Mobile wifi vs. local SIM card

If your phone is locked to Verizon, a non-Verizon SIM will definitely not work in it.

So, your idea of getting a mobile Wi-Fi device makes sense. Unfortunately, I have no direct experience with this (except borrowing one from my hotel in Osaka, Japan), so I can't give any more specific advice about which companies may have good deals for Germany and Italy.

I’m researching similar for a trip to Switzerland and Italy. I found this : https://www.myswissalps.com/simcard

I am trying to work out the best plan for dealing with the connectivity aspect as the trip covers a EU and a non-EU country, and the roaming seems to be a concern area. However, I’ve not pinpointed a specific comparison that helps sort it out if that’s myth or reality. 😊 All of my hotels have WiFi, and I have Verizon which is $10/day. However, + husband, and it’s $20/ and that does not make sense.

In short, I have no experience but here’s a link that I found, maybe helpful for you.

We have used Skyrim’s for 2 trips now and love it.

No need to worry about locked phones, nothing to mess with in your phone and worry about losing your own SIM card, don’t have to spend time in country buying a SIM card, and it works on multiple devices at the same time.

Only downside is if you need to make lots of calls. We didn’t and just used WhatsApp for calls and had no problems.

I just bought a new iPhone 11 from Verizon and checked the issue of locked phones. Their policy is that the phones are locked for two months after purchase. After the two month period, they are automatically unlocked.

Sounds like Skyroam is going to be the way to go.

Verizon’s unlocking policy is a bit misleading. When I read it originally I interpreted they same, meaning the phones would be unlocked after 60 days from when the phones were activated. We made sure they we got the phones about 70 days prior to our trip. Then I was on the phone with Verizon about an activation issue and brought up the unlocking policy. The guy explained that the 60 day unlock policy only applies from the date you “purchase” the phone and phones that are on monthly payment plans (like ours are) are not considered “purchased” until they are completely paid off. Oh well, my fault for not reading the fine print in their policy.

Thanks for the info everyone!

Jim,
Here are a few other option to consider:

• If you need to make calls to the U.S. while on your trip, you may
  consider downloading “ Google Voice”, which will allow you to make
  calls for free, even to landline phones!

• Keep your iPhones on “airplane mode” That’s exactly what we did on our most recent trip, and only used WiFi (at hotel and most restaurants)

• You can also download the (google) maps you’ll need and can use them offline.

• Take your (previous) unlocked iPhone and get a local SIM card when you arrive to your first European destination.

• As already mentioned upthread, you may also want to download WhatsApp
  for making calls (domestic & international) for free. Just make sure
  the person you want to contact also has downloaded WhatsApp on their
  phone.

Hopefully AndrewH will chime in with more information.
I’m very grateful to Andrew because he recommended Google Hangouts & Google Voice, and I was able to call my elderly mom everyday for free!

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the info on Verizon. The message on their site is misleading. I will have to change my plan to get a local SIM card.

I just double-checked with Verizon via a chat. The agent checked with his supervisor. They said the 60 day count starts from the date of activation of the new phone. I hope you got the wrong information Jim. You might want to double-check with Verizon.