Cell Phone Use

[Eagle]

I'm considering taking my Cell Phone along on my trip to Europe, and would be interested to know what experiences others have had with this (especially Canadians). The phone is extremely compact, light and easy to carry and I want it just for emergencies, confirming reservations at the next stop, advising Hotels of delays in arrival, etc. I won't be using it for general "chatting". The phone I'm using is a tri-band GSM, so this should work on most if not all Euro cell networks. My provider (Rogers/AT&T) has roaming agreements in place (0.99/minute + air time in many countries) so this shouldn't cost too much for short calls.
I haven't checked yet to find out if my phone is unlocked, and therefore capable of using Euro SIM cards? I've heard that SIM cards are widely sold in many countries, even from vending machines, and the airtime rates for these are incredibly cheap! The GSM phones can cost up to $250.00 for "unlocking", however some dealers offer much lower costs for this. If the phone is locked, I don't have a problem with just using the roaming.
Any comments are appreciated.

[pam]

hi there,
i took my gsm phone with me to europe - thankgod because it saved my life many times. i really suggest taking one. it's so worth it - however, havin roaming on is really expensive. i bought prepaid sim cards and used that instead, are you going to be in any country log enough to use the sim card? otherwise, just keep it to roaming instead of having to change cards, i didnt find it a problem. in france, i bought one from ORange and SFR, both abt 30 euros a sim chip.

[Eagle]

Thanks very much for your comments. Sorry about the delay in replying, but I've been working and haven't had time to check the site. Your experience with cell phone use reinforces my decision to include this in my travel kit. The roaming rates are getting better all the time. Most countries served by my cell provider are presently 0.99/minute (Cdn.$) plus local airtime. For occasional use or emergencies, I might just stay with roaming but will assess that at the time (not sure if my phone is unlocked?). Thanks again, and happy travels.

[Jemock2000]

We are considering purchasing a GSM phone for my 19-year old son to take to Europe with him this summer. I've seen package deals offering an unlocked phone and a prepaid "global" sim card for around $150.

Would this be a good idea, or is it better just to use prepaid phone cards from regular phones? Is it a hassle to keep up with a phone or to place calls or reload time on the cards?

Would appreciate any recommendations.

[Kim]

Using phone cards was no hassle at all. You buy a prepaid amount and when you are done, you throw it away-rather than reload it.

They are country specific-as in you can't use one you buy in France in Spain, so I usually decide how big of a card to buy depending on how long my stay is.

You can buy the phone cards anywhere and it's so easy-personally I wouldn't bother buying a phone, especially if he's only going a few months.

He's probably going to be so busy having fun that he won't call home more than once a week! Even that.. with email, I think in 7 months we probably called home once a month. Email makes life so easy-you can drop a quick email home every couple of days for next to nothing.

Kim

[WillTravel]

I asked a more general question on rec.travel.europe about what cell phone to get in Europe and got a lot of responses:

tinyurl.com/av0l