Cell phone use in Germany and Austria

I am going to try the Airalo app instead of the $10 fee from Verizon if I use cellular on a day. There's other recent favorable posts here ( search the Technology thread?).
I also really like WhatsApp (w wifi, free) and it seems widely used globally. But make sure anyone you want to contact while away has the app. I created a group for "Family" and it's awesome to just be able to text.

I bought an Airalo eSIM when I was in Germany in 2022 and it worked very well for my iPhone. Keep in mind that most eSIMs are data only with no phone number. But really you shouldn't need a phone number while you're there. Just download and use WhatsApp as noted above. Both iPhones and Androids can use the app for both texting (chatting) and for voice or video calls. And it's totally free. I used it to call friends and family back in the states, and many businesses in Germany will have a WhatsApp number. Just make sure that whoever you call has the app and an account set up on their phone.

Holafly is another good eSIM provider, although I think they are pricier than Airalo. But you can compare the prices. https://www.airalo.com/germany-esim
https://esim.holafly.com/esim-germany/

I've used Airalo for about 5-6 trips now, really easy to use. The only catch is that you can't receive texts while using Airalo, which caused a couple of issues with two-step verifications. I talked to my bank about this issue and they were able to change to an email verification, so that helped.

I like that Airalo gives me a heads up when I'm down to 25% left in data, so it helps me to decide if I should top up or not, depending on how many days I have left. Over the years, Airalo has saved me a couple hundred bucks at least through using it instead of my data provider which charges $16 a day for international roaming.

Important note that others frequently miss: Once you have Airalo running, you have to have the data roaming option switched on. I've seen others complain that Airalo wasn't working, but they had the data roaming off.

Another plug for using eSIM. It's really simple. I activated it the morning of outbound travel since I wanted to be in a trusted wifi location when I tested it out, but that "wasted" a day of the plan.

I've used Holafly and Airalo and I've just sucked it up and paid the international calling plan fee with my normal ATT plan. That is capped at 10 days in a billing cycle so $100. Additional phones on the same plan are $5/day $50 max. It's possible that Verizon has a similar deal.

Thanks everyone for your ideas. The info on Airalo and Holafly I had never heard of them so one of us will probably use that. I did find out that with Tracfone, while Verizon is the tower provider, they won't sell me an international plan unless we have an account with them directly.

I think you might need to get the Verizon iPhone unlocked so you can use an eSIM in it. I don't have that carrier so I'm not familiar with their rules. Verizon has an international plan, if you do a search on the forum there will be many posts on that topic as well. Depending on what you need to do (make calls to each other, make calls to USA, only use phone for navigation/web searching) there is likely a solution that fits your needs.

As Chris replied, first see what your home providers offer. I use AT&T and always spend less than the $100 I budget for the month.

Second, if you are looking to save money versus just needing to know how, question if you (a) need both phones to be active and (b) see how you can maizimize free wifi services to connect. You will find wifi "everywhere" in Germany and Austria--hotel, restaurants, even grocery stores.

If you have Verizon just tell them you want the international rate for the month you're traveling. It's about $90/month and cheaper than the $10/day fee they also have. No need to change sim cards or phone numbers. No need for different apps. It works great, I've been using it for over a year and it will allow you to have coverage all over the EU and GB.