Cell phone tips for those traveling to the UK in groups
I just got back from an intense yet rewarding school trip to London and Paris with about 20 other journalism students, and since my job was essentially cat-herding, I knew everyone needed a cell phone. I went through a pile of web sites, including this community, for information on the simplest way everyone could get phones. I got some good leads, but here's what eventually worked, just in case any of you were in a similar situation:
1) A student rented a phone from Cellhire and said she would use them again. I don't work for these guys but apparently they shipped the phone quickly and were a decent price.
2) Some students were able to use their US phones. One who had an iPhone just did extra-careful monitoring of her data usage, as surprise $200 phone bills really, really suck.
3) One student, instead of having a cell phone, decided to just get a calling card and check in with me via pay phone at predetermined times. It ended up not working out at all, as she didn't know exactly what numbers to punch to call either a UK or a US cell phone. (Plus I had to talk with her for other reasons aside from the check-ins, and cat-herding is difficult enough.)
4) The majority of us, as soon as we settled into our hotel, just went into a Carphone Warehouse and asked for the cheapest pay-as-you-go phone available. We got a Sony Ericsson J132 that was basic but useful, with a TalkMobile international SIM card. It only cost about 5 pounds for the phone if you charged it up with 10 pounds of minutes, so it was a good, simple, headache-free deal. We got our phones within 10 minutes and pieced together the phones within another 10. They also worked (as long as everyone could top up by credit card) in mainland Europe but for a much steeper rate. But that raised another problem...
5) Is there a place that buys back used mobiles? We have about 10 or so we want to unload, and rather than listing them all on Craigslist, I was wondering if anyone knows of a place - in the States or even in the UK - that would buy them back.
Would also welcome suggestions on other sites like Cellhire that does group cell phone rentals. I was reluctant to go the rental route because of the steep deposits, but if you've had experience with a good company, by all means share!
1) A student rented a phone from Cellhire and said she would use them again. I don't work for these guys but apparently they shipped the phone quickly and were a decent price.
2) Some students were able to use their US phones. One who had an iPhone just did extra-careful monitoring of her data usage, as surprise $200 phone bills really, really suck.
3) One student, instead of having a cell phone, decided to just get a calling card and check in with me via pay phone at predetermined times. It ended up not working out at all, as she didn't know exactly what numbers to punch to call either a UK or a US cell phone. (Plus I had to talk with her for other reasons aside from the check-ins, and cat-herding is difficult enough.)
4) The majority of us, as soon as we settled into our hotel, just went into a Carphone Warehouse and asked for the cheapest pay-as-you-go phone available. We got a Sony Ericsson J132 that was basic but useful, with a TalkMobile international SIM card. It only cost about 5 pounds for the phone if you charged it up with 10 pounds of minutes, so it was a good, simple, headache-free deal. We got our phones within 10 minutes and pieced together the phones within another 10. They also worked (as long as everyone could top up by credit card) in mainland Europe but for a much steeper rate. But that raised another problem...
5) Is there a place that buys back used mobiles? We have about 10 or so we want to unload, and rather than listing them all on Craigslist, I was wondering if anyone knows of a place - in the States or even in the UK - that would buy them back.
Would also welcome suggestions on other sites like Cellhire that does group cell phone rentals. I was reluctant to go the rental route because of the steep deposits, but if you've had experience with a good company, by all means share!