Telecarte purchases

Would you buy one at a Tabac or a un bureau de poste? How would you ask for one and in what unit denominations do they come in?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on June 30, 2009 at 8:57am

Hello Claudia,

You can buy a Telecarte at a tabac, a post office, and even at the supermarket.

But in cities, there are shops (like "Taxi Phone") with phone booths. They are cheaper than telecartes/public phone booth especially for long-distance calls.

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Permalink Reply by Claudia Sommers on July 1, 2009 at 2:14am

Hi Frank,

Do they have these "Taxi Phone" in Paris?? How do you use them? Thanks for your reply.

Claudia

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Permalink Reply by Frank on July 1, 2009 at 10:24am

Hello Claudia,

Yes, there are tons of Taxiphones in Paris, you can't miss them. They also usually provide internet access and a bunch of other services like photocopying.

Just enter the shop, use a phone booth and pay afterwards.

Another way of calling home is buying a prepaid calling card. You can find them in supermarkets and in bureaux de tabac.

Both are usually way cheaper than telecartes.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on July 1, 2009 at 12:59pm

If you have an unlocked cell phone, another option is to buy a pre-paid SIM for your phone. They are available from all local carriers. You can buy them in kiosks, bureaux de tabacs and phones stores. They are called "Mobicarte" (usually the most expensive), "Nomad" (usually the cheapest) and SFR La Carte, depending on the carrier.

You are assigned a temporary phone number and you can receive unlimited calls for 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months... up to 6 months, and give some outgoing calls (from 5 euros to 100 euros worth). And you can add credits at any time.

It's more expensive than a Telecarte, but more convenient especially if you expect to receive a lot of calls. And it's definitely cheaper than roaming.

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Permalink Reply by Claudia Sommers on July 1, 2009 at 5:02pm

Thanks, Frank. Your suggestions were most helpful. I'll be looking for the Taxiphones in Paris!

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on July 1, 2009 at 8:13pm

Frank -- just out of interest, what tombstone details are they asking for nowadays when you buy a Mobicarte? It's just that various governments (including one I won't mention in full for fear of being put on a no-fly list, but the first letter is "U" and the last is "S") are getting increasingly paranoid about "just" letting people buy a SIM card. N

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Permalink Reply by Frank on July 1, 2009 at 9:19pm

Hello Neil,

In order to get a SIM, you just need to show your id card or your passport.

You can also get an unactivated SIM, and send (by snail mail or by email) a photocopy of your id card afterwards.