traveling to London Paris and Scotland

We went the "lazy privileged people throwing money at it" route the first time we went to London with an iPhone - just a couple of years ago. We had an iPhone 4 with Verizon. I called them, said, "Help! We are going to London and I don't know what to do!" and they walked me through the entire process. They sent us a loaner phone - via FedEx, very fast - and complete instructions. We powered off the iPhone when we left the house for the airport, and fired up the Blackberry (that's what the loaner was back then, might not be a Blackberry now) when we got off the plane at Heathrow. In the box with the phone came all the little plastic fiddly bits we needed - adapter, etc. It worked PERFECTLY and in the end, the total cost was something like $35. This year, we thought, "Heck, let's just buy a cheapo phone and get a SIM card at the airport. Everyone says that will work fine!" Nope. We did get a phone that would work in Europe - we think, because that's what the guy at Best Buy SAID, and he also said he had done this exact same thing HIMSELF - but in the end we did not have a working phone. We found a SIM card machine at Heathrow with zero trouble. But we could not figure out which SIM card to get. Got two, both wrong. Ended up with no phone. All it could do was tell us the time - it could not make calls. We are both intelligent, college-educated middle managers who work at a major University, and we couldn't make a phone work in London. Very embarrassing. But I offer you our tale of woe and stupidity just to let you know, (a) it's not just you, this can be confusing for anyone and (b) you already pay Verizon to help you - and you can do it in this instance! And now... queue all the folks who have done this many times with no problem!!! :-)

Maybe I'm all wet. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe there's a difference between 4s and 5, but I think they both run on iOS 6.x. Maybe there's a quirk twixt Verizon and ATT. Maybe you did something with the stupid airplane mode switch. We both have ATT 4s phones. We travel so much that they remain on international voice plans, but we've never had an international data plan for either the phones or the tablets. I trust nothing some idiot at a phone store tells me. I own what I believe to be the definitive manual on iPhones. I checked it for ATT/Verizon differences before posting my response since I know little about Verizon. I found nothing pertinent. What we do while they're closing up the plane is turn cellular data off, but leave the data roaming switch on (reason later) - - this kills both cellular data and cellular roaming simultaneously. We do nothing else except power down the devices. They will return to these settings when powered up. When we power up we have a full voice phone with wifi enabled. Thus we're all set with no possibility of using cellular data unintentionally. Gps and everything else still works, including text. Internet and such is automatic when you hook up to a wifi network. Do I screw up? Of course. I had a couple of snazzy phone pics that wouldn't send on wifi due to band width - - I flipped on cell data and sent them at a cost of seven bucks each. She got a grin out of them, so it was worth it. Do I screw up really bad? Of course. I flipped on cell data to check a departure app at Schiphol last week since I couldn't find what I wanted on a board - - like an idiot, I started running and didn't flip it off. It quit exchanging data once I was in the air - - I was out eighty bucks.

Yikes! Expensive snafus, but good examples of things that can happen when rushing through an airport or otherwise distracted while traveling. I think it's less about the device itself (iPhone 4S vs 5) and more about the version of the iOS it's running on. I noticed several differences (improvements) in the Settings screens when I updated to iOS 6.x.

I, too, have IPhone5 and Verizon is the carrier. It is already unlocked or should be. My advice is to go to your nearest store and have them review their options with you. For $24.99 my phone was Voice activated for the UK and European continent and I received 500MB of Data. Voice calls were .99 cents a minute, Texts sent and received were .50 cents a minute. It is a monthly plan and is prorated by how many days you actually use the plan. I called home for 5-10 minutes each night for 16 nights. For me it was worth the money to have the added 500MB Data & a Voice plan if I needed either the Internet or my IPhone for emergencies. Adaptors: UK uses 3 flat prongs with 1 vertical prong on top and 2 horizontal prongs below it. Europe uses 2 rounded prongs horizontal side by side.
Plug the Adaptor into the electrical wall plate. Plug your device into the Adaptor. Use Adaptor for cell phones, cameras, Kindle, Ipad, Nook, tablets, etc. Convertor: Needed for appliances like hair dryers, curling irons, electric razors, and irons. If marked as Dual Voltage,120/240 volts, you do not need a Convertor. Many things today are made to convert. Remember to push the switch on the appliance before you plug it in. It is suggested to bring 2 adaptors if you are charging 2 devices like a camera and a phone overnight. I used a Universal adaptor which gave me slots for both of them at the same time. But I always bring an extra adaptor, handy, and a Convertor, old habit. My choice was based on not wanting to buy 4 Sim Cards for 4 different countries, and buying additional minutes for each of them every time I crossed a border. You are not alone with sorting through the technology. Choose what is best for your travel needs and your level of comfort and safety. Have fun!

Nancy, once activated you always leave your Voice settings to roaming On. You leave Data settings roaming Off until you want to use it which I did from the FREE WiFi spots. When you're not using Free WiFi, turn off the Data roaming. This is where people run up unknowing costs. Not to confuse you, but I did use the Data roaming once without a Free WiFi spot. I downloaded my boarding pass. But remember I already paid for the 500MB so it didn't cost me extra to do this.

I think there's a potentially expensive flaw in Diane's explanation. DATA ROAMING applies only to cellular data and has nothing to do with WiFi data. With WiFi enabled, an iphone will use a hierarchical antennae matrix to select the most economical means to use data. It will use WiFi first, but if it's not available, it will switch to cellular data automatically if cellular data/data roaming is switched on. There is no need to turn on data roaming to use WiFi. If data roaming is turned on and you move out of the WiFi zone the money flood gates open. It's more of a disaster if you forget to turn it off.

Ed, If I didn't turn on Data roaming, my cellular phone did not pick up updated data when I used the Free WiFi at the hotel, airport, cafes. I'm home now and I checked my bill w/Verizon and all is good. I did not incur
extra roaming charges as I always turned off Data roaming unless WiFi was free. What am I missing with your reply? I'm on a learning curve here....

nancy, Your first step should be to have a chat with Verizon customer service, and hopefully you'll find someone that knows what they're talking about in terms of international roaming. They will likely have to "enable" the GSM portion of the phone so that it will work in Europe. If you're only planning to use the phone occasionally, buying a "travel pack" and roaming with Verizon is certainly one option. If using that, you wouldn't have to worry about "Nano SIM cards" or getting the phone unlocked. One thing to consider when roaming with your home provider is that anyone calling your home number will reach you where ever you are, and you will pay for each incoming call (calls in the wee hours of the morning are especially annoying). If you want to use a SIM from a U.K. network, your phone will have to be unlocked. Again, you'll have to talk to Verizon about that. If using a SIM bought in the U.K., rates would be higher if used in Paris since you would be "roaming". You'd also need to be clear on how to top-up your card. You'll have to decide if you want access to 3G data, or just use Wi-Fi. Having 3G will of course cost more. If your phone is unlocked, you could also use a SIM from one of the travel phone firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial, Mobal, EuroBuzz, One Sim, Max Roam or others. Check their respective websites for details and prices. Not all of them will offer Nano SIM's. Many of those use SIM's with U.K. numbers, but the rates would be the same in Paris and many use post-paid billing so no need to top-up. Good luck and happy travels!

Nancy, One final point (ran out of room in the previous reply)...... You'll need two different types of Plug Adapters in order to charge your iPhone in Europe. The U.K. style has three large rectangular pins and the European style has two small round pins. I'd suggest taking at least two of each type, as they're easy to misplace (they're cheap). Check the Magellan's website for details. Cheers!