Going in late September....England, Ireland, France, Germany...Iphone???

To use a European SIM card, you'll need to get the iPhone unlocked first. I'm not sure if AT&T will do it as they will for their other phones. There are ways to unlock it regardless.

Be careful if you use the iPhone with your AT&T account. The iPhone is notorious for making data connections that users don't realize so they come home to discover they've run up enormous data roaming charges with AT&T.

Check out the posting from Kent (I believe) about searching the forums and search for iPhone and you'll come across more detailed instructions from others who actually have an iPhone (I don't).

If you leave the setting of "Data Roaming" to the default 'Off' position the phone will automatically shut off it's data connections once it goes on a roaming network. You don't really have to worry about data roaming unless you turn that on. AT&T has a Euro cell package you can use that is reasonably not too expensive and you can float from WiFi point to WiFi point to get data.

However, you can jailbreak and then unlock the carrier on the iPhones fairly easily. At that point, you can just pop in the new Euro SIM and it SHOULD all work. However, due to the tweaking sometimes needed and since you wouldn't be getting the SIM until you were in Europe it could be a little bit tricky. I found that one unlock program didn't work with a friends SIM that I sold my old iPhone to but the other did... We had to figure it out by experimenting. You will also need a wireless network to do this as you are downloading patches from internet based servers.

So, are you technical enough to figure that out while you are there in Europe? That is for you to decide...

David,

Your IPhone won't need to be unlocked unless you plan on buying and using European (or any other) SIM cards during your travels. Your phone will work just fine when roaming with AT&T. However, a few caveats to mention.

The disadvantage of using European SIM's is that when you venture outside the country where the card was purchased, you'll be "roaming" and the per-minute cost increases noticeably. Buying a SIM for each country is at best a cumbersome solution, as your number changes each time as well, so it makes it more difficult for people to contact you.

If you plan on roaming with AT&T, it would be a really good idea to disable the data portion of the phone when you land in Europe, as data roaming charges can be horrendous. I've heard of a few cases where the "happy traveller" IPhone user returned home to find a $3000 bill waiting in the mailbox!

You can certainly use voice and text while roaming, however be sure to keep the voice calls to a minimum as these add up quickly. Text is a very cost effective solution, as sent texts are only about 75¢ each and received texts are FREE.

Also, be sure to tell your contacts NOT to call while you're in Europe (except for urgent matters)! In addition to the cost, getting calls at 03:00 because some inconsiderate moron forgot to check the time is VERY annoying!

You may want to contact AT&T, as I believe they have "International roaming plans" (including data roaming) that can be added to your account before you leave, and then cancelled when you get home. An International Roaming plan would undoubtedly help to keep the costs manageable.

Good luck and happy travels!

Thanks for the replies. That makes sense, I think I will just contact At&t and go from there. I didnt realize that texting overseas was such a cheap option.

Any good App's to recommend that can help? Ones that will work offline though or at a wifi spot? Also, I am guessing wifi will be abundant in the cities? I will also have my netbook with me on the trip too to help just incase. Thanks again