Verizon iPhone 6s in Germany and Austria
Mar 19th, 2016, 04:16 AM
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Verizon iPhone 6s in Germany and Austria
I'm very confused about US cell phones in Germany! My daughter will be traveling to Germany and Austria for a month with an exchange program. She has a verizon iPhone 6s, I'm not sure if it is locked or not. I looked into the international calling plan but it looks like she will have very limited data usage with the plan. It seems that I just need to buy a SIM card from a German carrier for this phone, is this right? Do we just change out the SIM card and she will have a German phone number and access to their cell towers? Do I need to notify verizon if we change the SIM card? Any help would be much appreciated!
Mar 19th, 2016, 05:50 AM
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All newer Verizon iPhones come unlocked. You can easily test this at home by borrowing someone else's non Verizon SIM such as T-Mobile or ATT wireless SIM. The phone will complain that it is not a Verizon SIM, but will come up anyway. Look at a youtube video on how to do this.
Mar 19th, 2016, 05:56 AM
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Our daughters have the iPhone 6S with Verizon, too, and we're heading to UK and Germany later this year as well, so I've been researching the same questions you ask. 
Your daughter may already be familiar with SIMs and how they work; if a kid is having problems with his/her phone he sometimes resets the SIM anyhow.
Here's my understanding of how it works.
Yes, she can get a SIM in the country she's traveling to. Yes, she'll have a "local" number. No, you don't need to notify Verizon. When she returns to the US, she'll pop out that SIM and have her "old" phone back.
Your daughter may already be familiar with SIMs and how they work; if a kid is having problems with his/her phone he sometimes resets the SIM anyhow.
Here's my understanding of how it works.
Yes, she can get a SIM in the country she's traveling to. Yes, she'll have a "local" number. No, you don't need to notify Verizon. When she returns to the US, she'll pop out that SIM and have her "old" phone back.
Mar 19th, 2016, 08:41 AM
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Thank you so much! I was concerned since we just got the phone and I didn't buy it outright I wasn't sure if it would be unlocked. Should have just check with my daughter, she is much more tech savvy than I am!
Any ideas on which carrier to use? T-Mobile looks like it could be an easy pay as you go type but I think she would have a U.S. number and may still be somewhat restricted with use. I think it would be better to have one from the country she is traveling to, any reputable companies to purchase one from?
Any ideas on which carrier to use? T-Mobile looks like it could be an easy pay as you go type but I think she would have a U.S. number and may still be somewhat restricted with use. I think it would be better to have one from the country she is traveling to, any reputable companies to purchase one from?
Mar 19th, 2016, 09:38 AM
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If you daughter will be mostly in Germany and just a few days in Austria, it can be less of a hassle to get just one SIM card in Germany and add a day pass for data when in Austria.
There are a LOT of possible SIM card providers for the three mobile networks. It depends on what your daughter plans to do - surf mostly, be in reach for you, occasional phone calls to the US.
If so, for example, a prepaid SIM card with higher volume of data "CallYa Smartphone Allnet Flat" by Vodafone costs around €22 for one month and includes 1GB data on 4G/LTE, all phone calls and texts to German numbers (regardless of carrier), and 4c per minute plus 15c per call for calls to the US. Receiving calls is always free.
When comparing costs you should also compare if a super low-cost plan includes 4G or just 3G.
But, in general, a 1GB prepaid plan puts you somewhat in the €20-25 per month cost range regardless of provider. If you want more GB it get's more costly.
There are a LOT of possible SIM card providers for the three mobile networks. It depends on what your daughter plans to do - surf mostly, be in reach for you, occasional phone calls to the US.
If so, for example, a prepaid SIM card with higher volume of data "CallYa Smartphone Allnet Flat" by Vodafone costs around €22 for one month and includes 1GB data on 4G/LTE, all phone calls and texts to German numbers (regardless of carrier), and 4c per minute plus 15c per call for calls to the US. Receiving calls is always free.
When comparing costs you should also compare if a super low-cost plan includes 4G or just 3G.
But, in general, a 1GB prepaid plan puts you somewhat in the €20-25 per month cost range regardless of provider. If you want more GB it get's more costly.
