So have a pay as you go phone bought in the UK last year have not used it since. So when we take it to Europe in April, we arrive in France first.

So will it work for calling someone locally immediately? Will we be able to use it and call our apartment owner if we still have time on it or does that expire due to no usage?

I know nothing...

You probably have a SIM card in it that is for the UK. What does it say when you turn it on? If you don't remember from whom you bought the service, open the phone and look at the SIM.
(SIM is Subscriber Identity Module, the little chip that slides into the phone that contains all the info about your phone number and service.

All the UK prepaid SIM cards expire after 12 mos. You can look at the different UK service providers HERE. The Frencch operators are HERE.

I would guess that you will have to buy a new SIM card for France.

Bill

If you bought the phone less than a year ago, it should still be good (assuming Bill's facts about 12-month expiration are correct -- I don't have any info on that). And you should be able to use it in France, although I'm not sure how you would get more time loaded into it from France if that's necessary. Maybe the provider has a web site where you can add time? Or since it's a UK phone and there wouldn't be a language problem, perhaps there is a number you can call from the phone to buy more time.

If you're not going to be in France very long, and you don't plan to make a lot of calls, it may not be worth it to get a French SIM card. I understand that French cell phone rates are pretty high compared to many other European countries.

- Roz

Lots of phone companies have partners in France so it may be that you can top up in France (if not online) - Vodaphone/SFR for example. I know that you can top up an SFR phone in England so it should work the other way round?

If you are within the time frame (for the sim still being in use) you can always send a text or make a quick call (a few seconds will do!) NOW just to keep it live....or perhaps it will not pick up a signal at all in America?

Calls out (and also inwards!!!) cost an arm and a leg if made with an English pay as you go in France (but this has been reduced recently as they were making ridiculous amounts of money this way) so it would probably be cheaper to buy a French sim and pop it in your phone. They come up on ebay quite regularly and I suppose French ebay would be the best place to look. I see a French sim card WITH a phone went for £10 last week on ebay.co.uk - it was a student who had finished their time in France.

Using a different network is only possible of course if your phone is unlocked so you need to check that out. I unlocked a Nokia using codes I found free on the internet but you can also buy the codes on ebay; you may know somewhere you can get this done at home, before you leave.

I just saw something on another web site about the Roam Simple SIM cards. The France card was specifically mentioned as a good way for travelers to get cell service in France, where rates are comparatively high.

Roam Simple also will sell you a quadband phone for $40, which is a pretty good price. I haven't used this service myself, but thought it might be worth checking in to for anyone looking for cell phone solutions.

- Roz