Work colleague going to EU - need advice.

[snaimon]

Guys, I am stumped.

A colleague from work is taking his 2 teenage kids to England, Scottland & France for total of 10 days end of August. Wants 3 phones to stay in touch in case of emergency.

Course they have US CDMA prepaid service, so he needs phones and SIMs. Going to London first.

I was thinking they could pick up 3 prepaid Vodafone packages and activate the travel promise. What's that going to cost & what's the best place to do this?

OR is there a better option. I only have 1 spare phone and could loan him the Riiing SIM, too, but that does not really solve the problem. He doesn't do eBay and because they already have CDMA phones/service, I think that would be silly.

Thanks,

Stan

[petkow]

I presume he will be spending more time in UK than in France? If that's the case, you're probably right. The Vodafone deals maybe best. i.e. Pick up UK Vodafone SIM's and activate Vodafone passport (for when they are in France) and if they are anticipating many calls with each other whilst they are in the UK, they could activate Vodafone Family. (This is all ofcourse presuming he can get a hold of 3 handsets)

I'll deal with Vodafone Family first. One person in the predesignated 'family' has to pay £5 out of his credit, and then all can talk to each other for free during that Month (for calls upto 1hr duration). www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafonefamily

The passport option doesn't actually cost anything to setup (just dial 5555 from all 3 SIM's). With this option, when they are in France... each call (incoming or outgoing) costs £0.75 to setup then normal UK rates apply. This means calls from one person to another will cost a setup of £1.50 (the person who dials pays £0.75 and the person who recieves pays £0.75). The person who receives pays no further per minute rate, but the person dialing pays as if he is calling Vodafone to Vodafone back in the UK. (30p/min for the first 3 mins in a day, 10p/min after). Unfortunately Passport and Family do not work together!
www.vodafone.co.uk/passport

[petkow]

By the way you order the Vodafone SIMs on their website for £2 (inc. £2 credit). http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm...s.payasyoutalk

You can also buy a handset which comes with a Vodafone SIM starting at around £30 in many places here in the UK. You could check out http://niftylist.co.uk/mobiles/payg_deals for the best deals (I believe the Vodafone handsets start on page 3). For example I should think you could pickup the triband Nokia 6080 at a Carphonewarehouse Store for £29.95 (when bought with £10 airtime).
http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/pa...vodafone/sstep

[DRNewcomb]

They should also probably get familiar with SMS as a way to keep in touch. It will help reduce costs, particularly when roaming. Loaning them a spare phone is probably a good idea. I often loan spares to my friends.

[snaimon]

The £30 phone price is a bit steep. Your Carphone Warehouse has handsets for £15 + £10 airtime. That would be a bit cheaper entry price. I think it's the handsets that are the BIG problem.

Stan

[petkow]

Originally Posted by snaimon

I think it's the handsets that are the BIG problem.

You're right on that. I suppose he will need to fork out on at least 2 handsets... which will be the most expensive element.

However, I think he will not get it for much less than the £30 I mentioned, (if he wants to get a handset that he can use the Vodafone SIM in without paying more to unlock etc). True, there are clearance deals even starting at £5 for other networks... but not on Vodafone.... Though correct me if I am wrong. Where did you see £15?? (presume on the Carphonewarehouse site?)

However, if they get used to sending SMS's once roaming the Virgin Mobile tariffs are also good. He can pick up various low priced handsets locked to them. I think at the moment they come with a promo of 200 included minutes (which will probably do them for the 10 days....)

[snaimon]

Originally Posted by petkow

You're right on that. I suppose he will need to fork out on at least 2 handsets... which will be the most expensive element.

Where did you see £15?? (presume on the Carphonewarehouse site?)

Indeed, Carphonewarehouse. And you had to ADD £10 of airtime.

200 min should do; mainly thought of in case of emergency or if they are separated for some reason. You know how teenagers are.

We may be regrouping a bit on the handsets. Either he'll check out Ebay or look at local shops, if one can be found, selling GSM phones. Phone would have to be UNLOCKED from the start. I can of course test that. Luckily he does have some time and great advice from this forum! He can always count on the Vodaphone £30 offer as a price reference.

Here you can pick up a prepaid package (phone and SIM) rather cheaply -- well under the £30 at some stores like Target. Trouble is most of the inexpensive handsets are only 850/1900 --worthless in EU.

I think they will have better things to do than hunt down a closeout phone offer when in London.

Thanks, all.

Stan

[KPO'M]

Originally Posted by snaimon

I think they will have better things to do than hunt down a closeout phone offer when in London.

Thanks, all.

Stan

Teenagers, Oxford Street, and London? I think they'll do just fine! Dad can go buy the phones while the teens check out the shops. The basement of Carphone Warehouse has a lot of cheap closeout handsets - just pick up 3 cheap ones, and, at least for now, it's still possible in the UK to buy phones and SIMs with minimal hassle (no passports, etc.).

I've usually found Vodafone to be the priciest of the UK providers, but it's worth checking. Orange (part of France Telecom), O2 (part of Telefonica), and T-Mobile are the other main UK providers. Virgin and Carphonewarehouse are two major MVNOs. Check out each of their UK websites and see what they have in "pay as you go" plans.

[petkow]

Originally Posted by KPO'M

I've usually found Vodafone to be the priciest of the UK providers...

You're right! I only suggested them because of their good roaming options (Passport).

For better value, I would recommend T-Mobile "Mates rates". With this you can call any other T-Mobile user at any time for only 5p/min. With these plans, it is also possible to make calls back to the US (and other countries) for only 3p/min via a 07755 access code.