<p>Both D and S are in Europe now, and we got them cheap Telestial phones (see ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad's link at the top of this page). The phones have worked beautifully (including from a boat in the middle of Lake Lucerne!) It's also convenient that I can add minutes to their accounts online from here, particularly since S has no internet access on his trip.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you who responded. Our phones are Verizon so will not work in Europe. Since she is planning on studying abroad in a couple of years I think a cheap telestial phone may be the best way to go. (Thanks for the link) </p>
<p>Thanks for the warning about the atm card. I will check with the bank. Anyone have experience using a mastercard in Paris? The book says VISA is the most commonly accepted card; AmEx is the least accepted.</p>
<p>H travels internationally and here's his take:</p>
<p>has used his MC extensively in Europe without any trouble. If the establishment wouldn't take his MC, it was usually because the business didn't take credit cards at all.</p>
<p>AmEx is the least accepted, card, but he says that you are talking about 95% acceptance, rather than 99% acceptance. He's traveled in Europe on the Company AmEx without much trouble.</p>
<p>Good to know, Ellenmenope.</p>
<p>I use AmEx whenever I can because they give better rate and charges less than MC or VC. A few merchants may give push back on AmEx, but most of them will take it.</p>
<p>In terms of shady areas:
Tell your daughter to be SUPER aware in the Versailles gardens if they are crowded, anywhere around Notre Dame, and Monmartre//Sacre Coeur/Moulin Rouge.</p>
<p>Those are the shadiest (yet most gorgeous) places I've been in where pickpocketing happens VERY easily.</p>
<p>Also, tell you daughter not to give money to beggers or really pay attention to them. Sometimes (especially little kids around Notre Dame) use group work to get people to give one of them a few Euros and then the others just take the wallet. That is usually how gypsies work, as well.</p>
<p>Also tell her to be careful around the Eiffel Tower and to ALWAYS bargain for lower prices with the people who come up with souvenirs under the Eiffel Tower and to be careful with her purse, money, and valuables in all of the places I've listed.</p>
<p>For cell phone in Europe--we just returned from a 2+ week trip to Spain, Italy, and France. We have Verizon phones and used their Global Traveler Program. For ~$10 a Motorola GSM phone was sent to us (including an adapter for European outlets), we activated it before leaving, and used the back-up assistant to put my husbands contacts on the GSM phone. This phone had my husband's US cell phone number. While still in the US, the phone calls were just as before--part of our shared minutes. Once in Europe, calls were $1.29/minute; text messaging was 50 cents to send and 5 cents to receive. A return FedEx label was included with the phone, and if the phone was not returned within 30 days, we would be charged $200. My husband did have a business emergency to deal with, so he was glad to have the phone. Worked great for us.</p>
<p>Thank you lilygraces for highlighting some of the risky areas.</p>
<p>We ordered the telestial phone for $39.00, plus $10.00 shipping. It is free for me to call her which will offer some peace of mind. Thanks for suggesting it. Last time dd1 went to Europe we rented an international phone and the cost ended up over $300.00, so didn't want to repeat that. And they tryed to tell us the phone was never returned. Thank goodness I still had the return receipt as they wanted to bill us $500.00!</p>
<p>I took a trip to England this spring. We'd never had trouble using our credit cards overseas before, but this time was a little different: European credit cards now use a chip instead of a magnetic strip for ID/security purposes. Merchants would try to use the scanner, it wouldn't work, they'd give us a dirty look and then have to either dig out their old swipe machine or manually punch in numbers. We were able to use our cards everywhere, just took a little longer. (We typically use VISA.)</p>
<p>I guess US banks don't want to switch to this new system even though it is supposed to be safer.</p>
<p>Just got back from two weeks in France. In small towns, no one wanted to accept American Express. No problems with Mastercard, even despite not having the European type of card.</p>
<p>Gypsies are still doing their thing by all the monuments and major tourist attractions in Paris. When they ask "speak English?" it's essential to just ignore them and keep walking. Hard for young people who are taught to be "nice" to do, but that's the best way to hold on to your cash.</p>
<p>Also, we had a lady come up to us, and pretend to pick up a big gold wedding band off the pavement (she "found it"). She asked if it was ours, and I said no. She proceeds to say "do you think it's real?" I don't know what she was intending to do, but I just turned and walked off. I saw her do the same thing to two groups after me, but she didn't get any response from them either. I'm curious about what she was trying to pull off, but in any event, the moral of the story is to warn your kids about any strangers coming up to them with a sob story or other tale. It's usually an attempt to get their wallets out of the secure place and into their hands or that of their accomplices.</p>
<p>**Okay, I just went back a few pages and read about the ring scam. Glad I didn't take the bait!!!! We, too, were approached by the string bracelet guys over by Sacre Coeur. I'm the type that verges on being rude to these people and they back off pretty quickly. I don't give them the chance to get my attention, so they move on to someone else very quickly.</p>
<p>Agree with the posts about holding on to belongings. My purse NEVER comes off my body (worn crosswise across my shoulder, not simply hanging off one arm), especially not in a restaurant or on the Metro. People are watching you, just waiting for you to put the purse down or across a chair. It's gone before you know it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I had people in my group look at me like I was an awful person when I was...curt, shall we say, with the people who came up to us on the street. All the same, I never got pickpocketed or scammed. Saying a strong "no" in the language of the country you're in is really all it takes to get people to back off.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I guess US banks don't want to switch to this new system even though it is supposed to be safer.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>H also says that Europe seems to take credit card safety more seriously. He said that in Europe, the waiter would never take your credit card away from your table to run it through the machine. He or she brings a portable machine to the table, so that your credit card never leaves your sight.</p>
<p>You're welcome, applicantmum77</p>
<p>Gypsies apparently like to use children as a distraction.</p>
<p>And in some countries, the "mafia" will place women with children at certain locations, and they have to turn over them the money, and receive a small percentage. The child may or may not even be hers. The locations are totally controlled. We were told not to give any money to anyone, because as soon as you did, the others swarmed. And you can't solve the problem by giving a couple bucks to one person, anyway. ITD, when I worked retail in a small boutique while in HS here in the States, it was sidewalk sale days, and a huge Cadillac pulled up with the initials of the owner on the doors. I swear it was real gold! Incredible. Then, when the doors opened it was like the circus car - all these gypsies came pouring out - flowing skirts and all. We all had to spring into action. Those flowing skirts had pockets sewn into them and after they left in a flurry, there was a lot of merchandise lost, even though we watched like hawks, or so we thought. Be wary. A real pro can pick you clean without you even knowing it. This past year, D's friend from Study Abroad in a different country came to visit her, and even though careful, a pickpocket got her. She was 21 and got hysterical. D handled everything. BTW, received a mailer for purses that have a mesh in the shoulder strap and sides and bottoms that withstand a knife. We took a couple satchels of D's to the tailor and had him put hard plastic in between the lining and outside, and around the coin section. No mishaps. It cost us $40, but has been worth it.</p>
<p>All of you were so helpful I wanted to let you know dd is happily in Paris, despite flight being cancelled. The airline in question seems to be cancelling flights to insure that all flights are full. Luckily we checked online to confirm flight and discovered they had been rescheduled on a flight 22 hours later! We made many phone calls and were able to get them on an earlier flight which required our immediate departure for the airport. So all worked out in the end.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your thoughts. It was very helpful.</p>
<p>That stinks about the flight; I worried about this for our flight as well. I hope your daughter has a great time.</p>
<p>Come back when she gets home and give us a review of her trip! It was sooo hot in Paris while I was there. Hopefully your daughter and friend will have some cooler breezes.</p>
<p>applicantmum, glad she got there safely! Hope that she has a blast!</p>
<p>applicantmum:</p>
<p>That's pretty bogus on the part of the airline. The least they should do is notify your D that there's a schedule change.</p>
<p>What airline was it?</p>