Originally Posted by
nasmaster007
The other downside to this is that this is only for incoming calls to my mobile phone, I am at the mercy of my SIM card company if I make outgoing calls/texts back to the US...
My experience in Europe (esp. Germany) is that you have two (pre-paid) pricing options. One with cheap local calls, but relatively expensive international calling; and one the opposite. See for example
e-plus (German language page).
Decide on what your calling pattern is likely to be and pick appropriately.