iphone 4s

I've traveled with my Iphone 3s and now 4s to Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France. I have AT&T...you have to have AT&T or it will NOT work. If you are using Verizon....NO. With AT&T you can go month to month with their international plan...at least last time I checked. I normally do not use my phone to make calls...I text, and now with Facetime, I use that to "call" my kids at home (when I have access to wi-fi in the hotel at night). Call AT&T and talk to a customer service person to see what international plans cost, then decide. So, the phone will work, but only if you have AT&T as your service provider.... Hope this helps.

AT&T will. Verizon won't. With AT&T, you pay six bucks a months you'll be gone and the voice rate goes down to a buck per minute. No data plan makes sense - - use wifi. If you buy a disposable phone it will work. You can also buy a mini-sim for the AT&T 4s and get the same result.

Thank you...yes I should have said it is Verizon iphone 4s but Verizon insists it will work if they change by sim card.??

Elizabeth, If you have a Verizon iPhone 4S, it WILL work in Europe, but with some conditions: 1.) You'll have to get Verizon to "enable" the GSM portion of the phone. 2.) The phone will be "locked" so you'll be limited to using a Verizon roaming plan. AFAIK, it will NOT be possible to use other SIM cards. You can check with Verizon on the rates for roaming. Be VERY careful not to exceed the data roaming limits (try to use Wi-Fi as much as possible). The term "disposable phone" is perhaps not completely accurate. You can certainly purchase an inexpensive PAYG phone in Italy, but this likely wouldn't provide data. Your best bet for limited use is probably just to use roaming with Verizon. Happy travels!

I apologize for testing your patience here but I am a slow learner with technology. So, using my AT&T iphone, will I be able to text my daughter's Verizon iphone (GSM-enabled as per Ken's post) while we are both in Rome? Will I be able to call her? Thanks!

"The phone will be "locked" so you'll be limited to using a Verizon roaming plan. AFAIK, it will NOT be possible to use other SIM cards." If you've been a Verizon customer for 60 days and your account is in good standing, they will unlock your Verizon IPhone4s and you can put an overseas carrier's SIM card into the phone. My source: http://tinyurl.com/6sjsdmz

Jan asked, "I apologize for testing your patience here but I am a slow learner with technology. So, using my AT&T iphone, will I be able to text my daughter's Verizon iphone (GSM-enabled as per Ken's post) while we are both in Rome? Will I be able to call her? Thanks!" The answer, yes, you should if both phones work as cell phones. Note that you'll need to key in your daughter's number as if you were making an international call. With a cell phone calling to a U.S. number (or texting as the case may be), it is easy. Just add a plus and the number one ("+1") before the full ten-digit number. If your daughter's number is 803-555-1212, you would need to send texts to +18035551212. It isn't cheap, though. Check the rates because if you are roaming on your U.S. accounts, both of you will pay for the call: You by the minute for making it, her by the minute for receiving it.

@Tom, Thanks for clarifying that. I had forgotten about the Verizon 60-day policy concerning unlocking. @Jan, The first question to ask is whether your daughter's Verizon iPhone is a 4S or one of the previous models (3GS, 4)? The answer to that question will determine whether she can use her phone in Europe. With your AT&T iPhone, be VERY careful with data roaming. It would be a good idea to call AT&T CS to determine the costs of the various roaming plans. You should be able to disable the data portion while still retaining the GPRS function for text messaging. The information provided by Paul is absolutely correct. If you call your daughter, you will BOTH pay for each call at whatever rates are set by your respective networks (will vary if you have a roaming plan). With text messages, the sender usually pays and the text should be FREE for the recipient. Cheers!

Elizabeth, I have an iphone but I think I'm going to use my simple TIM phone while I'm in Italy. Last summer I bought it for 29 euro (it included 10 minutes) and then bought additional minutes when I needed them (from kiosks or tobacco shops). Mostly I used it to confirm hotel reservations and call friends I was meeting in Italy (I was there for almost 3 months). Altogether I think I spent about 40 euro.