Cellular Plans and Data Service - Musings and Fun Facts about our Trip to Europe

Having a functioning cell phone (and particularly a mapping App) was something I started researching well before our trip. I didn't love the idea of replacing the SIM card in my phone with one I would purchase on arrival in Europe. Nor did I love the $10 per day International Plan that Verizon offered. For Scott and I to both have functioning phones, that Verizon plan would have cost $440 on this trip!

Two other options rose to the top rather quickly. First, there is "new" technology that allows you to download an E-SIM ( instead of having to physically pull your SIM and replace it with a new one). Unlike purchasing a physical SIM card, with an E-SIM you keep your existing phone number. The company we narrowed in on was AIRALO. Prices range depending on the country, but, for instance, you could purchase 10 GB of data for $16 for a one-month plan in Italy. That is a great price compared to anything else!

The second option, offered through Verizon (our carrier), was a $100 month-long International plan that had 5GB of data, plus 250 minutes of talk, 1000 sent SMS texts, and unlimited received SMS texts.

We ended up going with the $100 month-long International Plan from Verizon, but then regretted it when we started getting notices that we had exceeded our data and were racking up daily fees (when we knew we hadn't exceeded the limits). Lori and Dan, who were using the same plan, were having the same problem. Calls to Verizon didn't seem to fix the issue. After a few frustrating days of receiving notices that we were getting additional charges from Verizon, we purchased the 10GB data plan through AIRALO, and switched our phones over to that plan. It was very easy, with step-by-step instructions on the App. We never had a problem with data again!

In hindsight, if I were on an extended trip (longer than 10 days) again, I would probably order the Month-Long International Plan from Verizon for Scott (so that he could access texts and phone calls from family and friends), and I would just use a data plan through AIRALO. We could then use my phone for navigating on maps, blogging and other data intensive needs, and his would be more for communication needs. We'd save money, and have all the tools we wanted during the trip!

I don't pretend for a moment to understand all the technology that goes into these options. I am just the spoiled end user who wants my service to work as closely as possible to what I am used to at home! I think my "hindsight" paragraph above will be the way we go in the future!