Traveling to Europe (Cell Phone use)

Is the iPhone both CDMA and GSM capable? If so, you should have no problems calling in Europe or back to the states.

 

If you have AT&T it pretty much works everywhere in my experience. Verizon is trickier, but they'll send you a loaner-phone if your plan doesn't work. Not sure aobut Sprint/TMobile. Just call your provider and see what they say.

Be careful and keep your phone off unless you're using it, and use it sparingly, or esle you will get whipped with massive data/roaming etc charges. Like a few hundred bucks or so. That sucks.

 

Sam is right about accidental usage.

I have Sprint and used a GSM phone in France, Brazil and Africe and CDMA in Korea. Shortly after I turn my phone on in a foreign country, I get a courtesy text from Sprint telling me how to dial as well as rates per minute for calls and rates to send and receive texts. Prior to leaving the U.S., I make sure that my phone is set to not do any data, calls or text without me confirming it.

 

The cheapest solution would be to get a prepaid SIM card in each of the countries. I understand you don't like the hassle, but then you could even use Internet, depending on the provider. I have Vodafone with a contract in Europe, with my contract, I can use data in all Vodafone countries (UK, Italy, Germany definitely included). But I don't think they offer the same for prepaid cards.

 

I don't think there is a prepaid SIM card that covers several countries in Europe. So yes, that would be better in terms of protecting you from crazy cost on your contract at home (once the SIM card runs out, you just can't call anymore), but it would still be very expensive on the card when you use it in another European country.

 

If your plan is for emergencies and spouse whereabouts, it probably isn't worth the hassle to do anything. With Sprint, to send a text in a foreign country is 50 cents and to receive is 5 cents, so a text to then from your wife would be $1.10. I assume other carriers are roughly the same.

Another thing to consider is to make sure your plan is set up for International usage. It was no cost to me, but Sprint had to 'flip a switch' so I could use my phone out of the country.

 

You don't need a different SIM card in each country. Just look up the APNs for each country and change them in the Settings on your phone.

 

AT&T offers a 50 text package for europe for a very reasonable cost. You can also turn on another option that gives low-cost billing for most European countries without having to swap sim cards. I forget the names of these options, but you can turn them on via the AT&T app on your iphone.

I used this on my last trip and it was very effective. For data I just waited for free wi-fi spots.

 

If you keep data on, you're bill will be in the 300-400 dollar range for the week. International data roaming sucks. A different sim card is the least expensive option. You can also get international data service just for you trip. Make sure its international "DATA" and not just international service or you will get a nasty surprise when you get your bill.

 

I just got back from Italy last night, and I had went the prepaid SIM way.

First I tried Vodafone.it, but the service sucked and I burned through the credit in less than a day - even with background data & sync turned off and minimal apps installed, with minimal usage overall.

Then I got a 10 Euro TIM card and abused the hell out of the data and got great reception and it lasted all week. It also allowed me to roam in Germany on the way back, where I finally ran it dry.

So, to summarize - if you go the prepaid SIM route, you can take it with you to the next country and roam at 2-3 times the price per megabyte or minute. When that runs dry, you can get another local SIM or not (depending on your time frame).

And when you're in Italy, I highly recommend TIM for service. Vodafone had 4G/HSPA+ while TIM only had 3G/HSPA, but I don't think the iPhone works on HSPA+ or 4G (unless it's AT&T, which will get the HSPA+). Either way, the connection to TIM 3G was faster and WAAAAYY more reliable than the Vodafone anything.