Verizon loaner phone

I've done it a couple of times and found it to be the easiest way to have cell phone coverage. I've tried the alternatives. Bought a cheap European cell phone, but all the messages (telling you how to load time or that you're running out of time) are in Italian... hardly surprising, but still hard to deal with. Currently I have a Verizon phone that I can switch to GSM and use in Europe, but when they told me how to do it, they neglected a crucial step and it was a huge hassle to deal with it in Italy. Just be careful; twice I've gotten to Europe and found the phone didn't work because of incorrect Verizon setup (and conficting instructions). Now, I call several times to get instructions, until I get the same story twice. Last time, I got the distinct impression that the standard service folks are supposed to avoid transferring you to the specialists who understand European usage.

Bill and Sherry, I bought a TIM phone in Italy two years ago and still use it (it was less than 30 euro with some minutes already loaded). I asked the salesperson to choose English as the default language (some text messages still came through in Italian, but these were at the end of each call I made, telling me how much I had spent and how much I had left on the phone). You can buy additional minutes as you need them at kiosks or tobacco shops for as little as you want to spend.

I also have an old Verizon Motorola World Phone Z6c which can work either here in the USA without a sim or in Europe WITH a sim. It's actually a great little phone if all you want to do is call or txt. You have to call Verizon and have the SIM card activated and International Dialing enabled. I also block ALL data usage and sign up for the value plan that's about $5 per month but gets you lower cost per minute calls. The last time I called Verizon I talked with a lady who just insisted that I HAD to add a data plan to my phone...WRONGO! I've been using this phone for 5 years and never had to have a data plan so YOU need to go figure it out. Seems they are REALLY pushing data plans even if you don't need it. So when you call just ask to be transferred to the International Calling techs. They know exactly what to do.

Bill, I got loaner phones from Verizon for our trip this past June. We were there for two weeks - Rome, Siena, Venice and Milan. The only place that there seemed to be a bit of a connection problem was in Venice. We had two phones; one of them was fine, but the other had trouble in Venice finding a signal. The battery life was not the best either, but they served their purpose as I used them mostly to call home and check in. We had two because I was traveling with my two teenagers and wanted them to carry one in case we got separated. Wound up that we stuck together anyway, so one would have been fine. If you get the loaner international phone, call Verizon and have them walk you though the activation. I found them to be very helpful. We activated a few days prior to departure to make sure they worked. They magically converted upon arrival in Italy and put in the country code, etc. when I called the states. It was nice accessing my phone book and having the call just go right through. When we got home I called Verizon again and had them walk me through everything to re-activate our phones and de-activate the loaners. Good luck!

@ Guida-
When you activated the loaner phone did your contacts automatically load? Thanks!

Rachel, Yes, my contacts loaded upon activation. Then upon return when we deactivated the loaners and reactivated our own phones, everything was transferred back.

Guida-thanks for your reply! I ordered the loaner phone, I think it is the easiest option for a non techie like me.