Mobile Phones

[Deleted member 397]

I'm dubious about the worth of a mobile phone on the French way but I offer the following observation fro those thinking of walking the VDLP. At several refugios there are so few walkers that there is a phone number stuck on the door to ring so that the caretaker will come and open the door. At the end of a long day it can be tedious setting off to find a public phone. If I ever do the VDLP again I think I would take a phone if not just for peace of mind on the numerous isolated stretches.
Somebody also suggested buying a pre-paid phone in Spain and said they were around $50-can anyone verify that they are that cheap?

 

[ivar]

Carrefour has a deal where they give you a phone (Motorola V177) for €49,- and that includes €10,- of call time. This will give you a Spanish number where family and friends can call you at not cost for you (the caller pays for the call, you do not pay to receive the call). This is not a contract, it is all pre-paid (you fill up your account with more euros if needed at a Carrefour store).

More details here:
http://www.carrefour.es/movil/servicios ... movil.html

By the way, Carrefour is a grocery store chain with locations all over Spain. For the current locations have a look here:
http://www.carrefour.es/supermercados/g ... index.html

... I am sure that you can find similar deals also in Vodafone or Telefonica stores...

Un saludo,
Ivar

 

[Deleted member 397]

Ivar
Many thanks for your response. That sounds like a good option. I noticed that someone else said you do not pay to receive calls-I've never heard of that before, in Australia you only pay for calls you make. Sounds like a phone company rip-off!

 

[ivar]

Well I mention it since I know in the USA, many operators give you...say, 500 minutes per month for X number of $'s... and the minutes starts to run as soon as you start making outbound calls OR when you receive a call. :roll:

Ivar

 

[MichaeLeahy]

Cell Phone

I walked the Camino frances in September and October. I carried a cell phone from Mobalphone (mobalphone.com) and I found it very very useful. It is very small but, what is such an advantage is that you are given 1 number (English) and it never changes. It works anywhere in the world. No chips to mess with, no phone cards, etc. It gets good ratings price-wise too. Two models cost US$49.00 and US$99.00

I used mine mostly to book rooms in towns and cities when I did not want to be in an albergue such as Pamplona or Leon or Santiago de Compostela - there is so much life to experience around the main squares and rooms are very very cheap. There is also a certain amount of comfort knowing you have communications ability with you and not needing to rely of finding a public phone or agreeable bartender.

This is not an ad for mobalphone - they are doing quite nicely without me but it is a good piece of kit.

Ultreya

 

[William Marques]

Ivar
Many thanks for your response. That sounds like a good option. I noticed that someone else said you do not pay to receive calls-I've never heard of that before, in Australia you only pay for calls you make. Sounds like a phone company rip-off!

Most international mobile calls and certainly those in Europe cost both the caller and receiver which can be a nasty surprise. Text messages do not seem to cost the receiver so if anyone wants to contact you from home get them to text. Not only will it be cheaper but given the time difference to the Antipodes one can switch off one's phone at night and not annoy the rest of the refugio.

 

[bjorgts]

Not by night!

... and if all of you who want to carry a mobilphone, could turn it off by night, I would be happy!

 

[Athena]

I brought my phone for security (mental) sake, and only used it from time to time to text people I was thinking about back home (USA). I used cingular/AT&T and was not charged any additional fees for it's use.

I arranged to have an international plan added to my account for the second part of my trip when I spent time in Lisbon, which gave me better international rates, but depending on who/if you currently have a cell phone service provider, you might just want to call them and see what they recommend.

Looking back, I could have done without it, but as I was traveling with my mother, I liked how it was one less thing to have to worry about on the road.