mobile phone rental

[sueandsteve]

We're off in 12 days and are trying to tie up the loose ends. As our teenage girls (16 and 18) are likely to do some things on their own (especially shopping!) we'd like to be able to keep in touch. Has anyone any experience of renting mobile phones in Orlando for a couple of weeks. I gather UK dual band phones don't work over there.
Also what insect repellants have people found effective. And do they all smell terrible?!

 

[UKDEB]

Avon Skin So Soft (spray) seems to be the favourite insect repellent. In fact, it's not an insect repellent at all, but we have tried it and it does seem to work.

We've looked into renting mobiles several times, but the cost is always prohibitive. You could buy a couple of pay-as-you-go when you get there. Take a look at www.tracfone.com for current deals and places to buy.

 

[thefatman]

Re phones.
If its just a one off trip then you might want to look at renting
CarPhone Warehouse do a hire package.
IMO the tracfones are a better more cost effective route (I was lucky I got 2 when they were just $19 each last year) but even now if you look at them as an investment over a few trips they offer great peace of mind knowing you'll always be in touch and even more peace of mind when driving on foreign roads.

there are a few other players now alongside Tracfone all offering similar deals. AT&T & Verizon
However I,ve only tried Tracfone for coverage and it worked fine all the way down to Miami.

 

[Dimplenose]

I looked at renting phones from the Car Phone Warehouse. The rates were very reasonable for a one off trip but the deposit was ridiculous at £400!!!

Needless to say I passed on this. I might look at buying once I get there if the price is right

 

[thefatman]

I looked at renting phones from the Car Phone Warehouse. The rates were very reasonable for a one off trip but the deposit was ridiculous at £400!!!

It is only a deposit, you do get it back, I think its worth lending them £400 for a few weeks, just for the peace of mind....

From my experience trying to buy over there will be pretty hard in the tourist area shops as they very rarely have stock (perhaps we've mentioned Tracfones here once too often) and what stock they have tends to be the top of the line expensive models that don't sell.
Unless your prepared to spend a fair ammount of your valuable holiday time looking (you could easily spend a day visiting all the Wal Marts and still not get a phone)

 

[MickeyMcMouse]

Dave

Got to agree with you on the " peace of mind " thing. We've taken our orange tri band with us the last 3 or 4 years. Don't know who I would phone if we broke down ( I suppose 911 springs to mind ) but the fact that I can phone someone, even dollar puts your mind at rest.

I think the cost has come down over the last few years and it now works out around slightly less than £1 per min if you average out the incoming and outgoing calls. ( Handy as welll thats its a company phone ! )

Have learnt now to keep it switched of most of the time and make sure the answer machine message is up to date, or you get a few strange calls when your having breakfast with Tigger and Pooh


David