phone

I am debating the same question but my friend and I are only taking 1 phone. Since her Mom is 90+, we both have special needs pets, we decided that the $40/month will be best. She will pay for 1 month & I will pay for the other. Our 18 day tour covers 8 days in August & the rest in September., thus 2 months billing.
If we had to call , use data daily the Travel Pass would cost us $180 and Slovenia is not on the TP list. So our cost will be even higher.

My husband is technophobic so I have to be able to call him..

Are your phones unlocked? If so, you might find a better bargain by purchasing a prepaid SIM card (une carte prepayée) from Orange, SFR, or Bouygues Telecom while in France.

• https://www.sfr.fr/telephonie-mobile/#sfrintid=HH_Mobile

• http://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/carte-prepayee-mobicarte

• https://www.bouyguestelecom.fr/carte-prepayee

As far as your map goes, while I find both Apple Maps and Google Maps somewhat lacking and often frustrating, with Google Maps you can download a map file for your area to your phone while connected to WiFi (such as at your hotel) and use the map later as you walk about without incurring additional data charges.

I just returned from four days in Paris on Sunday. I brought an unlocked phone and was using a SIM card I purchased in London that gave me 200 MB of roaming data in Paris. I also used the data for "practical" purposes (I used the Wi-Fi at the apartment we were staying at in the evenings). I easily exceeded 100 MB of data and would surely have exceeded 200MB in a week if I would I have stayed that long. I don't see how the 2nd option with 100 MB will last you for two weeks, but I could be wrong.

Things that you can do to to eliminate data used:
- Download and save any maps you think you will need (City maps, metro maps, etc.). I use the CityMaps2Go app and download the areas in which I will be traveling. If you turn on the GPS on the phone it will place your location on the map and is fairly accurate.
- Download and save city guides for apps like Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor. You can then access them offline.
- Download the Rick Steves Audio Europe app and download any tours or interviews that you think you will need.

If you would use it every day, the $10 a day plan from Verizon is probably about what it would cost you to purchase a new unlocked phone (BLU or older Moto G) plus a local SIM card that would give you talk, text, and data).

Anyone reading this should note that the "unlimited" everything on the travel pass $10 per day plan is only unlimited if you are on an unlimited plan as your normal, domestic plan. This $10 per day allows you to use your normal domestic plan while traveling in certain other countries. We do not have an unlimited plan, so we are limited to our 8 gb/month data plan. We are planning to use the travel pass on one device and the flat charge on the other. If we need to do something data-heavy like navigation while driving around, we'll do that on the $10 per day plan phone, and use the other for everything else.

Thank you for all of your replies. If I use the hotel wifi to access the Internet with my iPhone in France, does that use up data? If I've downloaded maps beforehand onto my phone, does using them w/ the aid of GPS use data?

I have an iPhone & my mother has a flip phone that will work in France. I'm probably going to get the travel pass for my phone. Is there a way we can communicate w/ each other in an emergency if we get separated? My mother wouldn't be handling any data.

I'm an advocate of an unlocked phone plus a local SIM card. Rather than be at the mercy of your provider, you can get something that fits your needs from many competing companies. Most Europeans own their phones and use the SIM card deal that works best for them on a pay as you go basis rather than a contract. Depending on the phone you have, that may not be an option for you.

Having said that SFR sucked for me this trip and I'll likely never use them again.

Having said that SFR sucked for me this trip and I'll likely never use them again.

That's interesting. I've used them for nearly 4 years with very few problems (two cell phones, landline, cable TV, and Internet). What was the nature of your difficulty?

sara - You are right that the flip phone probably does not use data, so she doesn't really need either of the Verizon international plans.

Does your mother know how to text from her phone? That might be her best means of communication with you, if it's just for a meet up time or something like that. Does she need to call back to the US from her phone, or can she just use yours for that? Did you ask Verizon if there's anything she needs to do to be able to text, or if they'll just charge her $.50 per text or such? It may be easiest to just pay as you go for her.

iPhone: As long as your phone is on airplane mode, you can use wifi and not use any data at all. This is what we typically will do when in Europe - leave phone on airplane mode until we need it for something. As a precaution, I also turn off the "background data" use and availability to use data for individual apps (like Facebook or games) that I know suck data. Then even if you turn on wifi, you won't be using any for these apps. I really only find I need data for occasional navigation or looking up a restaurant, so we hardly turn off airplane mode.