Getting Cell phone in Bordeaux, France

[sooner]

Hi All,

I know we have a number of Europeans and savvy travelers on this site, so here goes. My wife and kids are moving to Bordeaux for several months this Fall, and I am wondering how much it costs to buy a cell phone in France, whether you must sign a two-year contract as often is true in the US, and what are the per minute rates to the US?

Thanks in advance for any information, and sorry for the crazy request.

--John/sooner

 

[sf]

Let me go with them! I'll buy all the cellphones you want!

 

[BJ Bignell]

Your best bet would be to go to a small store near the train station, and buy a cheap, basic GSM phone that's not locked to any provider. If there's no store like this near the train station (and there always is, but just in case) the go to ebay and buy a used tri-band or quad-band phone that's unlocked. Or, buy an unlocked phone from someone in France or another European country; then you know it'll run on the right frequency.

Most major mobile providers have pay-as-you-go plans which work out to be quite cheap for light usage, and require no contract. Simply take your unlocked phone, get the SIM card, and you're off. Usually a SIM card with a few Euro credit included is 10-25 Euros.

Sometimes you'll even get a special promotion with the pay-as-you-go: In Germany, I got a new phone with SIM card, and 10 Euros of talk credit for 20 Euros, total.

 

[sooner]

Thanks BJ, I'll check out the Ebay phones but definitely plan to do the SIM card pay as you go. Thanks for the tip. --John

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Hypermarket prepaid phone cheap or free. As in phone €50, call credit €50. No contract.

Calls to US can be expensive. Thirty minutes a day can cost €500 a month.

 

[BJ Bignell]

Jon makes a good point; overseas calling with a mobile phone is a bad idea. Receiving a call is often free, but placing a call? Ooooh, boy!

Every city in Europe will have call shops, where you can make cheap calls around the world. Calls to Canada and the US vary from 5-15 Euro cents per minute.

Also, in France, every Tabac and call shop will sell long-distance calling cards, often with good rates to overseas destinations. These are usually best value when used from a home phone, but will usually work from a payphone (make sure to ask the seller first) and still give good value. Most will not work from a mobile phone, and even if they do, they're often not good value.

 

[MelanieC]

I'd probably just go into any major provider's store and tell them what you need. When I was doing research in Europe I used Orange.

It does cost an arm and a leg to call home, though. The one exception was in London where for some reason it cost mere pennies to make cell phone calls home -- the plan I had there was really good. I had to keep changing plans as I traveled. Sorry to not have more specific info but it isn't hard at all to get and use a cell phone there and the plans are more flexible than they are here generally.