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Using Cell Phone

I’d like to use my phone for gps and Google searches while in Italy. I have Verizon. They have a couple of options. Just curious what others are doing.

Posted by
32 posts

I'll be purchasing a TIM tourist sim card once we arrive in Venice. However, we have Mint Mobile which seems to charge a significant amount for international minutes, data and texting.

Posted by
317 posts

We have AT&T and they offer whats called "International Day Pass" which costs $10 per 24 hours of use. I have used this on dozens of trips across Europe and haven't run into any problems. We have iPhones and it connects us to the local carrier and it changes automatically when we cross a border. In some situations we are able to manually select a different carrier than the one we are automatically connected to. Sometimes the one we connect to initially is slow and I like to change carriers to find a better (faster) one. The AT&T plan is a flat $10 fee per 24 hours. There are no roaming charges and no hidden fees. I travel with my wife and we both use it. It's well worth $10 a day per device to maintain our same phone number and same unlimited data plan we have in the states.

Posted by
257 posts

Depending on how long you'll be in Europe, there are a couple of options. Verizon offers a 1 month plan for about $100 which provides 5GB data, texts and calling. I just used that for my 30 day trip that I just returned from. Or for occasional use, they have a $10/24 hour period option you can use as you need it. You can also use wifi nearly everywhere, and there is an option on Google maps to download a map to your destination that you can use offline. Another option is to just get a local sim card that you use while you're there and it avoids the hassles with Verizon altogether.

Posted by
4616 posts

Jack, we just returned from Europe, and the AT&T plan , as explained to me by AT&T, charges $10 a day for the first line, and $5.00 a day for the companion line. I don't remember that for our previous trip.
Safe travels!

Posted by
3039 posts

On our last trip, we bought a sim card in UK which was good continent-wide. We never used it, not even 1 time. We simply went to a cafe or other place with wifi and used email. We are just not oriented to phones from the speaking standpoint any more. We will use only the email option in our trip later this year.

Posted by
21 posts

Thanks. Very helpful! I’ve never used a SIM card so I’ll need to do research on that.

Posted by
3039 posts

I’ve never used a SIM card so I’ll need to do research on that.

Actually, if you have a phone, you use a SIM card every day, because the SIM card is how the phone actually works in the network. What you really mean is that you have never swapped out your USA SIM card for another SIM card in Europe.

1) Ensure that your phone is not locked. If your phone is locked, it is tied to a network. A replacement SIM card will do you no good
2) When you swap your SIM card out, put it in a safe place. I'd get a small ziploc bag, and put it in a secure place in your luggage.

Posted by
2098 posts

We have Verizon. I looked into getting a SIM card, but determined it wouldn't be that much cheaper than using their day plan. We just turned on the international plan from Verizon. Between Wi-Fi and judicious use, we didn't spend that much.

We used Google Maps for a few days in Tuscany, along with a paper map. We found the paper map a better solution. By then we knew the territory and quit using the smartphone to maneuver.