Phones in Europe

[ritaxis]

Okay, you seasoned travelers, you. I have a Cingular LG something-cheap phone. I do not understand the website which is supposed to explain whether my phone will work in Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. I think this is possibly connected to the fact that what bthey really want you to do is to rent an "international" phone for $8 a day or $99 a month, or possibly buy a new phone from Cingular.

What's your experience? Can I use my phone? Emma has a fancier Nokia something-not-so-cheap.


I've been doing very little studying and planning for this trip because frankly the idea of getting into an airplane and going somewhere has me nauseous, and that's even before I start worrying about the dog and the cat. But it's less than six weeks away now so I have to get things in order.

Comments

[n6tqs.livejournal.com]

Your 'phone does seem to be a GSM tri-band model, and that will work in Europe. It'd be a lot cheaper to use over there if you get a local account, with a SIM card, but your 'phone may need to be "unlocked" to use that. And you may have to change a menu item to get it to use the European frequencies. We use 1900 here, they use 900/1800.
Make sure your charger is good for 240V, and you'll need a plug adapter.

[ckd]

For information on cheap local prepaid SIM cards in various countries, check out PrePaidGSM.net. As long as your phone isn't locked to use only a Cingular SIM (see above, and note that there will probably be folks who will unlock your phone for a small fee when you are in Europe) and it supports the appropriate frequency bands, you're all set.

We bought a pair of tri-band 900/1800/1900 phones just for travel a while back; we've bought SIMs in Germany and the UK, and used those SIMs in France and the Netherlands as well.