Well, the last time we visited Europe was in ... 2018. So when I looked up my planning document, it occurred to me that technology or some of my assumptions may have changed by now. Just a few things:
1) Credit card - I need to tell them I'll be away, right? I also need to check that they don't have extra fees, things could have changed in 4 years.
2) Phone/internet. Do I just want an international plan? Does such a thing still exist? I mostly use my phone for photos, but occasionally for (not downloaded) maps, and certainly for Google Translate. The hotels have wi-fi, so that's not a problem.
3) Charging in the hotel I only need adapters, not converters at this point, right? 220-240 V? One issue is that we have multiple devices to charge, 2 phones, 2 ipads. I can get some sort of ... splitter or something that lets me charge multiple things at once, is that right?
4) Charging on the go. I've seen little portable chargers in case you overdo it with your phone during the day. Worthwhile? Not too heavy?

The whole separate topic is COVID. Since we're traveling from Porto to Lisbon on our last whole day, will it be a problem to wait until we're in Lisbon to get tested? I saw that some people get tested in the airport, but on the off chance one of us tests positive, I'd rather know before I'm all packed up and at the airport ready to go. It just needs to be no sooner than the day before, is that right? Not exactly 24 hours.

I like the figuring out what to do and what to see better, but this part has to be right too!

Thanks,
Alice

Hi
When I'm in Portugal I use a local sim card from Vodafone.
https://www.vodafone.pt/en/products-...-portugal.html
You'll need an adapter because the prongs on the plugs and outlets are different, and a converter from 220 to 110 volts ( Portugal 220v NorthAmerica110v).
I use a all in one converter adapter, think I got it from the autoclub.
Happy travels

I can respond only to two of your questions:
[1] Yes, I would strongly advise calling your credit-card company with your travel plans. I usually find that the company that issued the credit-card I use to purchase my plane ticket already knows about my travel plans, which is convenient but also a little ominous -- I don't like it when a company knows things about me that I haven't yet told them. But I would advise calling the company anyway.
[3] I'm sure you will need an adapter, though I can't verify the number you cited. (The one I usually use in Europe has two narrow cylindrical prongs.) But what I can say is that I've always managed with a small, simple, inexpensive one -- one that cost only a few dollars. I mention this because I've seen bigger, more elaborate, more expensive ones on the market -- I have no idea what they're for, but I've managed with that simple, cheap one for several trips to Europe so far.
That's all I can say. I still follow the travel habits I acquired in the 1970s, the tail end of the glorious pre-communications era. All I can add is that I've carried my iPhone on trips only so that I could make hotel reservations on the move. For that purpose, as long as I could find wi-fi, I've never needed another plan.

I have a portable charger that is the size of a credit card, easy to use.
I get a European SIM card for my phone for calls within Europe. My spouse gets a Verizon Intl plan in case of medical emergencies which have occurred in the past. Our family can also text him.
OurCapitalOne credit card does NOT want us contacting them about our foreign travel anymore.

We have a portable charger/power bank, slightly smaller than an I-phone. The brand is Mophie--couldn't live without it.

We have the T-Mobil international calling plan--couldn't live without it, because we travel outside of the US so much.

We also use WhatsApp for messaging.

Thanks, Maribel, now that you mention it I think I've heard of Mophie. We use Verizon, but I think I can get a month's worth of an international plan.
aulop, we've never used a sim card, I don't know the relative pluses and minuses of that vs an international plan.
Faedus, I used to bring a real live camera and didn't use my iphone for much, but the photos I can take with the iphone now truly rival the ones I used to take with my camera (probably because I'm not the world's best photographer). Much less to carry around, in any case.
HappyTrvlr, can you tell me the name of the portable charger you use?

Thanks, all!
Alice

Oh, wait, I forgot something on my list! I need to learn some Portugese phrases. I was surprised that my usual apps only do Brazilian Portugese, which is apparently pretty different. Any recommendations? I like to be able to do simple greetings, and then I go straight to reading menus!

Alice

The whole separate topic is COVID. Since we're traveling from Porto to Lisbon on our last whole day, will it be a problem to wait until we're in Lisbon to get tested? I saw that some people get tested in the airport, but on the off chance one of us tests positive, I'd rather know before I'm all packed up and at the airport ready to go. It just needs to be no sooner than the day before, is that right? Not exactly 24 hours

Just test when you get to Lisbon, keeping in mind that most testing sites we saw close at 6 pm. They have your results ready in 30 minutes. Anytime the day prior to your departure is okay. You'll need your passport for the test and they ask you to fill out a short questionnaire.

International calls and texts are included with my Google Fi plan - which is why I chose it - as we also travel internationally quite a bit.

Alice,
We have a couple of these that we take with us for charging two devices.
.

Are you still planning to drive from Porto to Lisbon on your last full day and drop off your rental car at the Lisbon airport?
If so, you could make an online appointment to get tested at the airport before checking into your airport vicinity hotel.

See the location of the airport Synlab testing site here- it's in the P! car park and you can book on the app. I believe it's open until 10 pm.
https://www.ana.pt/en/lis/services-s...ealth-services

Maribel, that's just what we need for charging, thanks.

And yes, we are planning to drive back to Lisbon the last day, so that's an excellent suggestion.
Thanks so much for the information! That should work out perfectly (as long as we test negative..).

As for your intention to learn some Portuguese phrases, mentioned above -- I think it's a great idea; I've actually been working on the language myself more seriously, though without as much progress, so far, as I would like. You may want to try a free website called "Surface Languages" (I can't account for the odd name, but just type it into Google.) From the many languages listed, just select "Portuguese-Portugal," and you'll be given a list of basic phrases, with buttons you can click on to hear them.
There are many good phrase books out there; one I used, and like, is the pocket-sized "Collins Gem" phrase-book. It seemed as good as any other I looked at, but it also gave some basic grammar, including verb conjugations in the more common tenses -- I found this useful when constructing sentences on my own. But I wouldn't try speaking Portuguese without listening to some of it first, for from an English perspective (or at least from mine), it's a bit difficult phonetically -- oddly, a bit like French, with its nasalized vowels, slurred unaccented vowels, and fricative consonants.

Alice,
About learning European Portuguese, you might find some tips here from the Julie Dawn Fox very helpful blog--
https://juliedawnfox.com/learn-europ...rtuguese-free/

I find it much more challenging to pronounce than Brazilian Portuguese. To me, European Porgtuguese sounds somewhat Slavic.
Brazilian sounds to me much more melodic or softer.
I'm struggling with the speaking part.

Faedus and Maribel, thanks for the suggestions on learning some phrases, I'll check out your sources. I had actually started a Babbel course until I learned it was Brazilian Portugese! Duolingo only offers Brazilian Portugese. I think these courses should be explicit about what they're offering upfront, since someone might not necessarily know how different the pronunciation is between the two (and not just pronunciation, some vocabulary as well).

I'm hoping I'll only need basic phrases just to be polite and that most people will know English.

Alice

This is only partially correct. You will need one or more adapters, but you will almost certainly not need a converter. Most electronic equipment - iPads and phones, for instance - are dual voltage. If you want to check there should be a label. Some things you may want to take will not be dual voltage, but using them with a converter is usually a bad idea. A hair dryer that is not dual voltage could fry the electrical system.

You can get a T-Mobile account just for a month, but changing the SIM card in your phone shouldn't be too difficult - look for the user's manual online.

You no longer need to tell Capital One if you are traveling, but that may not be true for other cards. You do know to watch out for the Dynamic Currency Conversion scam, right?

If you are going to use hotel wi-fi for anything sensitive, like accessing bank accounts, you need a VPN.

This is free language help: https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/portuguese/guide/

Alice,
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the number of Portuguese who speak very good English, especially the younger generation.

I tried to alert BoA that I would be traveling abroad and was told it was no longer necessary. I don't know about other banks, however.

I agree with thursdaysd that you won't need a converter. The electronics that we take are all dual voltage.

thursdaysd, everything I need to charge is dual voltage, and I know from experience about hair dryers!

Are you saying I shouldn't get an international plan from Verizon, but get a sim card instead?

And I DON'T know about the Dynamic Currency Conversion scam, please enlighten me.

And you know, I used to use that BBC language site and forgot all about it. I took a quick look and it's hard to tell if it's European or Brazilian Portugese, although you'd think a British site would use the European one.

Thanks so much!
Alice

Somehow my last response got posted THREE times (I thought my computer was slow), and I don't know how to delete two of them - edit didn't seem to allow me to do so. So if someone could tell me how to do that I WILL, otherwise, sorry about that and ignore the 2 extras.

Alice

Dynamic Currency Conversion - an offer to charge you in your own currency instead of the local currency. At a seriously inflated exchange rate. Found at ATMs as well as when paying by credit card. Always, always decline. And be careful, the offer may not be obvious and the payment will default to your own currency.

How much does Verizon propose to charge?

Alice,
About the dreaded DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) scam that's alive and well in Portugal--

https://thepointsguy.com/2015/06/dyn...cy-conversion/

https://wallethub.com/edu/cc/dynamic...nversion/25576.

What I wrote to Iwan2go on her trip report-

"That 100 euro withdrawal from the Multibanco (ATM) that cost $124 dollars is most likely because you unknowingly accepted the DCC, the currency conversion to dollars rather than rejecting the conversion to dollars and instead choosing the transaction in euros. The wording is extremely tricky. It's easy to be taken!"

One should always choose to have the withdrawal calculated in local currency (quotation from janisj)

Alice - click on the orange triangle and report the duplicates to the Mods.