Prepaid International SIM Cards

So, right now I use a prepaid phone with Virgin Mobile, and they don't have any roaming available, not even for an extra charge, and they especially don't have any international roaming available. Even if they did, most countries don't support non-GSM networks as consistently. Therefore, I'm looking at getting a cheap unlocked world phone with a SIM card meant for people traveling internationally often. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Telestial seems like the best option so far, but even that has some gotchas and reviews on Amazon that make me think twice. I don't plan on using this too much, just something to keep my family updated back home as my trip goes on (just a quick "made it on a flight from XYZ" for example) or emergencies. Something with a US number is required. Monthly fees is a big no-no, but having to top up every 6 months or whatever isn't so bad.

Any suggestions? I also know about Skype and them, but that can be kind of clumsy, especially in a busy airport (which may or may not have free wifi!)

I started looking into this when I went to Cambodia but it never went any further. Anyways, I think you can buy a used unlocked phone from local mobile stores that offer many phone plans (not stores owned by carriers). Then the best thing to do is buy sim cards at each country you enter. I did research the international sim cards but I thought they were expensive for minutes. I am not 100 % on my research but I believe the above would be the lowest cost way to have a phone. Boy, I am similar to you as I have a prepaid t-mobil cell phone (very basic-no games, ringtones, camera, data etc).
Hopefully this thread will help with other information to actually get a phone that is unlocked and takes sim cards.

Tony

If you only want to send texts just do roaming on your US phone, it'll be easier

Unfortunately, my phone won't even connect if I'm not at a Sprint tower in the US, which is what Virgin Mobile uses here. Works fine at home, but for real traveling not so much :-/

Ah the joys of US telcos!

Well, in this case, just the low-budget plans... but it works fine for me back in the states (except for the tiny towns/rural highways that get very little service by anyone anyway) but aside from the phone I had to buy ($200 for an Android phone) I do save $30/month by going this route, so I don't have any regrets :).

okay--treat me like a blonde--I'm more of a dork than a geek...

is this what I want to use overseas w/their local sim cards? don't need wifi (have netbook) don't care about the camera--just want to make local calls to hotels, airlines, emergencies etc.
Buy.com - Unlocked! SVP i6 DualSim Qwerty Keypad QuadBand GSM Camera Smart Cell Phone w/ Free 4GB microSD
Do I need the card? or will this do:
Buy.com - Unlocked! SVP i6 DualSim Qwerty Keypad QuadBand GSM Camera Smart Cell Phone

[QUOTE=mrs767er;61337I'm more of a dork than a geek...[/QUOTE]

I think the phone is fine, but I am not sure. The people that I talk to that do it buy a sim card when they get to the country they need it in. In fact, we recently had friends from Switzerland stay with us and that is what they did. They were able to purchase a sim card in NYC and used their current cell phone.

I have a question to throw out their two. In my family when we have had a phone die on us and it is still a while before we can get a free one through our carrier, we take the sim card out of it and buy a cheap Walmart "pay as you go" phone, and put the sim in that. We usually spend $20-$30 and it has worked just fine, but they have phones as cheap as $10. Wouldn't one of those Walmart phones do the same thing?

The problem with the cheap phones is they might not be able to be unlocked and they might not use the correct frequencies used for other countries.

What about an ipod touch with internet and then use Google Voice or something? You would just need to be in a place with access to wifi.

And as you mentioned it seems that the best thing to do (or at least the cheapest) is to buy a sim card for the country you are in.

Now I just need an unlocked phone that uses sim cards and has the frequencies for overseas use.

Tony

According to email from their CS dept--this one will work w/sims overseas. It's just $55, so I may as well try it.
We tried unlocking an older phone (also quadband) but didn't work. At least we got our "unlock fee" refunded.

Let me know how it goes. We have been thinking about getting one for our trips to Europe.

I did get the Telestial one, and for the most part it's been ok. The rate to make calls or send texts is a little high, but it is nice to have some of the features they include (like having a US and UK number on the same card). If you'll only be in 1-2 countries, it may be worth it to buy a SIM card from each country individually, but if you're going to be travelling all over it may be worth it to get the Telestial one so you can keep the same number.

I was also thinking of looking at phones that can take 2 SIM cards, that way I can have a local card for local calls relatively cheap, which would be great for me in Spain when I know some people, and that Telestial one for calls to/from home.

Edit: forgot the most important part. At first, I had trouble using it once I got to Spain. I could send text messages, but I couldn't make calls. What seemed to fix the problem was to switch it from automatically connecting to a random company's network (default was Movistar) and specifically tell it to connect to Vodafone's towers instead. Since it's a roaming card, it doesn't really matter which company I connect to, and I had good luck with Vodafone when I was in SVQ a couple years ago.

Here is the scoop on international SIM cards. If you are traveling only to one country, it makes sense to get a "country specific" SIM card as the rates are very low. For example, the Lebara SIM card for Australia gives you rates of $0.05 to call the US plus free incoming. However, if you are traveling to many countries - or even just 2-3, get a roaming SIM card. I use the National Geographic SIM card for this. Often, I am in a country for 2-3 weeks at a time and I use a local SIM card. The last one was the Uno Mobile SIM card for Italy. You can get in on Amazon or Cellular Abroad - International Cell Phone Rentals and SIM Cards, a company that specializes in country specific SIM cards and will talk to you on the phone, something that Amazon will not do.
Personally, I would never roam with my T-Mobile. I do not want to pay a buck a minute in Europe for a call, especially from Aunt Ruth who won't shut up! "Oh, you're in Italy? that's nice dear...tell me about it!"

I'm with you--we just want to change local sim cards for stays like 3-7 days for local calls. We don't call home unless we're on our netbook with skype. We don't want any roaming. I understand I can buy a local sim for peanuts in most countries from Seven Eleven type stores, as long as I have an unlocked phone like I linked in my # 7 post