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Has anyone here brought their iphone while traveling?

We're going to Europe this summer and I would like to be able to use my iphone while I'm there. Last time I was at Verizon I didn't really get the best help/information so I'm still confused to how go about this.

I guess one option is that you pay a monthly fee? But if you're going to stay abroad longer, I think another option is to get a "sim card" in the country you're in but then your phone number would change? How do you use your phone while traveling for a couple of months abroad?

Re: Has anyone here brought their iphone while traveling?

  • I'm bringing my phone. I would think a SIM card might be the best choice or you could see if they have some sort of plan you could switch too? OR you could DL an amazing app that allows you to call for free. I know my cousin used one when she was in South America. It's called MajicJack. 

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  • For me, the fees for using my cell phone abroad are so expensive that I usually end up renting a local cell phone and giving out that number to anyone that needs to call me. Recently I rented a blackberry so that I could also access my email. I found it best to Skype long distance as I even got charged a lot to use a local calling card on my rental phone overseas.

     I have also had my regular cell phone unlocked and then gotten a local sim card (you will then have that local number) to use in my phone.

    Call your current provider to find out the cost of forwarding calls to an overseas number or what their options are so that you won't miss your calls to your normal phone. 

  • Is your iPhone unlocked?  If not you won't be able to use another SIM in it that isn't from Verizon's network.
  • I bring my phone, turn it on airplane mode, and only connect to local WiFi.

    As long as I find a connection, I can facetime, and access anything I need. The only feature I miss is the map function AS we are moving.

    So far, it hasn't been worth the trouble or cost of international 3G connection.

  • Recently brought mine to London and Paris.  We use talkatone to talk/text over wifi.  I also bought a text and Internet plan through AT&T - we only had to pay for what we used, which came out to $10 for the week.  I was super happy with the way it worked out!
  • I also just use my iPhone on wifi only and turn everything else off. If I need to call I use my skype app. I haven't found a cheaper way to do it. 
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  • Like pps, my husband brings his iPhone and just uses wifi - obviously we couldn't call people but we were in touch via email, etc. so if there was an emergency our family could reach us that way if necessary.
  • image=Jewel=:

    I bring my phone, turn it on airplane mode, and only connect to local WiFi.

    As long as I find a connection, I can facetime, and access anything I need. The only feature I miss is the map function AS we are moving.

    So far, it hasn't been worth the trouble or cost of international 3G connection.

    this is exactly what we do too, and it works fine if you don't have a need to call anyone on a regular basis.  we also use What's App and FaceTime/Skype.  Just make sure you turn "OFF" cellular data to avoid roaming charges. 

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  • from what i was told the 4 doesn't work overseas for calling or texting-only for wifi. i have the 4s and still couldn't get the calling to work :( so i used wifi and a textme app. i had verizon set the whole thing up for me and the guy at my verizon store showed me the settings to use. no go. turn it onto airplane mode and connect to wifi.
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  • As far as cost goes, Verizon has a monthly plan for $25 plus .99 per minute, or simply $1.49 per minute without the plan (it may depend on where youu are going).  Texts are $.05 incoming and $.50 for outgoing.

    I couldn't live without talking to my Gson so I went with the $25 plan and simply used wifi for any data (email, browser, etc).  I think it cost me about $50 additional.

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  • I am not sure if you want your iphone just for calling or texting, or but I know for my husband and me, when we are abroad, life would be so much easier with data/internet connection everywhere, like you are used to in the states. Just for example to use Google Maps, or to search if this restaurant is good or not, etc. Plus the daily hotel fees for internet is ridiculous...imo! We are considering renting a mifi device (xcom global) on our next international trip. Its basically "free" wifi anywhere! It is $15/day and you can connect up to 5 devices for that flat fee. The data plan is unlimited too, which is pretty rare. I think we are going this route, because we can have access to the internet even when we are out on the road, and we can also use skype, google talk, to call and txt via the internet. Hope this helps!
  • we notified at&t and did a month on an international plan just to be safe (this was just for a weeklong trip). we used our iphones in airplane mode. when i lived in australia, i just bought a cell phone there. 
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  • I recently took my Verizon iPhone 4S to Europe and it worked fine.  I called Verizon a few weeks before I left and they will walk you through what you need to do to make sure your phone works.  I used the WhatsApp to text with my family friends back home (free with a wi-fi signal) and disabled my data roaming, which I understand is crazy expensive. 
  • I just talked to Verizon yesterday about this. The 4s is the one that works internationally, and you can upgrade your plan for the month you are traveling. It does cost about $1.50 per minute of talk time, but texting is cheaper. We're going in July with my parents, and we're going to text only or use FaceTime when we have wifi. It looks like the cheapest way to go!

    If you have more questions, I suggest dialing *611 from your phone to talk to a CS rep. The people in the store are rarely helpful. GL! 

  • Wow, thanks for all your helpful advice on this! I still haven't decided what to do but you've given me a lot of different options to think about. I think I will unlock the phone like someone suggested and buy a sim card while there. I'm so glad I was reminded to disable data roaming, I totally forgot about that!
  • FWIW, we went to Spain last year and I brought my iPhone and just connected it to WiFi.  I didn't find as many free Wifi hotspots as you do in the USA.  We stayed at some mid-range hotels, and they mostly only had Wifi in the lobby.  Not sure how the rest of Europe is but that was our experience.  To clarify - there were a lot of Wifi hotspots, there just weren't as many free ones as I find here (and I was too cheap / didn't need WiFi bad enough to pay for it).
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