When unlocking your phone makes sense.

[90beater]

My wife and I just returned from an awesome vacation. We decided to see the difference an unlocked phone can make. We traveled to Switzerland ( 6 days) and London (4 Days). We are both using Verizon family sharing plan. I have a Galaxy Note 2 rooted with Jellybeans 20 and she has a Galaxy S4 stock. We had Verizon turn on Global roaming on her phone so she could keep her same phone number as we traveled.
Her Phone $29 to turn on global with 100Mb data. + $25 for additional 100 MB + $25 for additional 100 MB. We still don?t have the total roaming charges yet. Total $79 Plus roaming charges.
I bought a SIM at each country which changed my number but made my phone local to the country.
My Phone 10 Francs (Approx $10) 300MB data in Switzerland. Local Swiss number. No additional charges. 15 Pounds (Approx $21) Unlimited Data in London. Local London number. No additional charges. Used WiFi hotspot on my phone to share my laptop and my wife?s phone, worked great. Total $31 no roaming. Even though the phone number changed it had no impact on texting, email or Facebook.
The next time we travel abroad I will definitely unlock my wife?s phone as well and buy local SIM cards.

 

[vpblaze]

Yeah man. Unlocking is the way to go!
Come next year in Canada, the cell providers are going to be forced to provide unlock codes for our phones after 90 days of activation. Or they have to provide it right away if the phone is bought out right. I am glad it's starting to make sense. They won't be able to rob people for ridiculous roaming fees anymore!

Posted via Android Central App on my Note 2!

 

[dpham00]

All Verizon 4GLTE phones are factory sim unlocked or unlocked via software upgrade for the gsm portion. Now, not all 4GLTE phones have gsm capabilites that are usable on another network, but that is a different story.

Both the s4 and Note II are factory sim unlocked. Verizon is the only US carrier to provide subsidized phones factory sim unlocked even while under contract. Other US carriers will unlock the phone once you fulfill your contract.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[lostchild]

And local pre-paid sim card is even cheaper in Asia. When I was in Hong Kong earlier this year, I paid less than $10 for unlimited data for a week on my Note II. I think you are very brave to turn on data roaming on international travel on a smart phone. I was once in San Diego (very close to Mexico border but never crossed the border) and I got a data roaming charge around $10 because AT&T thinks I was in Mexico! After that I use turned off international data roaming.

 

[dpham00]

And local pre-paid sim card is even cheaper in Asia. When I was in Hong Kong earlier this year, I paid less than $10 for unlimited data for a week on my Note II. I think you are very brave to turn on data roaming on international travel on a smart phone. I was once in San Diego (very close to Mexico border but never crossed the border) and I got a data roaming charge around $10 because AT&T thinks I was in Mexico! After that I use turned off international data roaming.

You were probably using a Mexican tower. I always disable international data roaming just to be safe

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[90beater]

All Verizon 4GLTE phones are factory sim unlocked or unlocked via software upgrade for the gsm portion. Now, not all 4GLTE phones have gsm capabilites that are usable on another network, but that is a different story.

Both the s4 and Note II are factory sim unlocked. Verizon is the only US carrier to provide subsidized phones factory sim unlocked even while under contract. Other US carriers will unlock the phone once you fulfill your contract.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

I tried installing the orange sim card in my wife's S4 while in London and it booted up to a message saying that it wasn't a verizon sim card. I didn't try beyond that.

 

[dpham00]

I tried installing the orange sim card in my wife's S4 while in London and it booted up to a message saying that it wasn't a verizon sim card. I didn't try beyond that.

Yes, it gives you that message but from what I read, it works.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[VDub2174]

I saw something the AT&T site about unlocking my phone. Has anyone tried that? Was it a hassle?

Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 2 on top of a BeanStalk

 

[dpham00]

I saw something the AT&T site about unlocking my phone. Has anyone tried that? Was it a hassle?

Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 2 on top of a BeanStalk

My understanding is that att will unlock it once you fulfill your 2 years contract

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[lostchild]

My understanding is that att will unlock it once you fulfill your 2 years contract

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

That's only for iPhone. For other phones, AT&T will actually unlock it sooner!

For iPhones, 2 years or whenever your contract ends
For other Smartphones, 90 days into your contract
For normal "dumb" phones, anytime just call.