Pay As You Go Mobile

[PaddyW]

I need to buy a pay as you go phone at Easter. Can anyone recommend the best telephone provider to go with?
PaddyW

[katrina]

mobile phones

HI,

When we were over in January we found that when accepting calls in Spain from UK numbers it was costing us and the person phoning us ended up very costly.

We bought a phone from Carrefour in Torre the girl behind the counter was more than helpful smashing wee modern phone easy to use and it only cost us 46 E which gave us 18 E in calls and if yoiu sent back the registration document they credited you with another 6 E so all in all the phone only cost us 22 E Bargain!!

They will give you information on what tariff is best for you and you can buy a telephone card to put in your phone for 5 E which gives you if I remember right 115 minutes of calls to UK landlines.

[Doc]

Hi Paddy.

I bought mine at Carrefour too, but it was a while ago now and I don't remember the cost, but like Katrine most of the cost of the phone was actually call credit.

Remember that you must top your phone up with credit (whether you need to or not) at least every six months (nine months for Vodafone) or your sim card will be disabled by the network and you'll lose any remaining credit on it. If your sim is disabled you'll have to buy a new one, and therefore you'll lose your old number and have to learn a new one.

Another good place to try is Dog and Bone in the parade of shops at La Zenia roundabout (just down the hill from Changing Rooms).

HTH,

Chris.

[smoki41]

[katrina]

mobile phones

Hi,

We choose not to swap the cards from one phone to the other mainly due to the fact that if someone from the UK needed to contact you they would still be able to do so if your UK phone had it's sim card in it and was operational. We couldn't be bothered with the changing over of sims either as we're a tad lazy!

The phone we bought from Carrefour was on special offer which I am sure they change all the time it wasn't the cheapest so maybe if you go for a middle of the range it might be a better option.

Katrina

[Doc]

Like you, Katrina, I can't be bothered swapping sims back and forth. Also, I like to leave the Spanish mobile in Spain so I don't have to worry about remembering to take it with me when I visit!

Chris.

[@l@in]

Hi there!

If you want to buy a pay as you go mobile you can do two things:
1. buy a prepaid pack from one of the operators (Movistar, Amena, Vodafone),
2. Get a Spanish SIM card to fit a simfree mobile (this is a mobile that is not restricted to a certain network).
I recommend you to get Movistar, Vodafone is not bad but don't get Amena they are not that good (they do cheap phones though).
Further if you got one, keep the box, receipt and guarantee in case of troubles!

[Lizzy]

phone sim card etc

I am not into technicalities and use my phone solely for making calls - just to understand the level of expertise of the person writing this message before we start.

so now to business.

if I use my english mobile in spain it costs me a fortune to send and receive calls and costs the person at the other end also.
what difference does having a spanish mobile make both to my costs and to recipient costs


I have loads of old phones in the UK and I want to take one to use in Spain. so do I firstly need to get this unlocked, so it will use any SIM

then go to carrefour or wherever

then do I buy a pay as you go SIM - is this possible?

notice some networks are recommended as better than others

then my old phone will have a spanish number.

am I on the right wavelength here?

Liz

[Doc]

http://trycktill.com/eng/default.asp ) which will give you the unlock codes for a number of phones absolutely free. If you have a phone that matches their unlock codes list you're proverbially laughing.

Just remember that you need to top up your PAYG sim at least once every six months (nine months for Vodafone) whether you have remaining credit or not, otherwise the network will switch off your sim and you'll have to buy a new one, losing your existing number and any credit you may have had left on the phone.

HTH,

Chris.

[PaddyW]

I have never been to Carrefour - is the phone shop within the supermarket itself or is it one of the shops in the complex?
PaddyW

[katrina]

mobile phones

Spot on reply Doc!

In reply to your question Paddy the mobile phone section is inside the Carrefour store just as you enter can't miss it.

Katrina