If you’re from the USA and you run on a network that isn’t global (like — Sprint maybe?), you’ll likely need to pick up a different phone for travel. Why buy when you can rent one for just the handful of days you’ll be gone? What’s your favorite vendor? Here’s one such vendor that Brigada participant, Tim, likes…
http://www.globalcellularrental.com/
They pretty much take care of everything, including shipping your phone to you the day before you leave. These are true global phones: they’ll work pretty much everywhere, with roaming rates up to 80% less than your home-based plan would have cost you. They also rent satphones which will work basically anywhere in the world as long as you’re outside.
Another Brigada user, with a great first name (“Doug”), likes
http://www.mobal.com/
They have a worldphone that you buy for $99 on a pay-as-you-go plan. No contracts, no hassles. Just prepay.
If you already own a GSM phone, just ask for a free SIM chip from Mobal. They’ll manage your relationships with virtually every country in the world (170, to be exact), allowing you to talk and recharge with one vendor. They make a strong case for their product at:
http://www.mobal.com/gsm/sim.asp
However, their rates seem higher than the vendor I’ve been using. See their USA landing page at:
http://www.gosim.com/?gosimusa
Got a favorite vendor for communications devices like these? Please recommend them by clicking “Comment” after this item on the web at…
We bought a $49 mobal phone which we use only abroad. Since much of our travel is to the UK, it works very well for us since it is a UK number and incoming calls are free in the UK. Calls in other countries are more expensive.