Smart Phone Travel decision

You stated that you are OK with using your international plan instead of buying SIM cards and OK with your plan in general right now. The good news is that you should be able to buy a new phone without changing anything with your plan. I would go in and ask Verizon directly about the details of this, but you should be able to renew your contract without having to change anything on your plan. Any smartphone will do what you are looking for, but between the two that you are looking at and given the fact that you seem to prefer simplicity over other factors, I would say that an iPhone would probably be a good choice. It will be easy enough and do what you want. I would not purchase a roaming plan if you already have a plan that you like and that works. You will have to get a data plan (and you should have one already with the Blackberry) for either of the phones that you mention. As for how to use it, you will turn off data roaming and use wifi for e-mail, etc. You will still be able to make calls and receive calls, but you will not have internet access everywhere (only when you are connected to wifi).

Yes, I'll start by checking w/Verizon. Some friends have said my plan will not be honored anymore and I'll need to pre purchase my minutes and a new data plan. Is it better to make the phone purchase at the "I" store or Vz store? I do need simplicity and a sales person who has interest in teaching me how to best use the phone's capabilities to suit my needs.

Your plan will be honored as long as you keep service. But you will have to pay a $30 charge that they are now charging everyone for renewing plans, and there will be a $30/month fee for your data.

I strongly vote for the iPhone. I bought an Android phone (but not the model you mention) and returned it because it took too much learning; I was even missing calls because I was having trouble answering it quickly enough. I then got an iPhone and found there was virtually no learning curve; the human factors engineering is great. (and I hate technology, although I had also used Blackberries for work) I purchased from the Apple store rather than Verizon because the Applecare plan was cheaper and better than the Verizon insurance (at least for my purposes). My main concern was dropping/breaking the phone, since I don't want to increase its size with a case. Making phone calls over wifi will work well to minimize the costs. Wifi will also work for emails and other purposes. However, if you have information that could be hacked into (bank contacts, passwords, confidential emails...), you might want to be careful about the public wifi sites... others may have a better understanding of how much of an issue this is. If you want to use data, just ensure you understand the cost and know how to monitor your usage. Some folks have come back to ugly data plan surprises.

Diane, I'd also recommend the iPhone, although you may want to wait for for a few days to see what the new Blackberry products will look like. One model will reportedly be a touch screen device. Regarding using the Smartphone in Europe, one suggestion would be to: > Buy voice, text and data travel packs from Verizon, as that will reduce roaming costs. They will also need to enable the GSM portion of the phone so that it will work in Europe. > Leave cellular data and data roaming OFF unless you need it for something specific, and use data functions such as E-mail or web browsing when you have Wi-Fi. Note that in some locations in Europe (ie: hotels), Wi-Fi is free but you'll need a Password which is sometimes changed daily. A few hotels charge for Wi-Fi. > With the data portion of the phone switched OFF, you'll still have access to both incoming and outgoing voice calls and texts. > Ask Verizon if they provide notification when you reach the data limit of the plan you choose. Data roaming charges can be HUGE, so this is a good feature. I was recently traveling in the U.S., and my carrier blocked data use when I reached the limit I had paid for. At that point I had two choices - buy another data allotment or don't use cellular data. > There will likely also be charges for checking Voice Mail, so do that sparingly if possible. If you travel with Verizon roaming, you won't have to deal with the aspect of changing SIM cards. As soon as you step off the plane and switch your phone on, you should have service (the phone will have to "search" for the network for a minute though). Happy travels!

Diane, one other comment re traveling with a smart phone vs tablet or laptop. I like to minimize what I bring, and I find that what others do on a tablet or laptop, I can do with apps on the iPhone (including reading books, storing/using PDFs, mapping, tracking reservations, watching movies, etc)... assuming you get a model with enough memory. So once you decide on what type of phone, I'd suggest spending time exploring their apps store. I'd guess there are things I could do with a laptop that I can't do with my iPhone, but they wouldn't make it worth carrying it around.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I definitely understand what the roaming charges & data plans mean now & how careful I need to be on usage & activation. The I Phone sounds the easiest and I did see there is a new Blackberry coming out. Another reason I waited so long is because Apple didn't always have VZ. When I travel for pleasure I don't bring a notebook or laptop yet. I try to travel light. The electronics add up so the weight adds up quickly.(My bag weighs 20 pds packed & I'm trying to make it even lighter!) On my last RS tour over half the group had a tablet or Ipad, a phone, and a camera. Most of the hotels offer free WiFi or free internet access. I understand the convenience of having them but not sure if I want to go in that direction & lug more stuff around. One tip that has worked for me is to bring 2-3 adaptors and a Universal convertor, and a 3' extension cord. Most hotels have all the sockets used up. I put everything onto one convertor and normally need an extension as the socket is in some difficult place within the room.
Sometimes I do not need the convertor.

Diane, I am a newly converted blackberry to Iphone as of two weeks ago. Don't even think about a blackberry. At Verizon you can get a 4s for $99+tax with a two year renewal. I was going to reduce my minutes from 2000-1400 but the voice plan would go up by $20...go figure. Based on my experience internet usage on the blackberry is slow and worthless. You will love the iphone. In Europe, download emails via wireless connecgtion to limit the data usage. I think the Verizon global plan is about $25 a month for 25 MB, which isn't that much, so only turn on the data if you need internet access away from your hotel or whifi spot.