is to ensure you don’t get hit with any crazy charges from ATT. Then, when your daughter gets to Spain, go to the nearest Orange store and get a pre-paid SIM card. They have some great plans from 2€ a week (+ a per-minute charge for calls) to 12€ a month for 1Gb of data and a low per-minute charge for calls. If she’s going for a month, I guarantee she will want a phone plan with minutes and data.</p>
<p>Edit - if she’ll be in Madrid, tell her to go to the Plaza Del Sol (very popular big plaza, hard to miss) - there is a huge flagship Orange store there (there are also flagship stores for the other mobile providers like Vodafone as well).
I’ll also echo the advice to make sure the phone is unlocked (either by ATT or by jailbreaking) prior to leaving.</p>
<p>Daughter is in Italy & Spain for summer and is just using wifi on her iphone to access whatsapp & skype to contact us in US - no roaming or data charges (turned on airplane mode). Working well for her. She also got a cheap phone there to be able to text friends studying there with her.</p>
<p>The plaza in Madrid is actually Puerta del Sol, next to Plaza Mayor. Unless they dropped the service, Puerta del Sol is entirely wired for WiFi. </p>
<p>AT&T has also relented on the unlocking of iPhones. It has become quite easy.</p>
<p>Thank you for great tips. Is there a place at the airport in Madrid? She isn’t going into Madrid.</p>
<p>It is not easy to find a shop that sells SIM cards at the airport. This is one of the rare places that has carried them in the past. Crystal Media Shop</p>
<p>[Crystal</a> Media Shop - Shopping - Madrid-Barajas Airport - Aena Aeropuertos](<a href=“http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Madrid-Barajas/en/LTDA_FA/1237552909270/1237552878791/]Crystal”>http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Madrid-Barajas/en/LTDA_FA/1237552909270/1237552878791/)</p>
<p>It is, however, not hard to find them in cities outside Madrid.</p>
<p>Here is a site you can look at for information on country specific SIM cards.</p>
<p>[List</a> of Country-Specific Prepaid SIM threads - FlyerTalk Forums](<a href=“http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/1447563-list-country-specific-prepaid-sim-threads.html]List”>List of Prepaid SIM threads (country-specific and multi-country) - FlyerTalk Forums)</p>
<p>In some phones you can use it as a wifi hotspot and tether your laptop using the wifi. My ATT won’t let me do that because I have unlimited data plan but I just did it in Canada, tethering my iphone using wifi to my friend’s Canadian iphone.</p>
<p>I unlocked my old ATT phone (android) and bought a SIM chip in each country, in the UK, it was Virgin L10 card for unlimited data and L10 in calls. In France I paid for the SIM chip EU10 + EU10 for service which was also data only 500MB.</p>
<p>Thankfully I was in the UK first and discovered that my Android phone required detailed tech support to add the new network for data, it was fine for calling, but data required specific settings to be entered. The first few calls to Virgin were not helpful, therefore when I got to France I was able to find a bilingual friend to help me walk the L’Orange store through the process. They, too, did not want to believe it, they wanted to tell me all the other things like “it must be locked” “turn it off & on” etc.</p>
<p>You can use whats app on wi-fi and that worked fine for people in our group without unlocked phones</p>
<p>I tried to rent a phone from my carrier before our recent trip to Europe, but the phone had a bad battery, so I went phoneless. However, I did have my iPad, which I used each evening to check messages and touch base with our kids at home. I do not have the 4G version, so I had to find free wi-fi.</p>
<p>On another note, we were told to notify our credit card and ATM card providers that we would be traveling, so those services would not be discontinued. It was a good tip as I have an ATM card that is attached to savings and it would not have worked; I had to open a checking account.</p>
<p>Back to the main topic.</p>