Renting a Mobile Phone
Posted in: Phones & Internet |
It is not only a great convenience to have a cell phone while you are in Ireland, it can be wise from a security and safety viewpoint as well. Plus you are always available to receive calls from home should you need to be contacted in an emergency.
So, will your US cell phone work in Ireland? It depends.
If you have a GSM phone:
You will be able to use it in Ireland but it can be very expensive, check with your provider before you leave home to get up to date roaming charges for using your phone in Ireland. It may be cheaper to buy an Irish SIM card to use while you are here. More info here
If you do not have a GSM phone:
There are two choices:
- Rent a phone for your trip – more info below
- Buy a phone when you arrive in Ireland (not as crazy as it sounds!) – more info here
So, where will you get the best deal on rental?
Renting a Cell Phone in Ireland – Cost Comparisons
The various offerings available are all presented differently making them quite hard to compare, believe me it took some considerable time to extract this information!
To make it a fair comparison we assumed the following:
- You are renting the phone for a 7 day trip to Ireland
- You will make two calls a day on your cell phone to Irish numbers, say checking with your hotel and booking a restaurant. A total of 5 minutes talk time daily.
- You call home to America on average once a day for about 5 minutes each time.
- You receive 2 calls a day from the USA. A total of 5 minutes talk time daily.
Another factor we had to consider is that most rental companies charge from the date they dispatch your phone until the date you ship it back, and since you will need to add a day or two at each end of your vacation for travelling, we have calculated the cost of these additional days into the cost of rental where it was necessary to do so.
Many of those offering cell phone rental in Ireland make a big deal out of the fact that you get free incoming calls and free voice mail. It isn’t a big deal – these are always free in Ireland, no matter what phone or which service provider you use!
I honestly believe this is the fairest possible comparison, and in each case tried to get the cheapest option available.
Prices last rechecked and adjusted where necessary on Friday Jan 9th 2009
| Rental Source: Rent a Phone Ireland (Irish Based) | ||||||
| Rental | SIM | Delivery | Credit | Calls | Incoming | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €65 | - | Free | €5 | €31.35 | Free | €91.35 |
|
Phone is delivered to your hotel in Ireland, you are sent the number before you travel. |
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| Rental Source: Roberts Rent-a-Phone (US Based) | ||||||
| Rental | SIM | Delivery | Credit | Calls | Incoming | Total Cost |
| $30.75 | - | $30 | - | $98.00 | $33.25 | $190 |
|
2 additional rental days added at each end of the week to allow for delivery/return. |
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| Rental Source: Cellular Abroad (US Based) | ||||||
| Rental | SIM | Delivery | Credit | Calls | Incoming | Total Cost |
| $49.00* | $59 | $29.96 | $7.40 | $63 | Free | $193.56 |
|
*You are charged from when the phone is shipped until you return it, so we have calculated rental for 2 weeks, since daily charges are not available. |
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So, which is the best deal? No contest, Rent a Phone Ireland are the hands down winners.
One way that you can reduce the cost of calling the USA is to buy an International Calling Card.
The next question is, would you be better off buying a phone rather than renting one? It may be a pretty close call.
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