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European Phone Service - SIM or Verizon Intl. Plan

We will be in Europe for 24 days in May/June. Our itinerary includes 6 Western European countries; Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. We plan to use our phones for calling very minimally; likely just 5 or 6 short calls back to the US to elderly family members. We want mostly want to be sure we have enough data available for maps, train schedules, researching local information, etc. From the reading I have done and advice I received from another traveler I am thinking our best bet for phone service might be to use local SIM cards. On our previous trips we purchased a plan through Verizon. It seems using a SIM card would be less expensive and perhaps less restrictive. I have learned from online searching that it is possible to purchase one SIM card that will work for all of the countries we will visit. That seems a lot easier than purchasing and replacing a SIM card 6 times. I am interested in knowing about other peoples experiences and advice. What are the benefits and drawbacks? Has anyone purchased a European SIM card through one of these companies? Onesimcard.com or tellinkroaming.com. Looking forward to hearing suggestions. This is new territory for me. Thanks.

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Posted by
5687 posts

Verizon's daily plan is not restrictive at all - it's just expensive. At least, the $10/day plan is. Some people shrug it off - $240 for 24 days (and not charged the days you don't use it) - for one phone, over the scope of a European trip, what's the big deal?

Their $70/month plan is restrictive - only 500MB of data (not nearly enough for me for 24 days - I'd need about 3GB).

I'm frugal, though, and either one would be expensive for me. But I'm also not intimidated by technology.

Last few times, I've used a Dutch Vodafone SIM I bought on eBay. It works in all of those countries you mention. Calling with its limited, though - it's mostly of use for data. Setup of the SIM was easy for me, but there are a few steps - some people might find it too complicated. You have to create an account on the Vodafone NL website and insert the SIM and receive a (free) text message with an activation code to create your account. Then you can add funds to the SIM with your new Vodafone account. (All in Dutch - but if you use Google Chrome like I do, everything gets translated to English automatically.) Then you can activate a "You" bundle, good for a month, the day before you leave for Europe. Your phone should work when you land and turn it on.

My write-up from nearly two years ago should mostly still be valid. Today you can get 6GB of data for 20 euros instead of only 3GB. You'd need to add 20 euros to the SIM using your US credit card, after creating the Vodafone NL account. The SIM itself has no credit when you buy it and costs about $8.20 USD shipped via eBay (currently seller "davinciteam" sells them - never used them).

To make free calls home to the US, even to landlines, you can use the free Google Hangouts app. This has worked well for me for years. (By the end of the year, Google is supposedly phasing out this app in favor of Google Voice, which you can already try.) It works even on WiFi, so you wouldn't need data at all. It can work for incoming calls too, to a US phone number (not your Verizon number), if people need to reach you. Try Google Hangouts before you leave the US, though, so you know how it works. (Probably a lot better than you think it does.)

To call people in Europe, you can probably use WhatsApp (free) which is very popular over there.

Downsides: you won't have use of your Verizon phone number while your Verizon SIM is out. (Perhaps through WiFi calling if your phone supports that, not sure.)

Also, you need to make sure your phone is truly unlocked. Til recently, all Verizon phones were unlocked (not AT&T). Verizon has recently changed their policy. But if you buy the Vodafone SIM and set it up before you leave for Europe, you will find out immediately whether the phone is locked or not. If so, you won't even be able to turn it on with the SIM in place.

Posted by
5697 posts

You say "we" will be in Europe -- not everyone needs to be on the same plan. Last year I put a NL SIM in my phone (thanks, Andrew H !) and used it for GPS data; my husband kept his AT&T SIM. Both phones were on suspended service from AT&T, switched back on the day before we flew home so he was ready to go with Mobile Passport when we arrived in the U.S. Since we have computer-savvy Millennials, we kept in touch via WhatsApp and email using hotel Wi-Fi; for elderly family you might want to keep one phone active on the $10-a-day plan and use a SIM phone for data use.

Posted by
12172 posts

I'm not a tech first adopter but I now buy a local SIM. It would be best if you were starting in Amsterdam, because they're so fluent in English and would be much more helpful getting you started, including recommending the plan that work best for you. A good place to start is a department store that carries multiple brands but you may have to use a kiosk or boutique store that only carries one brand.

Over the last handful of years I've used Vodaphone, SFR, Orange and at least a couple others.

I'd guess the best deal for you would be an Orange Holiday SIM. It seems designed for those crossing borders. It costs about 50 euro for a 14 day plan that includes calls, texts and data (more than enough if you use WiFi when available and don't constantly stream). After the 14 days, you have to visit another Orange boutique (they're common) and add to it to keep it working. Unfortunately, as far as I know, you can't do it initially.