Travel Technology - Best option for cell phone rental in Dublin?

Is there a consensus on what the best option for short term cell phone rental is in Ireland these days? My daughter arrives in DUB and departs back to EWR from DUB 10 days later. She plans to use a landline calling card for "longer" calls back home, etc. but I want her to have a cell phone for emergencies and brief calls home and locally (in Ireland). Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

It might be easier and cheaper just to buy a cheap prepay when she gets there.

One option is to buy an unlogked GSM phone and a Passport sim. Go to www.telestial.com There is a ton of information there.

With the Passport SIM outgoing calls are .49 and incoming calls are free. Of course, nothing is ever free. If calling from the US, the Passport SIM is free incoming to the Passport holder, but since the SIM is a UK based cell number, it is charged to the caller form the US. Even using Skype, the cost to me using my Skype account was ~ 25 cents/min.

One option is to buy an unlogked GSM phone and a Passport sim. Go to www.telestial.com There is a ton of information there.


Their rates and prices look ridiculous to me. Come on, $229 for an unlocked Moto Razr? You can buy an unlocked GSM quad-band Moto Razr on amazon.com for around $70, last time I checked.

And when you click the details on their 9 cents a minute rates, you discover that's for the 2nd and subsequent minutes.

-David

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I'm fairly sure there's a Vodafone shop in arrivals. Either bring a cheap unlocked handset and buy a SIM or buy a prepay handset. Check www.vodafone.ie for prices.

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I'm fairly sure there's a Vodafone shop in arrivals. Either bring a cheap unlocked handset and buy a SIM or buy a prepay handset. Check www.vodafone.ie for prices.

this is the way to go. you can get cheap pay as you go SIM cards in shops and supermarkets here.

prepay handset with minimal functions are very cheap. if your own phone has the correct frequency and is unlocked, bring it and put a cheap card SIM card in when you arrive.

google is your friend! for example:
http://www.three.ie/handsets_new/prepay-mobiles-between-0-and-99-euro.htm

Check the promos if she is touring the island. Many carriers work just as cheaply in Northern Ireland as they do in the Republic. Vodafone, Three, and 02 have all run promotions like this in the recent past.

I'm fairly sure there's a Vodafone shop in arrivals. Either bring a cheap unlocked handset and buy a SIM or buy a prepay handset. Check www.vodafone.ie for prices.

I think the Vodafone shop in arrivals is closed - it was locked up when I was there a few days ago during a weekday.

For the OP, each of the networks (O2, Vodafone, Meteor and Tesco Mobile) offer a pre-pay SIM, costing from €0 to about €10, with some bundled credit.

Meteor have a pre-pay SIM with an "international option" from which you can call the US for €0.50 per minute.

We had a problem recently with Meteor as we discovered they cannot sent text messages to *all* other GSM operators/networks, and we could not send text messages to a Finnish MVNO.

Buying a pre-pay phone with no contract for €50-€70 will be a good option.

I suggest a quick look at the following...

http://www.meteor.ie/plans/pay_as_you_go/
http://www.vodafone.ie/planscosts/prepay/index.jsp
http://www.o2online.ie/wps/wcm/connect/O2/Home/Shop/Phones/Speak+easy+prepay/

Aidan