Using my Verizon iPhone 5 in Spain: the options

Hey mynameismyname!

Just wanted to throw a pro-tip at you. In Settings > Cellular, and scrolling toward the bottom, you can determine what apps use cellular data. If you're nervous about turning on cell data and having a ton of stuff being downloaded, you can easily restrict those apps from using cell data in that setting option.

Hope it helps!

Totally! I have a decent amount of bandwidth allowed each month with my provider, but my partner likes to stream music and movies on cell data while he's out and about. I don't care too much about getting updates or downloads for apps when I'm out, so I typically restrict the option to use cell data for apps I don't care too much about when I'm not on Wi-Fi.

Glad it helped you! Enjoy your trip.

Since your iPhone 5 is on Verizon the sim slot is unlocked. Get a SIM in Spain when you get there as they are not that expensive. You will have data and cell service. All that is necessary is to remove the Verizon sim and install the Spain sim. Be sure and save your Verizon sim. I do this when I travel to Europe. I just get a local sim and not worry about international costs. You will only have 3G service so speeds are not that great but is quite functional.

No recommendation. You can get sim cards at the airport. There is probably not a lot of difference in cost. O2 seems to be popular in Germany, not sure about Spain.

Relative to the expense of the trip spending time to save a few dollars on a sim is not worth it. By getting the sim at the airport you can verify that it works. You are assigned a local number and a certain amount of usage. You just add more money if you need. Generally the amount on the sim is good for a year.

My last trip to Germany the sim was purchased by a friend in Germany and sent to me. I placed the sim in the phone when I left the US and was good to go when I arrived. I did have to power cycle the phone when I arrived to get service.

The cost of Verizon's international plan plus 30 minutes of phone calls will be more than a local sim. Thus my recommendation to just get a local sim and be happy. Plus you get data and a local phone number.

When outside WiFi, on the road, even if I turn off "Cellular/Data" I can still get some stuff, like emails and text-messages? The guy at the Apple store said something to that affect... Did I get it right?

You will have access to everything as if you were on WIFI. Your speeds will be slower. You will be using the data allocation of your phone plan that you purchase in the US. It is really not much different than in the US. Verizon gives you 1 gig of data, when you use the 1 gig of data Verizon will give you some more at an inflated cost. In Europe when you use your data allotment you are cut off. You can purchase more data quite easily. Using WIFI will NOT affect your data allotment on your phone. You can chose the amount of data you want when you purchase the sim.

I used some data in Europe to get train schedules and platform information. I did not generally check email or web sites unless I was on WIFI. It takes surprisingly little data to access train schedules and other such information. Video and websites with video take a lot of data.

If you turn off cellular data you will not have access to email and any apps that use data will not function. You can only text and talk. I would recommend against such as checking email and using apps such as maps and train schedules is quite useful. If you get close to running out of data purchase some more by going to the providers website or in one of their shops.

Relative to the cost of the trip the purchase of phone and data service is only a small fraction of the overall expense. Having access to data such as maps and train schedules is more than worth any money paid. Especially when you are not a local and are unfamiliar with the area.

So that means the iPhone is NOT totally off-line when cellular data is set off and no WiFi available?

To totally turn off the phone you need to use Airplane mode. That turns off all the radios. You can selectively turn on WIFI or Bluetooth. When you turn off cellular data you are not allowing any apps to use the data channel for any information. Phone calls and text message use the cellphone system.

You can't really evaluate what you will use on data when in Europe. Look at your current data usage on Verizon. Get the same amount when you are in Spain. If you run out you just purchase more. If you don't use it all, so what? Not a big deal in my opinion.

You will have to price your options when you get to Spain. But spending a lot of time to save a few dollars is foolish in my opinion. This is not a long term contract, it is short duration. Find a company in Spain with good coverage and a plan you like for phone, text and data.

To use the app you need to have wifi. From the app the calls are free to a US number.

TO to make calls in Spain you need the sim card. Whether calls are free to the US depends on your cell plan.

if you don't want to use data, see if the plan can be without data. Otherwise you will have to turn data off.