Europe with Turbo - Verizon, Settings, SIM, ...

[928SC]

Planning to go to Europe this summer (10-12 days). I have read a few threads about using the Turbo while there and wanted to get some clarification.

Verizon Intl Plan:
I have had a few folks go to Europe and Asia in the past couple of years that got the Verizon Intl Plan. When they arrived at their destination their phone didn't work. I plan to do the SIM card swap instead unless other have had better luck.

Settings:
With US SIM card some have said turn "everything off and use wifi only". If I put the phone in Airplane Mode, everything is off including wifi. To get wifi to work, Airplane Mode off, Data off, and wifi on. But I get radio bars with this setup. Will I be charged for radio service? Is there a way to turn the radio off?

SIM Card:
I plan to purchase a European SIM card in the airport when I arrive. I will be traveling to 3 different countries Spain, France, Italy. Is there a specific carrier that I should look for that won't charge me higher rates when I go to a different country?

Thanks for your help.

 

[doogald]

I have a Droid Maxx, not a Turbo, but the verizon international plan worked just fine in Europe for me.

When you are in airplane mode you can manually toggle wifi back on, so you won't have to see service bars. However, those bars, if you have data toggled off (or roaming turned off), will be for the voice service signal, not for data.

I did buy a pan-European sim before I left as a backup. I used it for a day just to verify it worked. I'm away from my computer right now but I'll look it up when I get a chance. It's slightly more expensive than a single country sim, but those have roaming charges of their own when you leave the country, so you may be better off with the sim I used. You'll have to price check.

 

[doogald]

It was prepaidzero.com: https://www.prepaidzero.com/product-category/europe/

I had it shipped to the house before I left. If you do this (or any other), make sure you get the nano sim.