I probably got ripped off and recently paid 40 euros for a French sim card. My old one ,still in the phone, was expired , and would not receive refills. Be careful when you buy refill minutes. make sure they are all voice and not part SMS- there are all different combinations and permutations available, and I ,again, bought SMS time by mistake that I didnt use.
I recently bought a yackiemobile sim card - it seems the most versatile and reasonable rates. forget using your daily mobile phone from the US from cingular - that is a ripoff. you can easily remove the sim card when you go aborad and replace it with a different sim card and the reverse when you get back.
lets all keep reporting our successes and failures !!!!