Question phone sim cards in Germany?

[Engnr]

I have some friends that are planning a trip to Germany later this year, they wanted to know if the sim card in their phones would work if they just place them into a local phone they picked up while on vacation.

 

[Rockycore]

As long as the phones they're using are unlocked I guess their sim cards would work. Although they'd be roaming. Cheaper to get their phones unlocked and get local sim cards.

 

[tmtm]

What you want is a sim card from a local carrier to put into your existing phone (depending on carrier). If you put your local sim into a new phone you're going to get the horror of international roaming/data and the 4-5 digit bills that come with it. Just tell them to buy cheap prepaid phones when they get there.

 

[Rockycore]

prepaid all the way.

 

[JohnnyK]

Agree with rocky and tm. Also, if they want this to call home to the US they should use Skype instead (via WiFi, which is free in most hotels, McDonalds or Starbucks) - calls to the US will be just as expensive from German prepaid cards.

If they want to make calls within Germany they should get a prepaid card for their own phone(s) if those are unlocked or if need be get a cheap Nokia or so. Germany has GSM (900 and 1800), UMTS (3G, 1920 to 1980 MHz and 2110 to 2170 MHz) and LTE (probably only in cities for now), so the phone needs to support at least the GSM frequencies.

Most prepaids in Germany piggyback on the network of a major carrier (who also have their own prepaids), so reception should not be an issue. However, they might be hard to get from outside the US, so the best bet is probably to buy the card in a shop at the airport when they land.

 

[tmtm]

Whatever they do, tell them to keep their domestic phones turned off in their suitcase, or pull the sim and use it with Skype on wifi like JK said. More then one person didn't realize their phone was still syncing on their happy little trip through Europe until they got the bill.

 

[Engnr]

Thank you sir's!

 

[JohnnyK]

At least disable mobile data - easy to do on any smartphone. Also, if they have their phones on they should disable voicemail before leaving the US. Some carriers might charge them for the redirecting of missed calls.