This question is for AMERICAN travelers to Europe (France, Netherlands, England) on USA based VERIZON mobile phone plans. A little confused how to set uptoa benefit from our phones while traveling. My wife will be touring above mentioned countries, a few days each. She has an IPhone, I use Samsung Android phone. I ASSUME in order to use apps like Rick Steves videos, City Mapper, etc., one needs wi-fi connection which obviously won't be available as we navigate outside through the streets (unless we stop at someplace with wi-fi connectivity every 5 steps). I also ASSUME that most museums will offer free (or reasonable wi-fi for use with our bluetooth earbuds for in-house tours, so no issue there. So back to the wi-fi in the streets, I ASSUME we'll need to buy the $100 per month Wi-FI and data overseas plans from Verizon for one or both phones (we'll probably just buy for one phone) for phone calls, data connectivity in the absence of wi-fi, so forth. Am I correct? If not, please enlighten me, as all this tech stuff is Greek to me. Thanks in advance! :)
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
7576 posts
There are several options available. You can use the $100 per month international data plan from Verizon. That is certainly the most convenient although probably the most expensive. Verizon also has a $10 a day international data plan that you could use on an "as needed" basis.
You could also get an eSIM data plan for one phone. These are plans that usually do not have phone numbers (there are exceptions, though) and provide enough data for GPS, city maps, videos and so on. There are requirements - the phone that will have the eSIM must be unlocked and be a fairly new phone (2018 or newer). You purchase the data plan depending on your length of stay and data requirements, and then activate once you are in Europe.
As an example, I purchased a 30 day 10Gb plan for Germany from Airalo, which cost around $20+. It was very easy to use and let me access all the internet I needed. If you are in more than one country, you could purchase a Europe plan, which would cost around $20 for 5Gb of data for 30 days (you didn't mention how long your stay was). https://www.airalo.com/regional-esim
There are options if you really need a phone - for example, the Orange eSIM Holiday data plan offers the same type of data plan but it also comes with a French phone number. You can only get a 14 day plan with Orange, but you can top it off with additional days by registering your passport with the company (required under French law).
If you want more information, there are multiple threads on the Technology Tips forum. You might to start off with this post, though, that gives a basic overview of eSIMs.
Posted by
229 posts
Check with verizon about your actual plan. At least one of their current plans (unlimited data?) gives an allowance for 1 international day per month (that's using Verizon's $10/day international plan which you have to activate for each phone). It allows you to carry over the 1 day per month so that if you haven't used it, you may have several days' allowance already "banked". Again, definitely check with verizon for your specific plan allowance and activate the $10/day if you want it (no cost to activate, only charged when you use the phone).
I have the international plan turned on for my phone ($10/day) but have never used it. Instead I usually just buy a physical sim card (~20-40USD depending on the country and network.) That does mean taking out your sim (bring a small case to store it so you don't lose it) and it means not having service until you get to a store. Although if you have the $10/day plan there's always a back up.
If UK is your first destination, I've found there are several cell networks/sim cards to choose from and it's the cheapest. Just be sure to get one that has no roaming fees in Europe. Yes, that option still exists after BREXIT, but you have to get the right one. Last May we started in England, bought a TESCO card from a TESCO store (they sell many brands) that also worked in Italy. After a week in England we went to Sicily, Naples, Rome and had no problems using the phone everywhere. That sim cost only ~15GBP for way more data than we ever could have used. In Italy in March 2023, a SIM card from Vodafone was 37euro (same price at Windtre, TIM was a few euro more).
Another option is to try an ESIM, for data only. It's a little tricky to set up but many of the service providers have good customer service. Based on the following article, I used an ESIM from BNESIM for 2 weeks in Italy in March and was very happy with it. Others on RS forum have used other service providers mentioned in this article with good results as well:
https://abrokenbackpack.com/best-europe-esim-providers/#Airalo_eSIM_Eurolink_Plan