Does anyone else use Orange pre-paid cell phones in Spain? I'm traveling in February. I'll be in both France and Spain. I've never had any problems with my Orange in Spain, but i've never been to France....so I don't know. In the past I've bought the 5 euro international cards to phone home. Are the calling cards the same in France? Can I use those with my Spain phone? I will be in France first....

I have an Orange pre-paid phone as well and I use the 5 Euro cards to call home to the USA like you've mentioned. I'd imagine they have the same cards in France, but I don't know for sure. Still, if your pre-paid phone has a SIM from Spain in it, you're going to be "roaming" in France, which *might* mean you can't use the calling cards (or maybe there's some different rate)??? I'm not 100% sure since I've only ever used the cards from Spain.

I can tell you that I've always found the employees in the Orange stores here EXTREMELY helpful and very knowledgeable about the products they offer... I'm sure it's the same in France... If I were you, I'd probably just walk into a store once I got there and ask. I've tried calling the "Orange customer service hotline" before with questions, and have found they're not as helpful as the people in the actual stores, so I'd recommend checking in a store.

I hope that helps somewhat. Sorry I don't have more info for you!

I use Orange regular mobil service in France, and travel often to Spain. Mine its no problems, with the pre paid cards believe you must tell Orange you will be traveling to France Or Spain, and they will take care of you.The international calling cards are the same for Orange in France/Spain. I agree going to a store is better than the telephone call at customer service.

I have a spanish Orange phone. I was in France in February. I had an intl calling card from Spain. It didn't work. Turns out the Spanish intl card was to call OUT of spain, but I wasn't there. So then I went to an Orange store in France to put more minutes on my phone (its a prepaid) and was told I couldn't because Orange France and Orange Spain are different. I ended up having to call my BIL in Spain and have him walk around the corner to the Orange store there to buy me minutes. That worked.

I'm pretty sure you need to add a roaming package to your phone, or the sim won't find the network. That's certainly been the case with my UK orange phone, and then it has worked in both France and Spain.

With regards to top ups, you can do it online if it is a UK orange using the orange web site, and you can do it via online banking if it is a spanish orange assuming you have online banking. I can't help re US and French based phones though, but I guess the system is similar.