@jsocpa, how was the Lebara coverage in Paris? Did you have/use 3G data without any issues? Were the cards active before you left the US? Thanks!

We had no issues with coverage. We only used these phones for voice. Paid Verizon the $25 for data on our iphones.

I activated the cards before leaving. Used my Sapphire Preferred to load and notified Chase first that I would be making charges abroad.

Lebara's site only mentions shipping the SIM to French residents, how did you get and activate it in the US?

If you enter a US address, you will receive it. It will come addressed as

John Smith
111 Main St
NY, NY 10001
France

But we received it with no issue. In fact, I had one sent to my office as a backup and it arrived as well. Received 2 cards at each address.

Again, assuming your friend speaks French, try and have him or her available in case you need someone to talk to customer service or tech support. Tech support in a foreign language is, let's say "interesting" because even if you speak the language well, your technical vocabulary may not be extensive.

Please stop back to this thread and report on your experience.

Bonne chance!

Before I traveled to Paris in July of 2011 I went to Ebay and purchased a Orange sim from someone that sells them. It was really cheap.

I've emailed my friend and will see how it goes. I also got in touch with LeFrenchMobile and they've been very responsive (and in English!) so I may just go that way even though it's quite a bit more expensive at €39 for 300Mb. Free incoming calls and €0.19 outgoing (to France, USA, etc.) works well for me.

Does anyone have experience with LeFrenchMobile's coverage in central Paris?

I mentioned that possibility in earlier posts here; did you activate your Orange card before leaving the US? How did that work out for you?

The woman that was selling completed the initial activation steps before sending it to me after she determined which level of data I wanted and how many minutes i needed. Once she had that information she sent the sim along with the pin, which I used to complete the activation. It the sim worked as advertised. The only issue I had was that using Google Maps was a iffy proposition. Not really sure why. Calls were fine. I only called for taxis but not issue there.

Are there any sims that work in both London and Paris? Kind of assuming not, but I sort of remember an Orange UK last time I was in London.

Sure, almost any card bought from either country will roam in the EU - there is a maximum imposed on roaming charges and it's pretty high (especially data, which can be exorbitant).

It's probably a good way to go if one will only visit a country for a few days, saves the hassle of looking for a local SIM in that second country.

Three UK (and Giffgaff, which is an MVNO of 3 I believe) have great UK rates, FWIW.

I did take the Eurostar over to London for a day from Paris and I had my phone and the Orange sim. Personally, it didn't work for me. I had to use free wi-fi where I could get it.

I used holidayphone.com. They have pre-activated SFR SIMs for 3-days of use for $21 each. I believe these are data-only.

I bought 2 for $42 and they didn't charge shipping (otherwise they would have for only one SIM). They shipped it out of Sweden.

So I used these two for a week trip to Cote d'Azur. I didn't have great reception at my Cannes hotel (though reception in Cannes in general was fine).

Used it in a Mifi and the data was suppose to be unlimited but didn't come close to using a lot of data.

Reception and speed was fine when I used it on a train from Cannes to Monaco.

I've just ordered a SIM card from LeFrenchMobile; I do need voice too so a data-only product won't work.

I like these guys because everything is in English, and their support was very quick in responding to questions. I bought the SIM card for €22 (including shipping to the US) and it comes with €15 credit. I found a code that gave me another €5 voucher with the order. I will then top-up €40 online (can be done with my US credit card) which gives a 30% bonus, so I will have a total of €72 credit to start.

I'll then add the "XL Data Bundle" which is €39 for 300Mb data; this should be sufficient for my 5 days in Paris. I get free incoming calls (my US cell number will be forwarded to this French number at $0.069/min via Localphone) and can call within the EU and back to the US for €0.19/min (with €33 credit left over).

So it wasn't dirt cheap, I will spend $80 total but have good use of my phone and don't need to worry about finding/registering/activating a SIM upon arrival.

I will report back on my return how it worked out. This uses Bouygues' network and should be fine in central Paris.

CatJo,

Coming back about the LeFrenchMobile sim card I talked about before, I had full 3G coverage in Paris, no trouble at all.
Hope it is working as well for you too!

I received my LeFrenchMobile SIM card a few days ago; cut it down to nano size (bought one of those cutters on eBay) and it worked just fine in my Verizon iPhone 5. Entered the PIN code provided to unlock it and it soon picked up a AT&T signal.

However, I'm unable to use it here in the US because the first call has to be made while in France. At that point I will supposedly receive a text with my French phone number. It should all work out fine, though it would've been nice to have the number before and be sure things will work. Not a big deal I suppose.

They've been good to deal with, and I'm glad to hear positive experiences with their product while in Paris. Thanks!