If You Have To Rent A Cell Phone While Abroad...

This past summer, our cell phone provider wouldn't unlock our phone so we could get a SIM card�damn you, T-Mobile�which made us incommunicado during our month-long trip to Italy. Sure, we tried using phone cards, but they aren't so easy to come by in some small Italian villages, and Internet access wasn't always readily available for us to jump on Skype. And while we vowed to troll craigslist to buy an unlocked phone, we found another alternative with TravelCell rentals.

The company provides rental phones to travelers in more than 200 countries, and a selling point is that all incoming calls are free. A bonus is that TravelCell ships the phone to you before you leave for your trip. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about as you prepare for your vacay, but it's a convenience you'll pay for; shipping is additional $10 or $20 for overnight delivery.

Right now the site is having a Stimulus Sale, so we checked out rates for Italy. A weeklong rental costs $14.99, originally $29.99, with a $2.25 fee for each extra day (usually $4.50). Outgoing local calls cost 89 cents a minute and calls to the U.S. and Canada are $1.39 per minute. You also have the option to buy insurance for 99 cents a day. Otherwise, if you lose the phone, you'll have to cough up $250.

Before placing your order, the site shows you what kind of phone package you'll get. For Italy, we'd receive a Nokia 3110 Classic, equipped with a Bluetooth and camera; charger; carrying case; and prepaid UPS packaging to return the phone. Accessories are also available, like a car charger (free) and hands-free kit ($5 and you keep it). You may opt to add on a toll-free U.S. number, which has a $5 setup fee and costs an additional 50 cents per minute, so your honey can call you when he gets lonely. Plus, text messages count as regular incoming/outgoing calls, so you can Tweet about your trip.

Obviously, the big downside of this is that the expenses can quickly pile up. But it's gotta be better than paying for crazy roaming charges on a T-Mobile bill.

[Photo: emilio labrador]

Comments (3)

Return to » If You Have To Rent A Cell Phone While Abroad...

That's a bit harsh really, most companies offer free sim cards now for going abroad. They might as well offer you a deal when you head on vacation otherwise it's all to easy to pick up a pay as you go phones before you leave that offer better international rates.

I will be in Ireland and Italy for a month and a half this summer studying. I would feel more comfortable having a cell phone so I could communicate with them while I am there. But I'm also going to be making a couple phone calls a week back to the U.S. Will buying a cell phone in Europe be a cheap way to communicate within my study abroad group?I'm interested in Nokia 5530. Should I just get a phone card to make calls back the U.S.? I checked with Verizon and I would have to "rent" a global phone, coming out to cost $200. And then I pay per minute, which is $1.27 for outgoing calls. Please help! I will definitely appreciate all suggestions...!

I tend to think that using a cell phone abroad is going to be wildly expensive but it seems that it doesn't have to be the case any more. That's pretty cool. Beth

Jaunted

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