I am planning on traveling to the UK, France and Israel and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a cellphone rental which is either prepaid or pay as you go. We will only be there for a few days and don’t plan on shmoozing with US but primarily to use to keep in touch with other traveling with us.
the BEST way to go in israel is NOT to rent a cell phone. you purchase a cheap unlocked cell phone in the states for about 20 bucks or even less on ebay or amazon or your local cell phone store.(make sure its a QUAD BAND phone so it will work in israel) then you purchase a sim card when you arrive in israel for 40 sheckel (orange ‘big talk’ prepaid system). you can buy it online too: http://cgi.ebay.com/ISRAEL-PREPAID-SIM-CARD-ISRAELI-SIMCARD-ORANGE-/170520825562?pt=SIM_Cards&hash=item27b3d54eda you get a brand new sim card and a number that you own forever that you can use anytime you come to israel. just like every cell phone line in israel, you get free incoming calls. last i checked, the per min rates are about 1 sheckel per min . this will save you a TON of money. you can buy prepaid min. at many kiosks and stores all over israel. have a safe trip!
I kind of disagree with the previous comment. you can rent a phone from companies like Israelphones (which is what i did last time i went before the yomim noraim) i paid a dollar for rental and 19 cents for calls in israel(it comes out to a little more than half a shekel per minute). you talk as you need and don’t find yourself stuck trying to find a kiosk to reload minutes. it saves alot of hassle, and if you need you have someone to turn to who speaks english
i am going to israel soon. My kids are all on orange. do i need to rent an orange phone? can i get that before i go? or can i get a sim card if my iphone5 is on verizon?