Texting/calling when traveling in Europe 101?

[charlatti]

I cannot wrap my brain around what I even need to know. How do I figure out if I can use my phone in Europe? Is there a like-I’m-5 explanation somewhere?

[mcmel]

I think What’sApp is the preferred method for this situation.

[1confused1]

What’s App

That’s what my parents use when they are traveling out of the country.

[charlatti]

Does that work on any phone? How does the phone access it? ETA: I can’t figure out how I would get service. Seriously need the 101 kindergarten lesson.

[mofongo]

I just pay the $12 a day to use my plan.

[Susie]

I would start with your wireless carrier's website to find out your options.

You'll likely have different options depending on your cost consciousness.  

When we went to Costa Rica last year, Verizon was $10/line/day to use data/texting/voice as if we were in the US.  We could alternatively have turned off data roaming and just relied on wifi when it was available for all of that for a more budget conscious approach.  

[jinkies]

I would try just calling your service provider and/or searching their website.

The absolute easiest option is to pay the surcharge to use your phone normally. (For Verizon, this is $10/day.) You could also ask them if you could upgrade your plan just for the month that you are traveling, to a plan that includes international service. Depending on how long you are traveling, this could be the better deal. However you need to make sure that your current plan is still available to downgrade back when you are done traveling. (ie. Make sure you aren't currently on a "grandfathered" plan)

Other options include putting your phone on airplane mode and only using WiFi (communicating via Whatsapp). The downside here is that you can't use your phone to navigate the city.

Or you can get a European sim card which I do not understand how to do at all.

[jinkies]

Nov 22, 2024 13:05:53 GMT -5 charlatti said:

Does that work on any phone? How does the phone access it? ETA: I can’t figure out how I would get service. Seriously need the 101 kindergarten lesson.

It's an app that you have to download.

[DotAndBuzz]

Most carries/plans make it pretty easy and affordable these days. Ours is a flat $10/day, so we can still use data, and it's worth it for navigation, and such. Call your carrier and see what they offer. For our plan, we don't even have to change our plan/sign up for anything. As soon as we take our phone out of airplane mode, and use it for anything (read a text, open email, send a text, whatever), it just automatically goes. Renews/rebills every day, so only charges us the $10 for when we're out of the country, using the phone. Once we're back in the states, it's automatically back to usual.

The biggest hassle these days is making sure you have the adaptor for charging in Europe, since their plugs are different than ours

[pandorica]

Nov 22, 2024 13:06:24 GMT -5 mofongo said:

I just pay the $12 a day to use my plan.

This is what we do (though I think ours is $10/day). When H and I go together we usually try to coordinate who is using their phone which day so we only had to pay it for one and not both phones. The other person just uses their phone when on wifi. The phone has always worked the same as it does at home in these situations.

[devonpow]

We always just call AT&T and get the international whatever plan for the time we are gone. As soon as we land we get a “welcome to XYZ! Your international plan is now working” text and our phones then just work as usual.

We use WhatsApp mainly for messaging our friends who live in Europe.

[DotAndBuzz]

What'sApp is ONLY for texting/calling. You can't use it for navigation access, Facebook, internet, email, etc.

That's why we pay the $10/day/phone to be able to use our devices for the other stuff. You don't have to "understand" anything. it just works.

[gerberdaisy]

Can I ask a dumb question, if everyone has iphones is there an advantage to using whats app vs just imessage?

[DotAndBuzz]

Nov 22, 2024 13:13:46 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

Can I ask a dumb question, if everyone has iphones is there an advantage to using whats app vs just iMessage?

iPhones aren't the predominant phones in other countries

[litebright]

IME, when I land, I get a text message with a link offering various service options. If I do nothing to select something, I get billed like $12 a day for calls and mobile data. Usually the pay-by-the-day makes more sense for me than buying one of the bundles.

Text messaging is a pain internationally -- I have to download each message individually, delivery is erratic, etc. I still use it, but I also use WhatsApp because I'm often communicating with co-workers, etc. who also have different international numbers.

WhatsApp is literally just an app that you download. It still requires a data connection, either cellular roaming or Wi-Fi, but it is much more consistent/reliable/faster for messaging than texting. You can also do voice calls. You can't just download WhatsApp and have a connection, though -- even if you have the app, you still need to arrange for some kind of data service in order for the app to work. Wi-Fi may be good enough, especially if you are looking for something cheap and don't mind that it will be intermittent. I personally prefer to use cellular roaming, both as PP mentioned because I use it for maps, to navigate public transportation, find restaurants, etc. 

[wanderingback]

To better understand your needs- are you asking about texting family back home or texting other people in Europe? What about calling?

I have an international plan so my phone works like usual everywhere (except Cuba!) , but if you do not then you can likely call your carrier to add on an international plan for a short period of time, but that will obviously cost money. Then, you can use your phone the same as you use it at home (it will connect to the local cellular service and then you can browse the web, text people, call people, etc).

If you do not want to do this then you likely will have wifi access throughout your trip so you can do things like download WhatsApp (or signal) and then text or call other people with those same apps when you’re connected to WiFi. You will then be able to browse the internet when connected to WiFi.

[devonpow]

Also agree with others that we use our phone for so much more than just phone calls and texts - maps, using the internet to search for things/book tickets, Uber, etc etc. I’m happy to pay $12 a day to be able to use it normally and stress free while I’m there

[mokes]

It depends where exactly you're going, what phone you have and your carrier, but when I was in Amsterdam for an extended period earlier this year, I used Airalo to buy an eSIM. (Newer iPhones don't have a physical SIM, so you need an eSIM. My H has an Android so I think he bought a physical SIM.)

It is easiest to go through your carrier, but the cost is usually like $10-12/day. Whereas Airalo, I paid $9/month. If you're only going for a short time, you might value convenience more.

[gerberdaisy]

Nov 22, 2024 13:14:15 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

Nov 22, 2024 13:13:46 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

Can I ask a dumb question, if everyone has iphones is there an advantage to using whats app vs just iMessage?

iPhones aren't the predominant phones in other countries

Sorry, I wasn't clear, was saying if everyone I was messaging has iPhones.

[waverly]

We have At&T. We pay $10 a day to add international and then we can use data, call and text.

[waverly]

Nov 22, 2024 13:30:10 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

Nov 22, 2024 13:14:15 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

iPhones aren't the predominant phones in other countries

Sorry, I wasn't clear, was saying if everyone I was messaging has iPhones.

I guess there isn't a difference if they are both messaging via wireless internet as opposed to using cellular data.

We used WhatsApp to talk to caretakers in South America because that is their primary way of communicating. 

[eb777888]

We contact our phone service (Verizon) and it was $10/day as others have mentioned. Has never been an issue for us.

[mccallister84]

Nov 22, 2024 13:30:10 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

Nov 22, 2024 13:14:15 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

iPhones aren't the predominant phones in other countries

Sorry, I wasn't clear, was saying if everyone I was messaging has iPhones.

Technically if everyone you are messaging has iPhones and you are on WiFi you should be able to iMessage.

[mrsslocombe]

For an iPhone your options are:

-Pay for international roaming with your carrier-this allows you to use your plan's data, keep your phone number, etc. As other people said, it's usually about $10 a day.
-Use Whats App or similar app (you can only use it on wifi though if you don't do one of the other methods)
-Buy an eSim card with voice calling + data. This will give you an international number, not your home number. So anyone in the US would have to call your temporary number or call you on Whats App etc.
-You can buy data/text only eSim for less money-Airelo is one of the easiest to use (though other companies can be cheaper). It's usually only about $7-20 total for the amount of data you need, vs spending $10 a day to Verizon/ATT etc

[wildrice]

I've always just paid the $10 a day to use Verizon's network. You can buy a SIM card and use that for cheaper, but I've honestly never bothered to figure out how that works. Personally I like being able to look things up, navigate, etc while out and about without having to worry about it. I've found connectivity to be excellent - I made a phone call earlier this year from the Moroccan Sahara desert using Verizon's network, lol. I've also called from a rainforest in Costa Rica!

Lots of places have wifi too, so if you don't mind being disconnected while walking around you can probably jump on the wifi basically anywhere, too.

[lilypad1126]

I definitely have no idea what the "best" way is, so when we're out of the country next week, I just plan to use the $10/day option on my phone. My H will keep his phone in airplane mode, and we'll just use mine when we're out and about if we need to (I don't want to pay for this on multiple phones). Plus, there's no way I can explain Whatsapp to my family and guaranteed my mom will want to text regularly, so I'm just going with what is easiest for me.

[dutchgirl678]

I have used Airalo the last few times I have visited Europe. As mrsslocombe mentioned, it is an e-sim that only gives you data. I use Whatsapp to text or call/video call. If you don't have an eSIM, you can only use it when you are on WiFi, but since it uses data only, you can use it with an eSIM. If you have the eSIM installed, your regular texting is messed up and for me has never worked. But I can use my phone for web browsing, finding my way, etc. Depending on how long we go, getting the eSIM is much cheaper than using your international roaming plan. I usually spend less than $20 for 2 weeks with 5GB of data. I also get money for referrals and for buying an eSIM so the next time I need one it can be even cheaper.

[charlatti]

mrsslocombe, thank you! That really helped spell it out.

And thanks everyone else too. I think I actually have a clue on wear to go next,

This is actually for my teen, and we don’t have to figure it out until summer, but I’ve had a crappy day and am fixating on dumb things. I want her to be able to contact us here at home and the other people in her group that are over there with her. Our current service is through Ting, which is great 99% of the time and very budget friendly, but apparently makes international somewhat complicated and their help sites are confusing and contradictory.

[georgeglass]

Nov 22, 2024 13:32:14 GMT -5 waverly said:

We have At&T. We pay $10 a day to add international and then we can use data, call and text.

It's $12/day now. Maxed at $120/month.

Still worth it for me to not have to figure out SIM cards and such.

[mrsslocombe]

I will say-with eSim it feels a bit complicated the first time you do it. But after you figure it out it's pretty easy, especially if you use Airelo because you just need one app and they cover almost any country.

But for my husband, he always just pays the international roaming, because we need a way for his father/caregivers to reach us and my FIL would not be able to use Whatsapp or an international number. I hate how much money Verizon gets from us though, and we always wind up paying data overage as well.