using US cell phones in Europe

[purbeast0]

i'm going to europe in 2 weeks for the first time and i'm curious about if my cell will just "work" over there. i know nothing about locked/unlocked phones in general so sorry if this is a dumb question.

i have been on verizon for like over a decade and i have an iphone 6 right now.

if i try to use it over there, will it just "work"? if not, is there anything that i can do in order to make it just work with my normal plan over there? or can i get another sim card and then get a temp plan while over there?

i didn't even know that these phones had sim cards in them until like 2 months ago lol.

so am i screwed or will it just work?

 

[Fingolfin269]

Yeah it will just work for the most part. Verizon actually has some plan options you can sign up for to make it a little less painful to use though. As I recall they have a 100 minute/text/data add on you can purchase and set to only charge you one month. Another option is to pay X per day to use your plan overseas. I think the 3rd is to just go straight a la carte but seems that might be most expensive.

You probably know this but none of the options are really great. I personally use the 100x3 plan mentioned above as a bit of a hedge and just try to get to wifi as much as possible.

 

[dainthomas]

Verizon will bone you. Would be way cheaper over there if you had T-Mobile.

 

[ControlD]

I fly to Germany on a regular basis and also use Verizon. The second option Fingolfin described above to use your existing plan overseas will cost you $10 a day. I have used that option a couple of times but if you sign up for it (you have to enable that option in your account settings) you can pretty much plan on paying $10 a day whether you want to or not. As soon as you use a single byte of data that $10 charge gets tripped.

Free WiFi is a lot harder to come by in Europe from what I have seen, but that could just be the areas I have traveled to. You need some kind of data+voice plan if you want to use your phone reliably.

 

[paperwastage]

your verizon iPhone 6 is unlocked, and will work with any prepaid European sim (if you go that route)

your iPhone has pretty good support in europe (just missing LTE band 38 in europe, has support for 3G/most LTE bands).
your iPhone LTE (A1549) specs: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/#iphone-6-iphone-6-plus

you can preview what's available:
(across EU) http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/European_Union2
(specific countries, eg france) http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/France


if you're country hopping, it might be too difficult to get sim cards every different country (or finding a sim that covers all the countries)

Could just do what the others suggest: use Verizon's $10/day option if it's available

 

[purbeast0]

your verizon iPhone 6 is unlocked, and will work with any prepaid European sim (if you go that route)

your iPhone has pretty good support in europe (just missing LTE band 38 in europe, has support for 3G/most LTE bands).
your iPhone LTE (A1549) specs: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/#iphone-6-iphone-6-plus

you can preview what's available:
(across EU) http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/European_Union2
(specific countries, eg france) http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/France


if you're country hopping, it might be too difficult to get sim cards every different country (or finding a sim that covers all the countries)

Could just do what the others suggest: use Verizon's $10/day option if it's available

cool thanks. i have no clue how much sim cards are so i'll look into it. we're just going to france and spain as far as countries go.

and it may be myself and my wife, and we're there for 13 days so i'll see what is cheaper sim card vs the $10/day.

 

[paperwastage]

cool thanks. i have no clue how much sim cards are so i'll look into it. we're just going to france and spain as far as countries go.

and it may be myself and my wife, and we're there for 13 days so i'll see what is cheaper sim card vs the $10/day.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/travelpass-countries/

just make sure your countries are included in Verizon's travelpass program, and your plan qualifies (recent enough plan like "MORE EVERYTHING", not a grandfathered unlimited plan)


(it's $5/day in Brazil or Spain during august)

 

[purbeast0]

thanks for the help.

i think after doing some searching that something like this may work.

https://www.amazon.com/SIM-Card-Internet-Immediately-Available/dp/B00VJEHMVG/

something like that, i can just take my current sim out of my phone, put that one in, and it will just work for me while i'm in europe? i think 1gb will be more than enough for our trip. and if that's the case i'm going to just get one of these for myself and one for my wife to use.

 

[purbeast0]

dp

 

[Oyeve]

Verizon charges 25 bucks for 100megs,100 texts and 100 mins. It's a ripoff. When you go over 100 it's an instant 25 bucks more.

 

[paperwastage]

thanks for the help.

i think after doing some searching that something like this may work.

https://www.amazon.com/SIM-Card-Internet-Immediately-Available/dp/B00VJEHMVG/

something like that, i can just take my current sim out of my phone, put that one in, and it will just work for me while i'm in europe? i think 1gb will be more than enough for our trip. and if that's the case i'm going to just get one of these for myself and one for my wife to use.

seems to be this here:
http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Euro3

three things to note:

Their pay as you go SIM is intended to be used in smartphones only. Three bans the use in tablets and modems. If they detect it, they deactivate data by blocking. Use their Mobile Broadband Pay as you go SIM instead which has voice and text too, that should only be used in tablets and modems. Both tariff lines can't be mixed or switched.

Having an UK-issued and -registered credit or debit card, you can easily top up online from abroad on your My3 account. But beware: Non-UK credit cards are not accepted!

Three doesn't allow tethering abroad and doesn't give out a tethering profile which you need to create a mobile hotspot on an iPhone. On Android devices it may still be possible. Thus, you can use a smartphone PAYG SIM on a modem or tablet too. But to be safe, better choose a Mobile Broadband PAYG SIM for tethering and outside of phones, as Three is starting to clamp down on it.

also, your phones may be using nano (or micro or fullsize) SIM. most modern prepaid cards come 3-in-1 (card can break off into any of those sims), but just verify this fact. you should also bring along a small safety pin to eject the sim tray on your iPhone.

and this has zero minutes... I'd rather get one with minutes (I had to call tour operator to confirm pickup location next day)

Their rates for voice are not so good as long as you are not from Britain. Only calls from the "feel like home" country to the UK are charged at the domestic UK rate. Domestic European and inter-European calls are billed much higher at 16-18p/min. But receiving a call is always free, wherever you are.

check if there's cheaper options on ebay, or even at the airport when you land? $30 for a sim for 1GB seems high

don't have experience with this actual provider/roaming in europe

 

[joutlaw]

iPhone 6 on Verizon. I used the $10/day plan while in the UK and Germany. My phone worked just like at home. There were several carriers you could choose from in the roaming options as well.

 

[purbeast0]

seems to be this here:
http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Euro3

three things to note:


also, your phones may be using nano (or micro or fullsize) SIM. most modern prepaid cards come 3-in-1 (card can break off into any of those sims), but just verify this fact. you should also bring along a small safety pin to eject the sim tray on your iPhone.

and this has zero minutes... I'd rather get one with minutes (I had to call tour operator to confirm pickup location next day)



check if there's cheaper options on ebay, or even at the airport when you land? $30 for a sim for 1GB seems high

don't have experience with this actual provider/roaming in europe

What do you think would be "good" for 1GB of data? The reason I was looking at that is because I doubt I'll even go over 1GB, I don't even go over 2GB a month when I'm at home. I think we'll have wifi at most hotels, and I don't think we'll be using much data other than looking at maps and maybe looking up restaurants and things to do.

 

[Deeko]

I was just in the UK for 10 days, yes, your iPhone will work fine over there, no, you shouldn't pay Verizon for an international plan. Buy a prepaid SIM, it's way cheaper. I bought an O2 SIM for like $25 that gave me unlimited texting and 3 GB of data. I'm sure there's something similar in other non-Brexiting countries too.

 

[purbeast0]

I ended up getting that one linked above with 3GB of data. I haven't opened it yet but they said there is instructions in it about what app to download that will let you do VOIP calls as well so I should be able to make phone calls and use data no problem while over there.