Caroline Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I know this has been done to death, but I cannot seem to search correctly to find the information, it is not for WIFI just purely phone use. What is the best thing to do when in France for mobile phone use. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I don't think you can get a French sim without a French address. Charges have come down so much so unless you are a large user roaming charges are not that expensive, typically, 28p/min to make a call, 7p/min to receive, 8p text. If it's not urgent we send a text asking them to call us, or wait until we have a wifi connection then use either Viber or Skype. Viber has the advantage if it's installed on a phone it's active and you don't need to rely on the recipient being logged in but the sound quality is not as good as Skype. Also anyone of your contacts who has Viber it will show up in your contacts. Viber only works on phones. A bit of info in this artical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t5topcat Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 whatsapp is good too (only on wi fi) free for first year (unlimited texts and picture messages) and then 69p a year thereafter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 France has got to be the most bureaucratic country in Europe..Spain/Italy no problem buying a SIM. Or anywhere else we visit for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 It won't cost you very much at all nowadays, SO LONG AS you don't waffle to people on it for hours and hours. Here are a few things that I can think of........... Do not waffle on it for hours and hours. 1. Make sure you have a password set on it so no-one who might nick it can use it. (Hopefully you've already done that, as you're far more likely to get it nicked in the UK than whilst in France) 2. Set your phone to allow international roaming BEFORE you leave the UK. 3. Make sure your regular contact numbers in your mobile phone memory have the international "+44" in front of their numbers, and dropping the initial zero from the regional part of their landline number. 4. If you have a smart phone, turn "Data Roaming" to "Off", and KEEP IT OFF. It is downloading data whilst roaming abroad (ie using the internet via your airtime provider, rather than going to somewhere that offers wifi) that costs a fortune, not making the odd very quick talk-call. 5. Remember, you get charged a part of the call-fee for receiving calls whilst abroad; as well as for making them. So use it as little as possible for talk-calls, and if you do answer a call or make a call, keep it as brief as possible. Did I mention not waffling for hours and hours? 6. Programme the number "112" into your mobiles memory under "Emergency" numbers. That number works anywhere in Europe, even if your phone is locked or has no credit. In case of a real emergency, ring that number and even if you can't speak the language, then DO NOT hang up - the emergency services can triangulate using the network to find out where you are. 7. Do not waffle on it for hours and hours. And finally, probably the best tip: Do not waffle on it for hours and hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Also check if your network offers any 'bundles' for use abroad, if you are expecting to make frequent use of your phone they might work out cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Vodaphone offer a deal of £3.00 per day to use your conract allowance including data. This fee is only charged if you use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest searchforsites Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Mickt - 2013-05-22 12:28 PM Vodaphone offer a deal of £3.00 per day to use your conract allowance including data. This fee is only charged if you use it. This is what we are planning on using next week. Mrs has upgraded her phone to an S4 with unlimited txts, unlimited calls and 2GB data, using the Vodafone offer knowing in advance that it is only going to cost a maximum of £21 for any internet or calls I don't think is too bad. With that kind of deal you CAN waffle on all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 We are with T-mobile and get a 'free booster' with our deal which we can change to what we want, in UK we have unlimited land lines, but when we come abroad we can change it to the Euro booster which gives us about 85 texts, or about 17 mins of call time per 30 days. For newer customers who don't have this on their deal they can still buy the booster for £5.00 for 30 days which will give them the same amount of calls/texts. I had a call today from Yorkshire Bank! 8-) I've arranged some money transfers to take place whilst I'm away as a bond in maturing today, so they wanted to check they were genuine ... good job I answered it! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 searchforsites - 2013-05-22 1:58 PM Mickt - 2013-05-22 12:28 PM Vodaphone offer a deal of £3.00 per day to use your conract allowance including data. This fee is only charged if you use it. This is what we are planning on using next week. Mrs has upgraded her phone to an S4 with unlimited txts, unlimited calls and 2GB data, using the Vodafone offer knowing in advance that it is only going to cost a maximum of £21 for any internet or calls I don't think is too bad. With that kind of deal you CAN waffle on all day. You can't, but she can. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 thanks all that was great. Another source has mentioned LeFrenchMobile and PINGO the latter being for a landline but I thought you might be interested. :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I only have P.A.Y.G Orange which as soon as I switch it on in France changes to Orange France and every country we go through it changes to a different server I usually have about £40 on the phone when we go away for 6 weeks and only ever text home only using the phone if needed Vets Etc; in France. I always come back with over £20 on it !! as you can probably make out ! I go away to get away !! I only ever take my phone out with me for my emergencies. If you take your laptop I have a notebook that I take with me easier to pack away :-D I use Skype if I can get wifi on sites and talk to family for free! I dont want to be too available for family when away unless its urgent ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianBW Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Last week, 26th May, I called into,'Carrefore' Montpellier, where there was an Orange phone outlet. There he offered me a French Sim card for for 9.99.euros plus 5euros for calls. French call charges applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Before the Navigator got her smart phone, we used this sim card in a spare phone. Did what it said on the box. http://www.0044.co.uk/france/ Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 My bog standard O2 phone costs me £10-50 per month,[ Sim Only ]for this I get 200 free minutes and 200 free txts in UK, when roaming in France, Spain Germany or where ever I have to pay 50p connection charge per call, and the calls come out of my minutes allowance, 50p to receive a call too, so it is very cheap to use I don't use internet on it, can't be bothered with that whilst away, my phone is just there for home contact and emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul M Who Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Hi Caroline,The best deal is to go to www.0044.co.uk and check out the Europe SIM. It work as a local number in 12 countries and you only get charged 9p a minute for local and international calls and 9p an SMS. No charge to receive a call or an SMS.We paid £15 including £5 credit and added £30 a top-up. We left the UK in mid May and have been using it in France and Spain for 6 weeks now and still have just over £20 of credit left and that is after dozens of SMS's and a few calls to Australia and the UK. I'm taking it back home to Oz when we go back in August as the Europe SIM can be used in Oz. NO ONE in Oz gives you 9p (15c) a minute phone calls or SMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Had a quick look at 0044 for data and I must be missing something as for PAYG it is £0.29/Mb as against €0.07/Mb from Movifresh in Spain. What am I doing wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 sshortcircuit - 2013-06-10 3:46 PM Had a quick look at 0044 for data and I must be missing something as for PAYG it is £0.29/Mb as against €0.07/Mb from Movifresh in Spain. What am I doing wrong? Hmm...was just going to ask re data....but for calls/text sound OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ineedflower Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Caroline - 2013-05-21 4:14 PM I know this has been done to death, but I cannot seem to search correctly to find the information, it is not for WIFI just purely phone use. What is the best thing to do when in France for mobile phone use. B-) I agree with Paul M Who. I tried that site for bought sim,I never had any problem. Before getting your Sim card,Make sure your phone is unlocked.If it's locked by particular network provider means,you can't use french sim card without unlocking.For unlocking you can approach your service provider or else try to buy an unlocking service from any one of the online unlocking service provider like http://www.unlock-zone.com/supported-phones/rs5wp7/ Here you can unlock your phone at low cost and you can get free phone unlock instructions from http://www.mobileunlockguide.com/ I hope it will be very useful to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solwaybuggier Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Another option is www.joemobile.fr - seems to be an offshoot of SFR, but working more like Giff Gaff here. You can customise what you buy (from 5€ a month,) appears to be easy to turn it off, and is certainly available in advance to UK residents (they have an English language information sheet for foreigners, I found it at http://www.raylambert.plus.com/snow/00_joe_mobile.pdf ) Unless anyone's had any bad experiences with them, that is? (I've got a sim, but not yet activated or used it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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