mobile phone in France and Spain

Does anyone have experience buying a cheap mobile phone and/or a pre-paid sim card in Europe? I want info about coverage and %26#39;top up%26#39; options in France and Spain. Or should I buy a different card in each country? I%26#39;ll be in each country for 2 weeks, probably don%26#39;t need to call Australia, just local places. Also does anyone know if you can buy a sim card at CDG on a sunday morning?

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Hi;

When in Paris you can go to any number of stores like France Telecom Boutiques, BHV, Darty, Phonehouse, and by a pre-pay phone beginning at 29 euros for a basic phone, I prefer Orange.

It comes with 5 euros credit usually. You can then buy time many places like a local Tabac, to top up when needed.

There are a number of companies that offer such phones, Orange, Bouyges Telecom, a few more, that you should be able to use in Spain, but might have to load up in France....

SIM cards run about 19 euros so a basic phone for 29 is a good deal...

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I have bought one on Ebay Australia - cost was $24 and I had my phone unlocked so that I can use any sim card. Haven%26#39;t used it yet so I can%26#39;t tell you much more, but you can read about coverage and costs etc on Ebay.

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Your Australian phone will work in France and Spain. All you need is a sim.

I have a feeling that buying juts a sim is not all that easy now, though. France Telecom no longer has just sims (mobicarte) listed on its site. If it%26#39;s only for the occasional local call, I wouldnt bother, just suck up the pain of roaming rates and use your Australian phone and sim. If you%26#39;re only going to be making $25 worth of calls, a $30 sim is no advantage. It also makes it easier for Australian people to get you in an emergency. As long as youre not one of thsoe people always receiving calls from friends with nothing better to do, it could work out cheaper

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When we went to Paris a few months back (on a budget) I took my cell only so I could be reached in case of an emergency (roaming rates are something like $3 per min.).

As soon as I got to my lodging in Paris I bought a prepaid phone card, which allowed me to make 2 very long calls home to my kids every day. The card cost me 8 Euros and gave me around 3,000 minutes.

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Hi;

SIMS are available through France Telecom. Just bought on the other day for a client at Phonehouse.

Also at change shops you can get a phone card that works with cell phones so that you are dialing a local number for international calls... makes calls for the States under .06 per minute plus your local call time... Australia .10 per minute... prices in euros...

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Hello:

SFR sim: €29 (includes 5 € calling credit)

SFR sim+mobile phone: €39 (includes 5 € calling credit)

Call rates aprox 0.60 peak time, 0.30 off peak to landlines in france.

Gus

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thanks everyone- I feel very well informed now

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thanks I will take my cell and use it for texts and so I can be reached in case of an emergency. Craigmosre you mentioned:

%26quot;a phone card that works with cell phones so that you are dialing a local number for international calls%26quot; is this through Kosmos (www.ksurf.net)? Available at most Paris kiosks and tabac shops for 15 euros (approximately $18); provides 540 minutes of time to the United States, Canada and Europe.

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Won%26#39;t Telstra next G phones work in France - all you need is International roaming??? Or is the cost prohibitive?

Not really sure!

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Hi SydneyKath,

Even though you may have made up your mind from your last post, i thought i would just tell you what i have bought for our trip to Paris/Athens/Italy/Kuala Lumpur.

We were put on to ekit via our travel agent Flight centre, the address is www.ekit.com/mobile (If you are through Flight centre ask them about the discount they give you if you use this service, i got $10US of the price)

I only bought the sim card and the slightly more expensive one (cheaper it is the more the calls cost) as it offers 0.39cUS per minute to landline in Aussie %26amp; 0.79c per minute to Mobiles. Text is .49US per text (bout 55c AU which is lower than roaming with Optus who charge .75c). Calls are free for some-one ringing you on the toll free number and it only costs yourself the above rates. This was way more cheaper than roaming with Optus which is what i was originally going to do. I have tested it out on my phone and seems to have no problems- here it links up to Telstra so I assume they will have telco%26#39;s that it links up to in the other countries. The other thing I liked is that i have linked it up to recharging $30US everytime it drops below $5US, however when it is closer to the end of our holiday you can log on line and change this. It also has a service that you can ring and it will sms you your credit left- free of charge.

Hope this helps :)