Rental Car and cell phones for GPS service

I'm no expert but have looked into this a bit. Seems like the main options are A) pay about $10/day to Verizon for roaming (from what I've heard, multiples sources) and you get to keep your own number; B) Get a SIM card that will provide you a UK number and pay for UK service - swap it in your phone on arrival, swap out after departing; C) get an e-SIM that may allow your phone to have dual-use.

If I bring a phone at all, I'm leaning toward B, but will be with DW who will likely have option C already. That may be all we need, frankly. I sense from talking to friends that A is popular despite maybe being the most expensive option, because it's beleived to be easier to set up (and intuitively understand).

P.S. not all phones are capable of option C. I think more recently-released ones are more likely to have that capability, however.

You can certainly use Verizon if you pay the $10 per day or the $100 per month that they charge for an international plan. You will have to use roaming, and there are times when even using that, service will be a bit sketchy. You can also get an eSIM if you like. Most do not provide a phone number, but do give you a certain amount of data for a period of time. In order to get an eSIM, your phone must be newer than 2017 and must be unlocked.

I was recently in England for 5 1/2 weeks and used the free international plan offered by T-Mobile. There were times when service was not the greatest, but overall, I didn’t have any real problems. I did have to make sure that my roaming was on, and of course that uses more data.

I would suggest having a paper map with you just in case. There were some places out in the boonies where I was fine getting there with GPS, because I had Internet when I plugged in my destination and routed it. But of course, if you’re going any place after that and you need to change the GPS, if there’s no Internet available, you won’t get anything. In that case, it does help to have a map with you. Either that, or download Google maps for the area you will be in.

But overall, everything went well for the most part.

Thank you Mardee and Alfred. My concern is out in the Cotswalds and Lakes areas. The phone works fine in London but I’m thinking it will not be dependable in these areas. I guess I’ll have to bring along paper maps. Silly isn’t it? I’ve spent my life with maps but have gotten a bit soft with the use of technology:))

By "lake area" do you mean the Lake District? There no reason why you should have mobile phone reception there and jn the Cotswolds In my travels around the UK including in far more rural areas, I can't remember losing reception. It's not to say you'll have perfect reception all the time, but no need to resort to paper maps!

Thanks Simon. That is good news!

In May we rented a car and relied upon the eSIM our daughter purchased for her phone for use of gps. No issues with coverage. The vehicle had gps which we initially utilized as back up to her phone and then reverted to using the car gps as we gained confidence in operation. However…….. we always relied upon the front seat passenger to be the navigator in order to help the driver stay focused upon safe driving. If you have limited experience in wrong side driving we encourage you to use a navigator! Most common trait of English newbie drivers is their tendency to overcompensate to the left. Upon returning the car the inspector first checked the left side, passenger side, for any damage. Greatly enjoyed the driving experience, just added patience to our drive times.

Not Verizon, but we rented a car and used our phone for gps directions with no coverage issues. We traveled from Bath to Salisbury, Cotswolds, North Wales, Lake District, and Edinburgh. We have T-Mobile.

Keep in mind that GPS is a separate technology and not reliant upon cellular service, although the app utilizing GPS may be.

GPS with a map that you have saved for offline use should allow you to navigate with roaming off or in airplane mode. However, your map won't have the live links, traffic or other features that many of us have come to rely on.

Another idea if you have one is to bring an old phone that you might have lying around at home. Get a cheap sim deal for the U.K. and stick it in the old phone. Then you can still have access to your current number in your current phone that you can use in hotels and other places with WiFi at no cost. This has worked well in several travels for us.

johnew52,
Are you referring to wi-fi calling? From what I've read here (USA) about it, I got the impression that it does not necessarily give you connection access to UK mobile network if you haven't already paid for it one way (e.g., $10 daily to Verizon) or another (e.g., giffgaff SIM card). It was my understanding that it merely serves as a backup to the network your phone already has access to, in case you're in a situation where a) the mobile signal is weak/intermittent, yet b) you do have access to a good Wi-Fi signal. Am I mistaken?

I'd be pleased to be mistaken in this case. I have an unlocked, inactive* smartphone and it would be a welcome, seemingly-free feature to be able to call on it (USA or UK) simply because wi-fi works. But I really didn't think things worked that way.

• as of February this year. For all I know, the number may have been reassigned already (I got a new one with my new phone).

Get a cheap sim deal for the U.K. and stick it in the old phone. Then you can still have access to your current number in your current phone

Assuming one has a modern phone with dual-SIM capability, putting in a cheap UK SIM doesn't prevent access to one's home number.

It's also quite possible/likely that your rental car will have navigation capabilities
so you wouldn't need your phone, but the core GPS vs full internet-capable
issues would still be applicable.

In that case, the rental car company would know everywhere you went and how
fast you drive, vs the phone company.

Re Alfred's comment above, Johnew52 is talking about using an old cellphone
with a UK service provider. Separate phone, separate service. Most likely a
data-only service, just for things like navigation. Nothing to do with your regular
phone. Alfred, Wi-fi calling is something completely different. Jphbucks is pointing
out that you can put a second SIM into most phones these days, which does the same
thing as Johnew52 is saying, but on the same phone.

As shoeflyer says I was referring to using an old phone as a second set, just buying a sim package when you get to the UK that suits your needs. When we have done it, mainly in New Zealand, we have bought a full package with both data, calls and texts and have used it to both navigate and contact accommodation, restaurants etc locally. But you could but a package just to deliver what you want.

If you do have a fairly modern phone that has e-sim capability you can effectively do what I was suggesting with your existing phone. My post was to point out what to do if your current phone doesn't have that capability.

Last May we bought the Verizon $100 a month plan and traveled through the Cotswolds using my phone for navigation and everything worked fine