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cell phones in Europe

Many cell phones (i.e. mobile phones, handies) now work overseas. Check with your service provider (i.e. your carrier, the phone service company) in this regard; it might be a good occasion for you to upgrade to a phone (and plan) that works well overseas. If indeed you want to be able to use your phone on another continent, you'll need to call your service provider customer support to get international roaming turned on.

But beware: such roaming in and of itself is very expensive. Every missed or rejected call will use a minute of roaming charges; every notification of a voicemail that's been left will cost a minute too. More charges will come if you use data, even unknowingly -- and the new smart phones are constantly using data that you're unaware of. Data roaming costs about $15/MB, which means a dollar fifty or so for every single web page that you view. If someone sends you a nice 2 megapixel photo from home, that'll be $30! If you want to avoid data roaming charges completely, you should disable data roaming and data synchronization before you go abroad.

International roaming is not a good value unless you have tri-band GSM phone. Such phones can be “SIM subsidy unlocked” via your service provider to accept a foreign SIM card. Calls received through such card will be charged to you as if you are using a local phone. To initiate such unlocking of your tri-band GSM phone, call your service provider at least a week or two before you go abroad. Your service provider will then request an unlock code from the phone manufacturer, but the service provider will not officially guarantee the manufacturer’s response time (it’s usually 24-48 hours) nor even that a unlock code will be provided. Moreover, you’ll need to obtain a prepaid SIM card or cards for the country or countries you plan to travel to. Those cards cost roughly 30 euros and can be bought in mobile phone shops in Europe (the primary companies in France, for instance, are Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR). Alternatively you can buy or rent them before you go abroad, from various internet-based companies. You would replace your current SIM card with the European one. (Typically they go under the battery.) Do save your current SIM card, however; you’ll need it when you return home.

For SIM card or special phone rental or purchase online, see the following:

Renault optional extras …

Many customers who order a child seat, roofrack, etc. simply leave them behind upon returning the vehicle, which is fine with Renault. Of course you can instead sell the items in Europe or mail them home. If you want to keep such items, it is ultimately your responsiblity to detach them before or upon the return occasion.