How do I go about renting a mobile phone in Europe?

Question

I am going to Europe (I begin in London) and I would like to rent a mobile phone that I can take with me throughout my travels and return at my end point (London)

Answer 1

I think many of the companies that rented mobiles stopped doing it because it is cheaper to buy a phone and throw it away after 2 weeks than to rent one for 2 weeks.

However there are still some - see http://www.rent-a-mobile.co.uk and http://www.mphone.co.uk/hire.html

Suggest you buy a phone and a pay-as-you go SIM card. Check if your own mobile works in Europe and then you don't even need to buy a phone, just swap out the SIM.

Virgin have a Nokia phone at 24.99GBP with SIM and 15GBP free airtime - check their website at www.virginmobile.com, you can buy their phones online or at Virgin stores. But you never seem to be more than a few yards from mobile phone stores in the UK.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Oh ok you reposted, lol.

This is the second time I've seen a question about renting mobile phones and I can honestly say I've never even heard of the concept. I don't think you can rent mobile phones, not in the UK anyway. The best thing for you to do is to buy a cheap prepay mobile phone for about £30 in London, put £10-20 credit on it and that should last you for your trip. You will be able to use it to roam throughout Europe, I recommend you buy one on the O2 network.

Answer 4

I believe there is a place in Heathrow that rents mobile phones. I was lucky that my provider here in the US rents them so that anyone who calls my regular mobile phone is forwarded to that number, and all incoming calls to me were free. It's so worth it to have a phone with you--mainly for security, but also because those charming red phone booths often smell of urine!

Answer 5

I think you can take your own mobile phone and purchase a SIM card there. At least you can do that in Asia.