Do you "Need" voice calling?

We just used Roamless in Canada, Germay, Austria, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein. It worked flawlessly. Installed one esim and it worked in all the locations we visited. It is data only, but has a calling feature right in the app. I could also use the calling feature when on WiFi without using data. For example, I called the US three times when on WiFi and didn't incur a charge for those calls.

Your money stays in your account for the next trip. I had $25 when I started our two-week trip, and I still have over $21 in my account to use for our trip to Spain next month. I had data on the whole time when we were away from our hotels. Roamless doesn't lock you into a number of days, you just top up your account with additional money if you run out. We also used WhatsApp to call and text each other with the Roamless data on.

I’ve wondered about some of these same questions. Does your phone allow for call over WiFi? I will do calls over WiFi. Some people use WhatsApp.

I have found a lot of places use WhatsApp for communication which runs over data. I would check to be sure all of your hotels use it, that might answer your question. For taxis I use apps. I rarely need to use the phone. Even if my language skills are questionable, it is easier to text than phone.

I think Orange will give you a phone number, but it will be a French number if that matters.

Other times I have paid the $100 for the month of international usage on my Verizon plan.

This doesn’t really answer your question: i call my hubby on our landline using WiFi and Google Voice. It’s the only phone he’ll use and I gave up trying to “modernize” him. GV gives me a different phone number. I pay for Verizon international plan to keep my cell number in case he needs to call me and for data.

An Irish friend told me most people there just have data and call/text using Whatsapp.

I can't even remember the last time I had to call a local number, so I have just gotten data plans in the past (now I use the T-mobile international plan, which is free). As others mentioned below, most businesses have a WhatsApp number you can call, but you could also use Skype for a relatively cheap price. The odds are, however, is that you will never need to use it. But if you still want one, Orange will give you a French phone number. Airalo also has some plans that offer voice calls.

If I need or want to call home, I either use WhatsApp or FaceTime audio from my hotel (with wifi).

For years, I've successfully used Skype from my cell phone, which costs pennies per minute to use after having loaded $10 initially and much, much later, the same amount when the account gets depleted. Skype allows calls from cell phones to landlines, which can be very useful at times, such as confirming reservations. Also, data only e-sims are part of my telecommunications travel kit. Perhaps a more technologically advanced person could compare and contrast Skype with other possibilities?

Bruce, I've had two Skype accounts for years as backups, and maintained a $10 balance. Recently I learned that I can't text a U.S. cellphone from Skype without buying a "Skype Number" for $52.26/year. But I could make voice calls. Also I learned: "SMS messages sent from services such as identity verification are not supported on US Skype Numbers.”

For the most part, no, you do not need voice. If you can do with wi-fi based calling, and no one needs to get ahold of you urgently, then you should be fine. On my last trip, once I found having voice calling necessary, with "contactless check-in", the room had not given me the entry code, so I needed to call. It was nice to be able to call at the moment, as I was standing at the door, and could verify it worked, but I could have wandered down the street to a bar or coffee shop and found wi-fi.

Let’s say you did have to make one or two phone calls for whatever reason. Would it be impossible with your current phone plan? Or would you just pay a slightly higher price?

Yes, I like to have voice calling.
I know everyone in Europe uses WhatsApp, but N. American companies do not.
I was very glad of my Italian simcard in 2022 when I had to make several voice calls to talk to someone at my travel insurance company in Canada.
I can’t get an eSIM anyway as my phone is too old, but I know exactly how and where to buy a simcard in Italy, UK, France, etc.

Thanks for all the replies.