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Any Verizon tech savvy forum members?

We are currently in Greece. Before leaving I purchased the Verizon $100/month travel plan, mainly because I want data for directions and internet access. We have been here 6 days. It worked the first day and I used it once for about a half hour the second day. I have not had access since. I have called Verizon twice, both times being cut off during the call.

I am particularly concerned as Tuesday we will be driving Athens to Napflio and I was planning to us my phone for GPS.

Any suggestions for what to try would be appreciated. This is really causing me a lot of stress., as I am not extremely tech savvy.

To make matters worse rhe Wi-Fi at my first two hotels has been spotty.

Thank you!

P.S. I have used the plan before, but it has been several years due to Covid.

Posted by
3992 posts

When you say you didn’t have access, you tried to go online using data and it didn’t work? I don’t have a tech suggestion but I do ask that you not get stressed about it. Don’t let this ruin your wonderful trip. You should have GPS even without data. I also encourage you to buy a good old-fashioned paper map. When you get home, then contact Verizon specifying the problems you had and requesting a prorated refund.

I have Verizon and I’ve never used their international plan. What I use when I travel internationally is an int’l program Verizon has that has no cost if I don’t use it. If I use data or make/receive a phone call, it will cost me $10 for the next 24 hours. I have that for emergencies.

Continue having a wonderful trip!

Posted by
353 posts

I also had major issues with Verizon on my trip to UK and Netherlands earlier this month. I have never used their monthly travel plan, instead, I use their travel pass daily plan ($10/day). In the past, it worked fine other than coming home to a higher Verizon bill for, say, a 10 day trip. This month, I was extremely dissatisfied with Verizon. After about 2 hours in London, I got a message from Verizon that I “hit my high speed date limit and I would be switched to low data unless I re-up to pay an additional $10”. I wasn’t going to do that. The low data was essentially no data. I troubleshooted every way I could think of (toggle airline mode back/forth, connect via Wi-Fi and power off/on) with no success. Instead, I ordered an ESim card for my IPhone and used that ESim for my trip. Worked like a charm and only 20 bucks. My experience may lead me to go back to T Mobile, which has free data in Europe. What smart phone do you have? Adding an ESim or physical SIM card may be the way to go.

Posted by
2303 posts

That monthly travel plan is not unlimited data. Maybe you somehow reached the limit already? Your phone can be using data to refresh tons of apps, even when you are not using them. You need to change to airplane mode, or disable the data usage for apps to avoid this.

Download the map that you need while you have wifi. Then you don’t need data while you are using it for navigation. Here are the directions:

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app Maps.
If you don’t yet have the app, download it from iTunes.

Make sure you're connected to the internet and not in Incognito mode.
Search for a place, like San Francisco.
At the bottom, tap the name or address of the place and then tap More and then Download offline map.

Select your own map
On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app Maps.
Tap your profile picture or initial Account Circle and then Offline maps.
Tap Select your own map.
Adjust the map according to the area you want to download.
Tap Download.
Use offline maps
After you download an area, use the Google Maps app just like you normally would. If your internet connection is slow or absent, your offline maps will guide you to your destination as long as the entire route is within the offline map.

Posted by
5687 posts

Joann, what kind of phone is it exactly? Make and model? How new is it? It's possible it doesn't have all of the most common LTE frequencies used in Greece. It may have worked in previous years on 3G (is it the same phone?) but many European mobile companies have shut down their 3G networks.

You might go into Settings and try to manually have your phone search for a mobile network. The way you do this is different on every phone. In my Moto X4 Android phone, for example, I go into Settings -> Network & Internet -> Mobile Network. From there, I first make sure Roaming is turned on. There's an "Advanced" menu which lets me choose a "Preferred network type." Mine is set to LTE. If yours says "CDMA" change that to "LTE" (change it BACK when you get home).

Mine also has a setting in this menu, "Automatically select network," which is ON for me - usually this is what you want. But I can turn that off and then choose a network instead. Maybe your phone can see a network that you would be able to choose to connect to.

You won't see any "Verizon" networks anywhere in Europe, because Verizon doesn't have service there. Instead, they have roaming partners.

One option is to buy a Greek SIM card for your phone, assuming the problem is Verizon's roaming not your phone, so at least you can use it while in Greece. (Go into a mobile store in Greece.) If you have to do that, then scream at Verizon when you get home and get them to reverse the $100 international roaming fee you paid, at least. Your phone will have a Greek phone number while the Greek SIM is in place.

Here's more info about Greek prepaid SIM cards, the different companies, etc. There seem to be three main companies operating there: Cosmote, Vodafone, and Wind. (Verizon must have at least one of them as a roaming partner.)

https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Greece

Posted by
1025 posts

Paqngo has the right possible idea. Turning off the phone power and then turning it back on is the 21st Century equivalent of banging on the side of the TV with your fist when it is acting up. Besides, what can it hurt?

Posted by
4583 posts

Turning off the phone power and then turning it back on is the 21st Century equivalent of banging on the side of the TV with your fist when it is acting up.

Some things never change 🤣🤣

Posted by
371 posts

Thank you all! Powering off worked!

“Turning off the phone power and then turning it back on is the 21st Century equivalent of banging on the side of the TV with your fist when it is acting up.
Some things never change”

So apparently I didn’t even need to be tech savvy after all!

Truly appreciate your help!

Joann

Posted by
371 posts

@ Continental-don’t worry, we’re still having a great time!

@ travel4fun-thanks for the step by step. I think I’ll download the offline map for backup when we get to Athens.

@ Andrew- I have an iPhone 8Plus. Yes, my phone was using Cosmote in Santorini and Wind here in Naxos. While it has worked well for me a few times, the reason I prefer not to use the Sims card is due to my experience in Barcelona. my CC company tried to send me a confirmation code for a purchase and I couldn’t get it so could not prebook some tickets.

Thanks again everyone!

And yes, we are having a wonderful time!