Looks like no one here has experience with this deal. Personally, my
advice would be to get an unlocked phone, and get a either a local sim
in eachc country or get a global sim card that will give you free
incoming calls in all those countries. Some of these sim cards will
also give you a US number, such as Yackie, Celtrek, and Maxroam.

You can check prepaidgsm.net for more info.



Michael Feldman;753428 Wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> In June I'll be in Europe for about 4 weeks - a week in France, then 10
>
> days in Italy, then 10 days in the Netherlands. My sons and their wives
>
> will be with us for much of the trip, but we may go separate ways for a
>
> time while we're there.
>
> I'm looking for a convenient and inexpensive way to stay in touch with
>
> my sons while we're all in Europe. One kid has Cingular GSM already;
> the
> other has Verizon service here in the States.
>
> Currently my wife and I have Verizon service here in Portland; we're
> happy enough with the program and service to stay with it, so no need
> for a quad-band phone. Also, we can make the odd call back to the
> States
> using European prepaid phone cards. My last trip to Europe was in 1999
>
> before I got turned on to cellphones.:-)
>
> Some have recommended buying an unlocked phone before leaving, then
> acquiring SIM cards in each country, or else a single European SIM
> card.
> Others have suggested just buying a cheap prepaid phone when we
> arrive.
>
> RailEurope has a lnk from their website to callineurope.com. They seem
>
> to have the best deal I've seen: $19. for an unlocked Motorola C123
> (though the phone model seems to change from week to week), plus $29.
> for a Europe-wide SIM card, plus airtime at $.39 or $.69 per minute
> (depending on country). Incoming is $.39/min in W. Europe. You order it
>
> over the web and receive it here before you go. We do texting rarely if
>
> ever, just brief voice calls.
>
> How does this deal compare with others you've seen? Any experience with
>
> the company? I suppose the RailEurope endorsement means it's not
> completely fly-by-night.
>
> Any advice will be much appreciated!
>
> Mike




--
mrcamp