Declined

I don’t yet have a VPN, but this is a great reason to get one. I am in England and just tried to help a friend buy Flixbus Budapest to Trieste and back and nothing would go through. She is in Ukraine and her payments wouldn’t go through either. For Flixbus, I was finally able to download the app and purchase through that via Apple Pay (didn’t work for her). A VPN would have been simpler. Like you, I run into this difficulty occasionally. Thanks for a solution.

I wholeheartedly agree! Using a VPN has allowed me to successfully accomplish many things while traveling internationally.

This is a great tip, Frank II. Thank you.

Did you have it set it up on your phone? Or a tablet or laptop?

Frank,
What VPN did you use? I’ve been thinking about installing one on my iPhone.

Yes, as Jane and Judy alluded to... Frank, or anyone else, can you summarize for us the logistics / cost / pros and cons of getting and using a VPN...?

I use one called "Hotspot Shield" and have been using it for years. There are many others.

At first I used the free version but now use the pro version for better connecitons. I get it from the Google Store. I believe it's $39/year.

It's an app that you download. Sign up, choose the country you want it to look like you are in, and click connect. That's it. You can put it on any device that allows apps. I think I also had it on a laptop but I haven't used one in years so I'm not sure.

When you're done, just click the same button to connect and it will disconnect.

Nord VPN is another popular one.

I use Mullvad VPN on my iphone. It is 5 euros/30days. If you only plan to use it occasionally (i.e. travel) you can just open the app and pay for the month when you are ready for it to start. Price is good for use on 5 devices including laptops.

When you first open it defaults to their location (Sweden) but you can choose from many other countries including the US. This allows you to use your streaming accounts out of the country.

I have a free VPN from Google that I received when I signed up for Google One's 100 GB monthly data plan at $1.99/month. I used it on and off when I was in England and found it helpful. It's nice because I can use it on multiple devices.

I have a free VPN from Google that I received when I signed up for Google One's 100 GB monthly data plan

Somehow I missed that when I signed up for their data storage plan. Unfortunately, Google will discontinue the VPN service on June 30, 2024 - 6 weeks from now.