Need cell phone help and advise

You can get SIM cards at any phone provider or at places like an airport kiosk. Yes, the number changes when you change the SIM. And wifi is wifi. If you are in a hotspot Skype should work.

Kari,

I wouldn't bother asking Verizon for much info. Most front line staff don't have a lot of knowledge on things like international roaming (although there are exceptions).

Given your circumstances, you have a couple of options:

Buy an unlocked, quad band GSM Phone off E-Bay and use either a SIM from one of the travel phone firms or buy SIM's in Europe. Be sure that the Charger supplied with the Phone is designed for "world operation".

Rent or buy a phone from one of the travel phone firms - Roam Simple, Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Mobal or Telestial. Be sure to review their rates and terms of service carefully!

The problem with buying a SIM in each country is that the number and terms of service change each time the card is changed. That makes it a bit hard for friends and family to know which number you're using at any given time. From what I've seen over the last month or so, network providers in Europe are becoming a bit stricter in selling SIM's to non EU residents. They will sell the SIM's, but the purchaser has to provide a Passport and be "registered".

You might consider using a "travel SIM" from one of the firms mentioned above. I'm currently in Europe and have been using a travel SIM in several countries for almost two months, and so far it's worked well. I'll have a better idea on the costs in a few weeks when I get home and have a look at my credit card statement. I tend to use text messaging as much as possible, as it's much cheaper (although I have made several voice calls on this trip).

Hope that helps. Happy travels!

Can't imagine WiFi won't work with your phone...are you sure Verizon wasn't just trying to sell you a data roaming package? :)

Hi Anna, Honestly, I kept waiting for him to "suggest" a solution but he was very rude and just said that it wouldn't work and since we'd be in Europe for 5 weeks, we couldn't even use Verizon's Global Phone program. That was it...no solution or upsell involved.

Thanks Steve! Are the sim cards hard to find in Europe?

Kari,
I have a Motorola Droid (on Verizon) and did a little research on this on one of the Android forums I belong to. You can put your phone in Airplane mode (turns off the receivers) then turn on Wi-Fi and use that to access the internet. BUT...supposedly the Android Skype app doesn't work solely on Wi-Fi, only 3G. Not sure about any other smartphones.

Here at home I have tried the airplane mode/Wi-Fi combination and can get out to the web just fine. I don't have Skype, so can't say whether it works or not.

I picked up an unlocked quad-band GSM phone on eBay for $35. I'll see about getting a SIM when I get there.

You all are the best! You've given me a lot to consider, look over, and check out! I really appreciate all your help and can't thank you enough.

I think I'm leaning towards an option of one sim card that will work in all of the countries we'll be visiting. The idea of keeping one phone number is really appealing because it'll simplify things for our friends & family here at home may need to reach us while we're in Europe.

Kari,

A bit of clarification.....

"Travel SIM cards are roaming all the time"

That's not entirely correct. It depends on which network and country the SIM is based in. For example, I'm currently using one of the travel SIM's which is with O2 in the UK. Therefore I won't be roaming when in the UK and will have the best rates. However, if I travel to other countries, I will be roaming and the rates could be a bit higher.

Having said that, it's important to remember that the "Travel SIM" firms often provide consistent rates regardless of which country the customer is in. Check their websites for the details. Some can also provide seamless forwarding of the customer's normal Cell number to the travel number (however this option usually costs a bit more).

Cheers!