Orange sim card on verizon phone...any problems?

I have Verizon and bought an Orange SIM when I went to Spain in October, it was about 20E and worked just fine, I was there for 2 weeks, never had a problem. Just take a paperclip with you so that you can open the little slot for the SIM.
Have fun!!

I bought an Orange sim card in Paris for my iPhone 6 with Verizon at the time (2017) and it worked great. Guy at Orange store put sim card in for me.
I have since switched to TMobile so no need to switch sim cards anymore. Love TMobile, the best carrier for international travel.

First off, I've never tried that SIM card in my phone.

Second, what I have done is use Verizon's Travel Pass. It's $10/day IF - and only if - you use it to call, text or access the web. IF you only use WiFi at your destination, you're not charged. And if you DO use Travel Pass, it's $10/day for the same usage plan you have at home. They're very good about sending a text shortly before your 24 hours are up.

If you only think you'll need real access on a limited basis, that might be a cheap alternative.

Thanks. I am feeling a little more optimistic about the Orange card. If it does not work I guess I can fall back on the travel pass through verizon. I used that last year on a rick steves GAS tour to call home to check on my elderly mom and it worked fine for that. I did not need to make dinner reservations or use data to search for things on the road because we were part of a tour. All that was done for us. This time I am doing all the planning and we are staying in airbnb’s so we won’t have access to a phone or concierge as we would have in a hotel.

FYI, Verizon only recently changed their unlock policy - your phone is PROBABLY unlocked if not brand new, but they are locking very new phones again it seems, at least for a short time (60 days, it sounds like):

https://www.droid-life.com/2019/02/22/new-verizon-60-day-unlock-policy/

But, you'll find out when you try an Orange SIM in the phone!

Of course Verizon doesn't want to tell you whether an Orange SIM will work in your phone - they want to sell you their expensive international roaming plan! ($10/day or $70 for a month with very little data.)

I'm pretty sure it will work fine...EXCEPT, know that when you insert the Orange SIM, you'll have a French phone number now and not your US Verizon number anymore until you put the Verizon SIM back in! You could give people at home your new French number - but probably an expensive international call for them. Or you could call them back - the Orange plan may include some international minutes.

If you want to make free calls home to the US from France, even to landlines, install the Google Hangouts app on your phone. You don't even need a SIM to use it to make calls - you can use WiFi. (From France, you may need to add a +1 in front of the US number to call it.) Try it at home - works surprisingly well. FYI, Google is replacing Hangouts later this year with Google Voice (somewhat), but through June Hangouts should still work. If you have an Android phone, you'll also need to install Hangouts dialer.

Kathy,

I haven't yet used an Orange sim card in my Verizon iPhone (I'm planning to do so this summer), but I've used SIM cards from providers in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, and Austria in two different Verizon iPhones over the past several years with no problems.

Since you've decided to get a European SIM card, your phone details are actually more relevant than your current carrier. You need to know:
- Is your phone unlocked? You've already verified that.
- Does your phone support any of the frequency bands used by Orange? Chances are it does if it's no more than a few years old, but if you'd like to be extra-sure, here's a website I found where you can check it: where https://www.frequencycheck.com/carrier-compatibility/zLxGn/orange-france/devices. I tried out the site for my type of phone and it seemed to work.

I assume you'll have an agent at an Orange store install the SIM card for you. Be sure to store your Verizon SIM card somewhere safe, and as someone else mentioned, bring a paper clip to pop open the SIM card drawer so you can put the Verizon card back in when you get home.

Thank you Andrew and Melissa for the very valuable info. I realize I will have a different phone number with the orange sim card. I really only need to make local calls. I can communicate with people at home through email and messenger if I need to. I will, however, check out google hangouts just to give me that option plus I am fascinated by that technology! Andrew, you hit the nail on the head regarding Verizon. The representative that I spoke with was very short on answers for me but very quick to tell me about the travel pass! Melissa, thank you for the link. I will check to see if my phone supports any of the frequency bands used by orange.

Kathy — when you buy your Orange SIM card (usually at an Orange boutique), make sure to have your passport with you. They are very serious about making sure they have the person using the phone identified. You don’t want to have to run back to your hotel for your passport when you are already at the store!

Just another Verizon user (on an iPhone 8) that has also successfully used both the Orange Holiday card and Verizon's Travel Pass -- I've never had a problem with either. Given the €40 cost of the Orange Holiday card, I only use it for trips that are 5 days or longer, since a trip shorter than that will come in cheaper with Travel Pass even if I used it every single day.

Just make sure if that you get the Orange Holiday card that you don't lose your original Verizon SIM card!

Kathy — when you buy your Orange SIM card (usually at an Orange boutique), make sure to have your passport with you. They are very serious about making sure they have the person using the phone identified. You don’t want to have to run back to your hotel for your passport when you are already at the store!

Curiously, in the US one can purchase the Orange Holiday SIM on Amazon and use it for up to two weeks in Europe without providing passport info. Someone else here pointed out a cheaper Orange SIM on Amazon, the "Zen" SIM, which is only $19.90 USD and comes with 3GB of data, 300 texts and 30 min of talk, also good for two weeks, presumably without registering it with your passport. It's not clear how they get around the requirement, but people here have reported using the these SIMs successfully.

https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Holiday-Europe-tethering-Countries/dp/B07NLCL9SP

Andrew H. posted:
Curiously, in the US one can purchase the Orange Holiday SIM on Amazon and use it for up to two weeks in Europe without providing passport info. Someone else here pointed out a cheaper Orange SIM on Amazon, the "Zen" SIM, which is only $19.90 USD and comes with 3GB of data, 300 texts and 30 min of talk, also good for two weeks, presumably without registering it with your passport. It's not clear how they get around the requirement, but people here have reported using the these SIMs successfully.

I have just received an "Orange Holiday Zen" card (valid for 14 days after first use) purchased on Amazon. In the packet of info it gives you a blank personal info card (and also asks for a picture of your passport) with a prepaid envelope for use by purchasers who have not been "identified by a salesperson". It then says you have 30 days to "identify yourself or your account will be suspended" . You can also go online and fill out the ID form and upload a picture of your passport ID pages.
All in all it just sounds like a giant "Cover Your A__" for Orange. 30 days to validate a 14 day purchase? I would assume that the only problem might be for people who want to extend or "Top Up" their card after 30 days without filling out the form.
We are only going to be there for two weeks, but I will just fill out the card and mail it when we get to France.

I wouldn't even bother mailing that in myself...

I used the more expensive Orange Holiday SIM for two different trips. If your phone is unlocked it works fine. I always purchase at a boutique there and have them install it, get it working, before I pay. It comes with 10 gb of data plus, I believe, unlimited everything else. My usage is relatively light, especially because I ration my data use when I can. I probably only used 2 gb up until the last weekend, then stopped caring how much I used.

I've used another company, SFR, for two trips. It worked fine one trip and didn't the next time. Last time I asked they were no longer selling SIMs at their boutique, so no help getting it working - which doesn't work for me. Once you've paid, you won't get your money back even if it doesn't work.

We have Verizon on both of our phones. We got a TIM SIM card for mine in Italy and Verizon Intl Plan for my spouse’s iPhone. The SIM worked great! Used it with Google Maps and for making local calls. Will continue getting SIM cards in Europe. On the flight home, I pooped the TIM SIM out, and put the Verizon card back in, so easy. We used my spouses’ plan to call back to US, to our doctors, Airlines etc. We always seem to have medical issues while traveling.

On the flight home, I pooped the TIM SIM out,

Next time, I suggest storing the SIM in little plastic case instead. :-)

We used my spouses’ plan to call back to US, to our doctors, Airlines etc.

You can use Google Voice to make calls home to the US for free, even to landlines, while on WiFi. In other words, your spouse wouldn't have to enable the $10/day Verizon plan that day just to make a call.