I will be spending 4 months in Greece and would like to know what the least expensive alternative for cell phone usage will be. I willl want to keep in touch with my friends and family in the US. Help!!!
Get an unlocked GSM phone. Buy a prepaid SIM in Greece and have your folks calling you on your Greek number. There is a guy on howardforums who uses cell service in the US and Greece. You may want to post your question there also. C.
Let me expand on this. Get a T-Mobile GSM phone (I don't think Cingular sell GSM in Florida yet, and AT&T will not unlock the phone for you). Make SURE it is a tri-band phone (900/1800/1900 MHz - Greece operates on 900/1800 MHz and the US operates on 1900MHz). Send an e-mail to simunlock@t-mobile.com with your account number, type of phone, phone's IMEI # (found under the battery on a sticker, or by pressing *#06# on the phone), and tell them you will be going to Greece and would like to use a Greek SIM so you can have a local number. They will reply (can take anywhere from two hours to two weeks) with your phone's unlock code. When you get to Greece, buy a pre-paid SIM card and put it in your T-Mobile phone. (Make sure to keep your T-Mobile SIM in a safe place so you can use the phone when you get back to the States!) It will prompt you for your unlock code. Enter it, and then you will have your American phone with a Greek number. Tell your parents or whoever to get one of those cheap international calling cards, the ones that advertise 7 or 8 or 10 cents per minute to Greece. (They can get them anywhere, the best deals are in Asian megastores and Asian-owned cell phone shops.) Have them use that card to call your Greek cell phone number. In Europe, almost every provider gives free incoming calls. Voilà, you have your solution. If you need to call the U.S., either get a regular calling card in Greece (check the rates, and remember it will cost you EUR 0,20 or so per minute for the cell phone in addition to the cost of the Greek calling card), or stick your T-Mobile card back in the phone and use it ($1.49 per minute), depending which is cheaper. Remember, when calling the US from your phone, put a + before the 1 and the area code, so +1 305 555 1212. Your choices of carrier in Greece are: Cosmote (1800 MHz, customer service at +30 97 1000 164, good land coverage) Telestet (900 MHz, customer service at +30 93 2331 260, lots of over-water coverage) Panafon/Vodafone (900 MHz, customer service at +30 94 4400 134, by far the best coverage over water) Hope this helps!
Zaphod, you are the man! I guess I am not a guy of too many words... Just to add one thing: If you don;t want to sign up for a cell plan in the U.S. you could also get an unlocked phone from ebay. Or you can get a (most propably locked) phone with a local Greek prepaid service. The last option would be the most expensive and useless one, but it;s still an option... C.
Currently my friend is in Greece for the summer traveling all over the Dodecanese - Greek Islands. Believe me from our cell experiences; she had WIND SIM (one week) which did work some times and then went into roaming a lot which is a very high cost. However we found the best and cost effective prepaid SIM service is Cosmote They have store at Athens airport when you arrive in Greece with great customer service and will set your phone to work correctly and explain options for calls back to the USA as well as free SMS for your family and friends to send to you via their web page (make sure you ask about this) COSMOTE SIM prepaid is the way to go if your staying for longer then 1 month.
When I went to Europe I bought a cell phone here that I could use in Europe. When I got there I was having problems with it and had to use phone cards not the best way to go about things..I wish you better luck than I had. My friend has an international phone that is your best bet to communicate back home.
