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We are heading off to France for a month this fall and are trying to figure out phone options.
I have an AT&T iphone here in the states and would like to use the apps while traveling. My husband does not think we need two smart phones, but we would like to be able to text each other when we split up to see different things.
I don't need voice calling, as our apartment rental includes free calls back to the US for the few actual calls we would be making.
Are there options for renting smart phones with pay as you go plans in France? Or is it cheaper to use the AT&T international options for texting and data for that month?
Also, has anyone bought a cheap sim card based phone for texting in France? Is that the way tomgo for a second phone? Or should he bring his iphone with everything but international texting turned off?
I'm planning to just add AT&T data and texting for my trip to Denmark next month. That will give me use of a phone while traveling, and will also allow my family to contact me without incurring international test charges on their end. I could probably save some money by renting/buying a prepaid phone, but I'm willing to pay a bit more for the convenience of using my own phone.
We have non-smart phones (that do text) with a couple different SIMS for different parts of Europe. We bought them in London for what worked out to $14 each, and topped off the SIM with about $20 in minutes on each. We bought SIMS in a few other countries as well.
I have also used the international calling and data on my US smart phone, but that gets pretty expensive. If I call a Euro number while in Europe, I get charged both for the call from Europe as well as a long distance rate. Fine if I only plan on making a one minute call once or twice, but not good for day-to-day use.
Get a SIM card in France. Make sure it includes data, since you're using it for apps.
Prepaid sim card for France they will ship it to you before you leave. Or, you can use Google maps to find an Orange shop at a convenient location when you arrive in France and buy it there.
I have an Iphone. I add a data plan for a month. Generally I turn of 3G and have it set to wifi. Lots of wifi available. I never get a special phone.. The key is to turn off 3G.. Just keep it on airplane most of the time.
ETA, I have AT&T. I just call them at the airport and add international data for a month
You can also have your phone unlocked to use a foreign SIM, but you'll need to meet certain criteria: https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/. If you meet the requirements for an unlock, that's probably the best way to go cost-wise.
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