Cell Phones Abroad

In my Travel Tips and Advice e-book, I mention that I have never traveled to Europe but I offered advice about using American system cell phones. I have discovered an article from the N.Y. Times titled "How to Make Phone Calls When Traveling in Europe" and thought it had great information for you, so I post it here for you to check out.

The advice they offer is similar to what I tell foreigners who want to call home from my hotel: Buy a Prepaid 'International' phone card from the local drug store! Now this does not address the question if you have a cell phone, so I think you may like the advice the Times editors offer. It certainly makes sense - you don't want to call your spouse in the hotel in Vienna from the plaza below by dialing to the U.S. and back to their phone. You may find the roaming charges to total in the hundreds instead of just costing 25 cents.

I suggested you should buy a cell phone (cheap) in Europe to use while there but i didn't realize you can RENT one according to the Times. Make sure you read the comments from readers too - the Times mentions a SIM card and one reader commented about how valuable this option is too.

You might want to read this article from the LA TIMES as well regarding the BEST Cell phone to use for Foreign Travel. The more you understand the cell phone landscape, the more smoothly your trip will go,

Comments

[Chris (Amateur Traveler travel podcast)]

Be very careful when you rent a cell phone in Europe especially if you are going to multiple countries you can really get hit by international phone charges which are huge. First figure out where you will be calling, will you be calling home or will you be calling ahead to your next hotel. Then I personally have bought an unlocked phone for use when I am Europe and will buy a prepaid simm card when I go to different countries.
//AmateurTraveler.com