So,

I gave my father an unlocked Tri-mode GSM phone. He would like to use it in Germany, Austria, Italy, and at a Colorado ski resort where only T-Mobile has service (Eldora). He doesn't care about having a consistent inbound phone number, he just wants to make calls. And not that many calls, mostly to check voice mail, emergencies, say hello.

Would this make sense: Buy a el-cheapo T-Mobile SIM card off ebay for $10 and then add $100 of "refill" to the card. This would give him one year of service and 1000 minutes. But I'm guessing that "1000 minutes" assumes domestic use. And that when used in Europe, the minutes would vanish quickly. How quickly?

He could buy a separate SIM in each country, but that seems like overkill to me. Any better ideas?

Thanks,

Robert

P.S. I considered positing this in sticky SIM thread, but thought my question was too specific. If wrong, please move/delete.