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T-mobile has plans that work while traveling, that are inexpensive. But their reception here in the USA is not so great in many areas. Most Verizon phones are unlocked nowadays. Buying a sim card in Europe is a good idea, but make sure it is installed and working before you leave the phone store. You have to make some changes in the settings on the phone to get the card to work.
For money, if you cannot use your no-transaction fee credit card, the cheapest way is to use your debit card at an ATM, but virtually all debit cards will charge a percentage fee, like 3 percent, for this. However, there is ONE card only that does not charge a fee, plus it does not charge any ATM fee, and even pays the ATM fee in Europe for you. That is the Charles Schwab brokerage account debit card. But you don't have to buy any stocks, if you don't want to.
So if you travel a lot, I would recommend getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve, since the first year comes with a lot of benefits, plus a travel miles bonus. If not that one, then the Barclay card. And get the Schwab account debit card. And consider doing a switch to T-mobile. You may be able to engineer a free phone out of the switch from Verizon to T-Mobile.
If you hardly ever travel, still get a no transaction fee credit card, plan on using your debit card to get Euros from an ATM, and buy a sim card there.
If you have T-Mobile, you will automatically get almost the same privileges in Europe as in US at no additional cost. T-Mobile plan is good in 210 countries. I didn't know this and stupid AT&T would charge an extra $20 a day per line, for providing service in Europe.
For Credit cards, I used Capital One credit cards simply because it has no international transaction fee. Otherwise, every other card will charge you international transaction fee every time you use their card.
lots of credit cards do not charge international transaction fees not just capital one. my chase card does not charge either
Lots of cards do not charge intl transaction fees but far fewer also refund ATM fees charged by other banks including overseas. The Schwab card mentioned by parentologist is a good example of the latter, and it's a nice perk to be able to choose the safest/convenient ATM when traveling regardless of it's fee.
If you have Bank of America Debit Card, go to Barclays Bank ATM / Cash Machine and withdraw from there. Due to Global ATM Alliance, charges such as Non Bank of America usage fees and ATM operator usage fees are waived off. Take cash (pounds) and use them. Cash is King in europe.
Swiping debut or credit in UK or Portugal on businesses will charge various fees and poor rates.
Instead of buying a prepaid phone, find a prepaid SIM card that you can use in your existing phone. It might be cheaper than the international data plan with Verizon, depending on the length of your trip (Verizon is $10/day). You can probably even get one shipped to you in advance of your trip (if you order right away).
When I had Verizon the phones were locked so you could not replace a SIM card. Is that no longer the case?
I don't know why you would necessarily need to make phone calls when traveling. When we go abroad, we just essentially set the phone to equivalent of the Airplane mode and rely on Wi Fi. We send e-mail to the family that we arrived safely and that is pretty much it.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I use my phone daily for data / email / navigation / apps (specific to country I am visiting).
Probably used it twice in 1yr away for calls.
Wifi, is seldom available where I travel. (Rural and not staying in hotels or eating in cafes)
It is REALLY nice that foreign countries typically have far better wireless coverage than much of USA. (including my (3) locations in USA without wireless signal).
I don't know why you would necessarily need to make phone calls when traveling. When we go abroad, we just essentially set the phone to equivalent of the Airplane mode and rely on Wi Fi. We send e-mail to the family that we arrived safely and that is pretty much it.
Just because you don't feel the need to make phone calls doesn't mean that others feel the same way. My wife has been in Italy for the past 3 weeks and we like to talk with each other once in a while. When she has WiFi, we use WhatsApp, but she's currently staying at a small place on the Amalfi coast without Wifi reception, so we make the occasional "regular" phone call to each other.
When I had Verizon the phones were locked so you could not replace a SIM card. Is that no longer the case?
Apparently not. As I mentioned, I had no problem switching the sim card in my Verizon iPhone 6 last year. I did not have to get the phone unlocked. It came that way from Verizon.
Verizon phones have come unlocked for several years now.
The credit cards have much better exchange rates than you can get at any money exchange location while traveling.
But best of all is to get that Schwab debit card, and use that to get cash at ATMs. And yes, cash is king in much of Europe. Lots of small places you'd like to visit, don't take credit. And they'll be pretty angry when you cannot pay for your meal, because you only have credit.
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