Phone advice for Europe Family Trip

I think that Sprint may have the answers you need. Every provider has different plans and if your phones are not unlocked, it is my understanding that the SIM card swap first, isn't available for locked phones, and second, even if possible it would have to be done crossing each border. Messy, and expensive.

Good news: Sprint includes international roaming with all of their newest plans. This roaming includes free unlimited data and free texting. The data speed is limited to 2G speeds however. Calls are 20 cents/minute. If your phone has WiFi calling, you should be able to make free calls home. You might contact Sprint to confirm that your plan indeed includes the international roaming plan - it should.

Bad news: Sprint 2G data is pretty slow. You might be able to use it, but your teen is going to hate it. (I wouldn't say anything though - just let him try it as is.) I have Sprint now and just got back from Portugal. I thought I'd try the free data. I found it frustratingly slow. So I popped in my Dutch Vodafone SIM I had bought last year (free roaming in the EU) and everything was much faster - I got 2GB of data for all of 10 euros, very worth making my phone faster. I suspect the 2G speed will be adequate for the average person.

Are your Sprint phones paid off (with Sprint)? If so, you should be able to get them unlocked, so you can buy a SIM card in London. Unlocking means you ask Sprint for a code, and you type in that unlock code AFTER you've put in a different SIM card. You power the phone on with the new SIM and it asks you for the unlock code, and you type one time and that's it, you'll never need it again. You'd need a separate unlock code for each phone.

It's possible to get your phones unlocked without Sprint's help by buying an unlock code from a third party (e.g. on eBay). I have done this a few times. The price of the unlock code varies by the make/model of the phone. Sometimes it's barely $2 per unlock code. I've never tried to unlock an iPhone, though and know nothing about one, unfortunately.

I think that Sprint may have the answers you need. Every provider has different plans and if your phones are not unlocked, it is my understanding that the SIM card swap first, isn't available for locked phones, and second, even if possible it would have to be done crossing each border. Messy, and expensive.

No, it's not messy or expensive if the phone is unlocked. The EU has done away with most roaming fees (the UK is still in the EU), so your phone will just work when you cross the border to another EU country. I have heard of a few UK SIMs (like GiffGaff) not allowing the free EU roaming until you've used the SIM for a while in the UK, but other companies like Vodafone seem not to have this restriction. I've used my Dutch Vodafone SIM in numerous European countries without issue - never in the Netherlands, though!

FYI, those 20 cents/minute calls with Sprint can add up if you want to call your family at home. I recommend installing Google Hangouts on your phones. This free app lets you make FREE calls to US numbers (from Europe or anywhere), even to landlines. It works on WiFi or with mobile data (Sprint 2G data may or may not be fast enough, never tried it). I suggest you invest about 20 minutes and install Hangouts and play with it at home - try calling your parents on their landline (if they have one) with Hangouts, so you know how it works. While you are overseas, they can either call you on your Sprint number or text you - and you can say, "I'll call you right back," hang up, and make a free call back to them with Hangouts, for as long as you want.

On a trip to Italy our grandkids were required to put their phones on "airplane mode" when they left a wifi zone. It worked and they didn't run up huge data overcharges.

Thank you everyone! I am visiting the Sprint store this weekend, but now have some info so I know what questions to ask and what options are available. I have also heard about WhatsApp but haven’t tried that yet. Anyone with practical experience?

WhatsApp is one of several VOIP (Voice over IP) apps (like Google Hangouts, Skype, etc.) - ways to talk to people over the internet. WhatsApp is popular in Europe (I personally haven't used it), and you might have best luck communicating with Europeans for free with it.

I like Hangouts because you can call actual phones (landlines) in the US for free - the other person doesn't need Hangouts to receive my calls. You can call European phones with Hangouts too but it's not free - it's a few cents a minute, unless the other person also has Hangouts. In Europe, WhatsApp would be far more popular.

That’s good to know! Thank you!!

That’s good to know! Thank you!!

We’ll travel to Europe soon for 3 weeks, start from London, then Paris, Nice and Italy. We only stay in London for 3 days. Wondering should we get SIM card in London or Paris? Not sure if the the SIM card purchased in uk can be used in France and Italy without international roaming fee? Thanks!

Just a personal experience to report.
1.5 years ago: London, Italy. Went to a "3 Mobile" store in London, and they helped us set up sim cards in our Verizon unlocked phones. For about 20 pounds each we had 12GB data and unlimited calls and texts. All worked fine in London with no extra fees in Italy. Using the UK sim changed our phone numbers, so we had to update our contacts for each other or use Facebook messaging. It was fun tracking down the 3 Mobile store in London and chatting with the staff, and we needed the help as we were slightly loopy from the long flight and lack of sleep.
3 Mobile SIM plans

Last year: Austria, Switzerland. We took our T-Mobile phones and used the free international plan. Texts were free, calls were 20cents / minute. Data was free and adequate for Google Maps, yelping for meals, looking up museum times. It wasn't ideal for entertainment / videos / snapchat while out and about -- we tended to connect to wifi in cafes if we had any real research or entertainment needs. We also needed to make a phone call to an airline and found Skype wifi calling would not work, even in our hotel room with wifi. We sucked it up and just used our cell calling for the extra charge.