Moving to France: Phone

Hello, all!

[Friends and family, skip this post...unless you're planning on moving to France soon.]

As new TAPIF-ers are being chosen, I thought I'd add some words of not-quite-wisdom to this blog that will at least give you one option for what to do when you arrive in France.

Phones. A necessary expense, but luckily France has extremely affordable plans.  I personally went with SFR's RED online deals.

I chose the third plan for 20 euros a month.  All the big providers like B & You and Free Mobile (but not Orange!) have identical plans. So why SFR?  I liked that I could have unlimited calls home, the price was reasonable, and their wifi kept popping up everywhere.  With their plan, you can log into an app that will automatically sign you into SFR Mobile Wifi throughout France, which I used pretty often.

To be honest, I could have probably gotten away with the 12 euro plan as I rarely used all of my data, but I think that has more to do with how slow the phone I have is.

Speaking of, before you leave France, make sure that your phone has a SIM card, and is unlocked.  I had a Galaxy S2 before leaving that I really liked, but didn't have a SIM card (how is that even possible?!).  Luckily, a family friend gave me an old iPhone 3GS which worked...although there were a ton of moments when I wished I had a phone with a better camera.

So do you need a smartphone at all?  I think with the price you can get these plans for, it's silly not to have one.  I use my phone all the time to text my family, or throw pictures on Instagram...and I get lost more often than I'd like to admit. And with all the wifi out there, you could get a cheaper plan and rely more heavily on finding free internet.

So, there it is! Any questions? Throw them in the comment section! I'd love to help any way I can.  I know preparing for and moving to another country can be stressful, so think of me as your new buddy who wants nothing more than to make your life easier!

Cheers!

Angie