Still More Important Questions about Cell Phone Rental

• Will my phone come with a charger? Yes! All of our cell phones (for rent or for sale) come with a variable-voltage travel charger plus wall-plug adapters for overseas. Our rental phones are shipped pre-charged.
• What is my new cell phone number?
  Your new cell phone number is a local number for the country pertaining to your SIM card. For example, if you have an Italian SIM card, your number will be a local Italian cell phone number.
• Can somebody else use my SIM card?
  Anyone can use your card. If you lose your phone with the SIM card inside, you can usually call customer service to deactivate the card so that nobody can use the remaining credit, though they won't be able to issue you a new card. You can also safely lend your phone and SIM card to friends without worrying about incurring any out-of-pocket costs. If they need more talk time, they can simply add some by purchasing a recharge card and using it with your SIM card.
• Can I retain my US cellular phone number?
  Unfortunately you cannot. We recommend that you leave your overseas cellular number on your domestic voice mail. This way, whoever needs to reach you while you are overseas can still do so. You might be able to forward calls, providing someone can program forwarding for you back in the States. The problem with this is that all wrong numbers, telemarketers and everyone else you don't want to hear from when you're abroad will be able to reach you and that will end up being a nuisance.
• Will I have voicemail?
  Most GSM phones have voicemail capacity, but it depends on what services are available through the local provider. In almost all cases voicemail is included with your service.
• What about text messaging or emails?
  These options depend on the local service provider but nowadays they are common features and offered by almost all the overseas carriers.
• Can I use multiple SIM cards with my phone?
  Since we offer only unlocked phones, you can swap SIM cards as often as you like. However, if you are traveling to multiple countries, you might consider that each SIM card has its own unique phone number. In the case of traveling to many countries during one trip, an International SIM card is the optimal choice for many travelers as you keep the same phone number regardless of your position on the globe. Note that you will be roaming when outside the country of origin for the card.
• If I run out of call credit, do I buy another SIM card?
  NO! Remember, the SIM card is the "brains" of your phone and is rechargeable. Once you have a SIM card all you need to do is add credit for more talk time. Make sure that you do not wait beyond the service life of your SIM card to add more call credit.
• How do I add more "talk time" to my SIM card?
  In prepaid phone lingo, adding more talk time is known as "recharging" or "topping-up" a SIM card. Recharging a SIM card is as easy as entering a code number into the handset. Recharge voucher cards with recharge codes on them can be purchased at many convenience stores, magazine kiosks and cell phone stores. They are also often found at post offices, train stations and airports. Please note that you can only purchase recharge cards within the country of origin. (If you have a country-specific SIM for Germany, for instance, you can only purchase recharge cards for that SIM card within Germany.)
• Will my country-specific SIM card work outside the country of origin?
  When you use a country-specific SIM card outside of its home country, this is known as "roaming". While this is often possible to do, there are some problems that make this undesirable for longer side-trips. First of all, the rates are much more expensive for making local and international calls and you don't get free incoming calls. Also, if you run out of credit, you rarely can purchase recharge vouchers outside of the country of origin.
• How do I roam with my country-specific SIM card?
  1. First of all, Telestial does not support roaming out-of-country with country-specific SIM cards. (There are too many possibilities and variables for us to do this adequately.) That said, here are some rules-of-thumb for you to use if you plan to roam:

  2. Call customer service for your SIM card carrier to request or confirm that your SIM has roaming capabilities enabled. Roaming with some SIM cards may NOT be possible at all.

  3. Make sure to ask customer service if there are any variations in dialing to or from your number when roaming. (Perhaps the use of a different country code or dialing prefix, etc.)

  4. Ask customer service to provide dialing rates for making and receiving calls when roaming for all scenarios of interest. (Customer service may not be available from the U.S.)

  5. Make sure you have a good guesstimate of how much time you'll use the phone when roaming.

  6. Buy and apply adequate call credits (via recharge vouchers) for use when roaming. You may want to purchase a "backup" recharge voucher to use in case your SIM card runs out of call credits when you are roaming.

• How do I know how much call credit I have remaining?
  You can always check your remaining call credit. The instructions vary from country to country and are always provided with the SIM cards you purchase through us. They can also be found at the bottom of the Customer Service page. Typically you either call a special number or send an SMS message and the carrier answers back with your remaining credit.

To order, call 1-800-287-5072 or +1-310-862-7100 and use the promotional discount code "Boots". BootsnAll has negotiated a deal to get you the lowest rate. Be sure to mention the promotional code "Boots" to save money.

Article added on April 22, 2005

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