I suppose it depends on which country it is. Last time I went to the UK to visit family, I called Verizon (my US carrier). They told me it would cost something absurdly expensive to use their services. Instead, I went to The first phone shop I saw at Heathrow selling phones, plans, and SIM cards. I can’t remember now if it was vodaphone or Orange or what but my carrier in the US certainly didn’t have to ‘unlock’ the SIM card. The staff at Vodaphone, knew exactly how to provide service for my stay with clear instructions for putting my Verizon Sim back in before I left. He offered to do it for me as a matter of fact.
My sister who was also coming from the US to visit family, didn’t get a SIM card at the airport . She was told b her carrier that she could use the phone in the UK and she paid quite a bit for that agreement. The problem was that her phone didn’t work the way it was supposed to and she couldn’t use data and couldn’t keep a connection.