Plan to purchase Orange Holiday Zen 8 GB, 14 day validity, eSims for my spouse and my iPhones for our two-week England/Scotland trip this March. I know we will be given French phone numbers, but that is okay..
We will select the Orange eSims as our primary carrier while there and disable our American Verizon eSims. I am having trouble verifying whether iMessages sent to our Verizon phone cell numbers will display on our phones in UK.
I know we can select an option to send and/or receive using our Verizon phone number and/or Apple ID, but is it necessary or best to just switch entirely on our phones and iPads to iMessage entirely through our Apple ID?
We are afraid an iMessage sent to our home based cell number will not show up on our phones.
We have been told not to switch to our then primary foreign phone number.
Can anyone layout the do’s and don’ts and the preferred process?
Thanks in advance.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
I do this regularly (though with a Spanish Vodofon SIM/AT&T US eSIM), and you've got it right.
-Switch the Orange SIM to primary and turn off data roaming for the Verizon #.
-Decline your phone's offer to update AppleID to the new number.
You'll be able to send/receive iMessages to the US number via the French data plan.
(I don't know how Verizon is, but on AT&T, I can receive SMS texts for free while traveling, and they come through as green. Replying would activate an expensive 'travel plan', so I dont.)
Posted by
OP
Franklin, Tennessee
182 posts
Thanks, I intended to shut down Verizon completely as to use and data roaming. I also was told to decline updating the Apple ID to my new French phone number. Just do not understand how the IMessages sent to a disabled , non-primary number can still be sent/ received on my phone just like I was still in USA.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Ah, I understand the confustion. This might be an oversimplification, but think of iMessage as actually unrelated to your phone service, but it just uses your # as your userID. Back in the old days of online chat we had userIDs like first.middle.lastname, or PinkRhino1423. Nowadays skype uses your email as your userID, and both WhatApps and iMessage are just online chat using your phone number as the ID.
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2805 posts
It would much easier to go to Verizon and buy a international package, my sister-in-law did this for our trip last May for unlimited text and very little for calls, she wil do it again for our trip this May. I do the same for my AT&T.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Easier, for sure. But far more expensive.
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2805 posts
@Sudder, I wouldn’t say $60.00 is a lot more expensive, that’s what I paid for the AT&T international plan.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Robin Z- There was a old flat-rate plan, AT&T now charges $10 per day per line. Capped at $100 per billing cycle, but if a trip crosses cycles it’ll start billing again. It can rack up fast.
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2805 posts
@Scudder, all I know is in May 2022 I was in the UK for a month, only paid $60.00 and used it everyday.. Even $100.00 would be easier then getting a different phone, different number, etc., IMO.