Cell phone help for Italy and Spain

[spunkarella]

We are going to Italy and Spain in three weeks! This is my first international trip, and I'm confused about how cell phones work. We don't expect to use them much, but I do want the ability to make and receive calls on one of the phones if needed. 

We have Verizon, an iPhone 4S and an iPhone 5. It looks like we can get a temporary international plan through Verizon, but I also see stuff about buying a SIM card in Italy?

What do you normally do? If we buy a SIM card in Italy, do you know if we will need a new one in Spain?

Also I know this is dumb, but is wifi the same everywhere? Do we need to do anything special to be able to use wifi in other countries?

[alleinesein]

Wifi is wifi.

How much is your cell provider going to charge you for an international plan? If you dont plan on using any data and only want the phone to make a quick 2-3 minute call home it might be cheaper to just make the call instead of adding on a plan.

In order to use a foreign sim card you need to have an unlocked phone. Does your iPhone have a sim card?

I dont know what Verizons international rates are but I am currently paying $40 a month for 50 international text messages and 120 MB of international data.

[mdgirl]

First and foremost, turn off data roaming. You can run up hundreds of dollars in charges if you use data internationally without a plan.

And I agree with alleinesein. If you think you're going to be making a good number of calls and sending/receiving lots of texts look into plans, but if you want your phone for "just in case" the rates aren't terrible. Verizon sends you a text when you arrive in the new country with the rates so you'll know what they are.

[spunkarella]

For calls and texts, I want "just in case" coverage so it looks like pay as you go is the best option.

The iphone 5 supposedly has an unlocked sim slot but it looks like it may not even be worth the trouble?

If I could get data really cheap, it might be nice to be able to look up directions or restaurant reviews, but it's not a must have. Verizon offers 100 MB for $25 but I don't really know how much data that is?

Good call on turning off data roaming if we don't get a plan!

[CloudBee]

Def call Verizon and ask about getting your phone setup with international access.

But for Data, I would just pay for wifi at the hotel.

Europe has loads of "pay per day" wifi access within major cities. Download email when you're in places like Starbucks, too.

[gt7301b]

This is where I plug t-mobile, they provide free international text and data in over 100 countries.

Rick Steves has a pretty decent briefing on using phones while traveling internationally. I'd just go to a cell phone shop when you arrived and see if they can sell you a SIM that minimizes the costs when using it in multiple countries. If you use wi-fi when it is available you probably won't need much data anyway, last time I bought a $10 SIM I only used about half the data.

www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/phones-tech/cell-phone-europe

[rupertpenny]

When I travel internationally I just leave my iphone on airplane mode and use wifi when I need to. I have a skype app I can use to make calls, and imessage between iphones is free. If I need to text someone that doesn't have an iphone I use whatsapp. This obviously works better when I'm staying somewhere with free wifi, but it works and I've never had any unexpected charges.

You do have to plan ahead a bit, I usually pull up directions for where I want to go before I leave my hotel, but wifi is plentiful in Europe. Just go to any McDonald's.

[marina007]

I'd buy the 100 mb of roaming data - great for the freedom of looking up stuff, checking the map etc - and otherwise take advantage of wifi.

[aMrsin09]

My H is in Italy/Greece and he's paying €20 for 6 gs of data. Pretty sure that's a month with a Vodafone sim card

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