Daughter traveling to France. What plan/apps to use?

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Daughter traveling to France. What plan/apps to use?

Trying to figure out what plan makes the most sense. We think we will use facetime instead of phone for talking since $1.29 per minute charge.

But texting will be used extensively - (mine to her are free) but Verizon charging $.50 per text sent $.05 received (whether to me or to friends on trip with her) So if use imessage that eliminates that (if everyone on trip has it) - but only on wifi unless I buy a data plan - I don't know how great wifi is where she is staying/traveling. Data plan offered is $25 for 100MB. That is not very much but is it enough. And if it is enough - enough for what? Facetime, imessage? buy data? Facebook?

Leaving tomorrow so any advice at all is appreciated!!!

Thank you!

iPhone 5c, iOS 7.1

Posted on Mar 14, 2014 12:11 PM

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Answer 1

AmishCake

Level 6

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Mar 14, 2014 12:47 PM in response to borngrace

Be sure to call your carrier - they are the best ones to advise.

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Answer 2

Mar 14, 2014 1:39 PM in response to borngrace

Get the phone unlocked and get a local SIM card when arriving in France.

I think Orange and SFR are good companies to get a Prepaid SIM.

Don't use Verizon's plans, they will cost you more than the local network.

iMessage is free no matter where in the world.

Whatsapp/Viber are also free no matter where you are in the world.

Data usage is low when messaging, posting pictures is what will eat up a lot of data.

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Answer 3

borngrace Author

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Mar 14, 2014 5:23 PM in response to chattphotos

Getting phone unlocked and sim there is not an option. Leaving tomorrow and action packed trip. So only have kids upload pics when on wifi. But if they need to use any data when they Are there should I pay for the 100mb for $25. Since to not buy plan costs $20ish per MB?

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Answer 4

Mar 14, 2014 5:29 PM in response to borngrace

100 MB is very little. You really haven't left enough time to work through options. Verzion is the worst carrier in the world (or at least the US) for International roaming. T-Mobile offers free unlimited data when traveling and 20¢ per minute calling. AT&T has several data plans, and all of them are much more reasonable than Verizon's, but their voice roaming is $1.49.

If you use facetime over cellular 100 MB will never be enough; more like 1 GB would be needed.

The one thing in your favor is the Verizon 5 series phones are all unlocked for GSM use internationally. So she can remove the Verizon SIM and buy a local SIM with a local number.

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Answer 5

borngrace Author

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Mar 14, 2014 7:07 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

No but time is what it is. T mobile not an option and AT&T costs were more than verizon with worse coverage on our daily life. Phones came yesterday. Had to wait until upgrade date girls didn't have smart phones before and we are figuring out. Will only use wifi for FaceTime. Will only use wifi to upload pics. Should I turn off cellular data so that only works when wifi?

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Answer 6

borngrace Author

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Mar 14, 2014 7:10 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Is 100mb enough for 2 weeks iMessage only? Not crazy texting kids.

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Answer 7

Mar 14, 2014 7:26 PM in response to borngrace

The choice is yours... you could get more data with a local SIM at the same price...

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Answer 8

Mar 14, 2014 10:12 PM in response to borngrace

No, and it is very difficult to limit cellular data to just 1 function. Does Verizon offer data plans for larger amounts like AT&T does?

You CAN turn off cellular data and just use WiFi.

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Answer 9

May 21, 2014 2:22 AM in response to borngrace

she's gone and back by now, hope she had fun. I'm in s similar dilemma but I have iphone 5 on verizon. All i had to do after arriving in europe was buy a local nano SIM, pop it into the iphone 5 and reset network settings. I only bought data, no voice or text, don't need it.

. I bought a card from vodafone and using iMessage, Viber, facebook messenger and skype to stay in touch. Added $5 in skype credit(in-app purchase) in case i need to call back home

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