This post is for Verizon wireless customers who plan to travel abroad. If you have another wireless service, you may not be interested, except to ridicule Verizon customers.
Verizon wireless service when traveling abroad can be expensive. Currently, Verizon charges $12/day for data, talk, and text for international travel if you have their lower tier plans (Unlimited Welcome and Unlimited Plus). Verizon calls this extra charge TravelPass. However, under their Unlimited Ultimate plan data, talk, and text are included in the monthly plan charge. The Unlimited Ultimate has the highest monthly fixed charge. Note, there is no roaming charge for Canada and Mexico for the lower tier plans.
TravelPass [verizon.com]
Verizon plans [verizon.com]
But, Verizon allows you to temporarily switch plans even within a billing cycle, and by switching plans you can beat the $12/day TravelPass charge.
We recently made 1-week trip to Europe and my daughter also made another 2-week trip to Europe in past few months. The day before we left, I switched the phones from Unlimited Welcome to Unlimited Ultimate. The day after the trip I switched the phone back to Unlimited Welcome. For the 1-week trip to Europe we were under the Unlimited Ultimate plan for just over a week. I did the same for my daughter's 2-week trip to Europe. Also, I could have switched plans on the days we left and returned because when I called Verizon, they switched us during the call.
The additional cost for Unlimited Ultimate is $25/line for the entire month, but Verizon prorates the cost for just the time spent under the Unlimited Ultimate. Consequently, for the 7-day trip to Europe the total increase in cost per phone was $10. If we kept the less expensive plan, Unlimited Welcome, the increase would have been $70 (7 times $10/day). For my daughter the total additional cost was $25 for 3-weeks in Europe, If she stayed under the cheaper plan the increased cost would have been $210 (21 days time $10/day).
Note, Verizon has now increased the TravelPass cost from $10/day to $12/day.
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If you are on a 5G (Start, Play, Get, etc), you won't be able to switch back. That said, you need to see if the old plans are still worth it or not. For example, 5G Start included some gigs for hotspot, but if you don't use it, you're better off with U Welcome as it's lower priced.
But if you are in Play, AND use both Disney bundle and Apple Arcade, then switching over to U Plus would end up consting you more to get those addons. If you only use Disney, then it's a wash.
I used Holafly for my trip to the UK, it was $25 for 7 days of unlimited data.
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I would look for an eSIM provider in the country you are going to and see what their prices are. Make sure your phone supports multiple eSIMs too. (Most newer iPhones do)
Agree! You can easily get an esim on most iphones right when you arrive at the airport. Most will not be $30 and saves you hassle of calling verizon or whoever your current carrier is
I've done the same thing for a trip to France and another trip to Ireland, though I used physical SIMs (with an eSIM for my Verizon Galaxy). You can swap physical SIMs, but that's a PITA.
The local number can be a huge advantage if you have any issues when you need a call back from someone. We had luggage problems in France and having the local number was essential because I don't think they would have called my U.S. number.
One last note. The Verizon $12/day can be sneaky. I tried to avoid paying it on one trip and didn't get a local SIM because I didn't really need it. However, my phone kept receiving random texts (like Domino's or similar), and the incoming text set off the $10 (at the time), which was frustrating. It wasn't just what I did, so I couldn't control it completely.
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I've done the same thing for a trip to France and another trip to Ireland, though I used physical SIMs (with an eSIM for my Verizon Galaxy). You can swap physical SIMs, but that's a PITA.
The local number can be a huge advantage if you have any issues when you need a call back from someone. We had luggage problems in France and having the local number was essential because I don't think they would have called my U.S. number.
One last note. The Verizon $12/day can be sneaky. I tried to avoid paying it on one trip and didn't get a local SIM because I didn't really need it. However, my phone kept receiving random texts (like Domino's or similar), and the incoming text set off the $10 (at the time), which was frustrating. It wasn't just what I did, so I couldn't control it completely.
I switched back to Verizon last month because my wife doesn't get Google Fi inside her workplace. With 2FA, the international text has become necessary.