Use of phone while traveling

halfdozmom you have a lot of questions that are hard to answer in a forum like this. Look on this page we are on to the left and see the Link that says "Travel Tips". Click on that and then to the link that says "Phones and Tech". The info there might help or at least help you with questions. I will say that that a lot depends on how connected you want to be - calls home twice a day, or only emergencies; checking email constantly, or once a week.

I have ATT so can't speak to Verizon, but I use my phone as minimally as possible while traveling, either turned off or in Airplane mode, so I use one of ATT's international plan for a couple of weeks. So far thats been enough.

For ordinary internet activity, such as social media updates, you'll probably find that using Wi-Fi is more than adequate. You'll likely have it in all your hotels (quality can vary in individual rooms), and many casual restaurants will probably also have free Wi-Fi.

Phone service is a different matter, and I'll let others provide information on that. Basically, the decision will probably come down to whether you want to pay Verizon more and have the convenience of using your existing telephone number (so you can be reached easily) or buy a European SIM card that comes with a completely different phone number. The cheapest European SIM options are great bargains when used in their country of origin but may not work or may be costly to use once you cross a border.

Some telephone folks should be along shortly with some useful information.

We were in France and Spain for three weeks. An international plan through Verizon cost about $40 if I recall. (I also have a 6S). To avoid overages I kept it on airplane mode as much as possible, used wifi when available. It might have been cheaper had I not forgotten to call them when I got home to discontinue the plan!

ATT here too. They have a "passport plan" which gives you a much reduced rate for calls, unlimited texts, and a limited amount of internet for something like $60/mo (something like this, my knowledge of the details are hazy). If Verizon has something similar it is a good option. Call them, see the options and the cost for services if you don't get a plan.

In general - set your data count to 0 when you get on the plane so you can always see how much you have used overseas. Then turn off data usage for all apps you don't care about. You probably don't need your local news fetching content, using up data while you are away! Know that you can turn off all data usage (under settings - cellular) in general and just use wi-fi. That won't cost anything. You could then turn data on when you need something specific, like to look up a phone number or to get google map directions (last I looked routing isn't offline). Or just do your social media on wifi, which is easy to find.

Getting a different phone/service could make sense depending on the length of your trip. I personally like my phone and apps set up as I have them, and want people to be able to call/text me at my normal number so I don't get a new phone or SIM when traveling.

We have Verizon and add their international plan to one of our phones for a month. We had an emergency several years ago while traveling and didn't have our own phone. We decided after that we always will have one phone to use. Texts are very inexpensive to and from the US, 5 cents each I believe. Turn off data when you are out of a wifi zone- this is the most important thing to remember.. And turn it on briefly when you need to use it while out and about, googling, etc. Verizons International Plans are clearly explained on their website and cost less that they used to. We also use an iPhone 6S.

I'm not familiar with Verizon's pricing. I'm an AT&T customer but I have an unlocked phone. When I visit a single country, I normally buy a local SIM card when I arrive at my destination. If I visit more than 1 country, I sign up for T-Mobile's Simple Choice Plan. I would compare Verizon with T-Mobile and make your choice accordingly.

I have TMobile and love it for European travel. This summer they offered a free Europe and Rio data plan- felt so lucky. I used it often for GoogleMaps for directions for transportation. It gave me the walking directions, the taxi routes, the bus info and pretty good estimates of times.
Used to have Verizon and always changed my plan to international and then changed it back the next month home.
I use my phone more every year in Europe- but read advice here and online and call your company and ask them, too.

First you have to find out if your phone is/can be unlocked.

I have Verizon and will switch to T-Mobile as soon as I can.

I have Verizon and both my husband and I used Verizon's international plans this summer in France, 16 days. There are two plans. The one we turned on for his phone was $40 and provided 100 minutes of call time, 100 outgoing texts (incoming are free), and 1 GB of data. The one I had for my phone was $10 for each day it is actually used, and allows you to use all the normal allowances on your "at home" plan. I had this because one day we were going to be driving almost all day and I knew we'd be using maps which might have gone over his 1 GB allowance. We used data on only my phone that day, then I put it on airplane mode the rest of the trip and only used it when we were on wifi (very easy to find all over the place). He kept his phone on airplane mode almost all the time for the first 75% of the trip, then realized that he wasn't using very much data at all, so toward the end started using data when out and about a little more. He stayed within all his limits. We spent a grand total of $50, used our own phones that we were familiar with and didn't have to deal with SIMs and all that. We did not have to call Verizon to turn anything off when we got home. The end date was set at the time we first set it up with them. They were great to work with over the phone.

We've found the most reliable info about using Verizon abroad is their dedicated Global Customer Service. The people appear to be very knowledgeable, helpful, and "user friendly". The telephone number is 1-800-711-8300. Give them a call and see if they can clarify things for you.

"First you have to find out if your [Verizon] phone is/can be unlocked." Once again, and per Verizon, "We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier."

My husband called Verizon before our last trip to Europe and paid $40 for the international plan for his phone. He ended up keeping his phone on airplane mode and using Wi-Fi where available the entire 3 weeks we were traveling. We looked at it like an insurance policy. We ended up not needing to call anybody but wanted to make sure we could if we needed to.

I have an Android phone and could send and receive text messages and post photos to Instagram while on airplane mode using Wi-Fi.

Airplane mode works fine - but be aware that you won't get any calls or text until you find a wi-fi spot. That's fine and saves you money - but could be an issue if you need to receive messages from home as they happen. Think work issues or family situations. If that is the case then you want to turn off cellular data - that will restrict internet and other data usage but allow texts and phone calls through. The drawback is you will end up paying a little bit for telemarketer calls unless you decline the call (i.e. not miss it and have it go to voicemail)

Telemarketer calls at 0300....how delightful. I am surely at my best then.

Mira - good point about airplane mode. We didn't mind missing out on calls and texts. Just like the good old days of travel! :D

halfdozmom,

No, Verizon doesn't have a good international roaming plan. The only US carrier that has anything close to being a good plan is T-Mobile but they can/often do throttle your data at 2G speeds (why bother?) while overseas.

But, your phone should accept a European carrier SIM card with no problems. You can get a SIM with a pay-as-you-go voice, text and data plan for 25-30 euro. You will have a different phone number while overseas but you're getting a pretty good deal. Just remember to remove the European SIM upon returning because your phone won't reconnect with Verizon until you do so.

We are in Italy now. Our phone service is thru sprint and includes free 2g data and international roaming, calls 20cents/minute. All was fine until credit card emailed us about possible fraud and told us to call them collect. We could not get a call thru no matter what we tried. We could not find access to a landline, which may have worked, so I set up a skype account, and calls went thru perfectly. Should have done that to begin with! We have had great wifi in all of our B&B's so far.

Verizon gives us a generous discount on all our phones because of my employer. For that and poor service from other carriers I would not switch. The international plan is not expensive as others have noted. I would disagree that it is a poor plan. It avoids the sim hassle, a new phone number, etc. To my family in the states (including my 90 year old in laws) and select people in work, I want the seamless ability to communicate with me when I am abroad that the Verizon plan gives me.

We purchased Verizon's Overseas plan for I think $40 and it didn't work at all in Greece. When we contacted them online we were told we had to call them, which meant that we needed to convince a reluctant hotel owner to use her phone. After a half a hour on the line with them it still did not work. We gave up while in Greece and then tried to use phone in Italy. Again it didn't work but we were able to reach a help desk that explained that they could not guarantee that the phone would work overseas. They said the $40 was not a guaranteed plan, instead it simply gave us the chance of possibly being able to use the phone. This information, of course, was not given to us when we purchased the plan. In the end we paid Verizon $40 for nothing. We'll never do that again.

When I called Verizon they asked what countries we would be visiting to see if the plans work in each. She told me about three different options and emailed me details so I'd know exactly what it would cost me. Granted, I haven't traveled yet and tried it, but I've heard other say it worked fine where we are traveling. Maybe the agent you worked with wasn't thorough??