I think the Verizon plan in Mexico or Canada is $6 per day. Might want to check to make sure but that's not bad.

No, not bad for a week or 2 but a lot for 6 months. Not that I'd use it every day. I think it'll be my current prepaid Verizon plan that includes texts, then Nana can call with a Telcel sim that includes calls to the US. My phone is unlocked & I'll investigate whether it can use 2 Sims. Thanks!

AlessandraZoe I'm pretty sure the Ultimate Unlimited plan allows 15gb/m high speed data plus texting in any of those 210 countries, not just a single country each month. The global choice "single country selection" is for free phone calls to one particular country. See this reddit thread https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/1kh3qox/using_unlimited_ultimate_in_italy_question/

also see FAQs here https://www.verizon.com/support/unli...ultimate-faqs/

My understanding is, you get unlimited data (first 15gb high speed) and unlimited texts. But if you want to make phone calls to your global choice country, you get 300 free minutes. Eg, you pick Germany as your global choice country. You can all Germany from the US for free up to 300 minutes. However if you need to also call France, then you have to pay their international calling charges.

But if you are already in Germany and need to call a number within Germany, i believe it is free as well.

I'm also in the camp of using Verizon plans for simplicity, and chalk it up to part of travel costs. However, I have a question as I don't fully understand all this.

A few years ago on a trip to Europe I had a few days of limited cell coverage and no wifi. Coincidentally, right at the start of this time I received a text message from my credit card company asking if I had made a large online purchase. I had not, and I was able to answer the text and even call their international service line to make sure the charge was declined and my card was locked. I used a backup card for the remainder of the trip.

The question is: if I had gotten an eSim instead, would I have not received that text message alerting me to the problem? It was several days later until I checked email, where a message was also waiting. Thanks.

Short answer:
"It Depends...."

Longer answer:
It depends on how your cell phone service company works when it comes to text messages and voice mails.

Some technical background:
Technically, all a SIM (whether its a chip or eSIM, doesn't matter) does is connect your device to the towers/cellular network associated with that SIM. Akin in some ways to connecting to wifi - be it a hotel, or internet cafe, or your home wifi. If your device isn't connected to a network (by SIM or by wifi), then it's a dumb device. Once you are connected you can access emails, internet, live traffic updates on maps, etc.

My own cell service company - US based Spectrum doesn't own or operate their own towers - they contract with other - Verizon, and maybe also T-Mobile, and AT&T to use their infrastructure. With Spectrum, for the most part they don't care how I'm connected. When out the country I have access to texts, and can make phone calls regardless of whether I'm connected to a cell network by SIM, or connected to a wifi network.. Connecting by phone over wifi is also generally known as Voice over IP, or VoIP calling. Not all companies operate the same way.

The devil is in the details.
You may have to toggle some settings on your account and/or on your phone to enable VoIP, and to enable or disable a SIM, or roaming, or set which SIM is primary, etc.....
The challenge of figuring out those details on the fly is one reason for getting a travel package from your home carrier. I've done this enought time that I'm comfortable toggling settings for both Apple & Android devices, so saving $$ to spend on vacation is a benefit.

Thanks J62. I was afraid there might be an "it depends" answer in there. Almost certainly I'll continue to use my Verizon travel plan so I don't have to deal with the "challenge of figuring out those details on the fly".

But I'll ask the question slightly differently: since the text message from my credit card company went to my usual phone number, if I had only a local eSim is it true that I would never see that text message, until I got home and reactivated my normal sim card? If so, then that is a case against using only a local sim card.

I also have a roaming question, but I'll hold off on that one.

Or a good argument in favor of checking email daily.

Very true, but at the time I didn't have an unlimited data plan so was avoiding checking email unless I was on wifi. So we are back to "it depends"!

"It depends...." similar to phone calls.... Every phone co may be different on how they push text messages, and Android devices may behave differently than iOS devices / settings...

More info about what I do.
Before 2024 I was with Verizon and became familiar with their ins and outs, and did whatever I could to avoid paying the $10 daily fee (per line), simply to connect to the cell network. Traveling with a group that "cost of travel" can add up quickly to be a nice meal, or 3. Since I switched from Verizon to Spectrum a year ago I haven't had to think as much. Same phone, same cell towers, same speed. With Spectrum I pay a flat $30 per phone line fee. No daily $ charge simply to connect to a tower overseas. International send/receive texts are free, and calls are a low pennies per minute rate. Data usage is where the charges can add up, so I'll get a data only eSIM for use with internet, mail, etc - anything that may require more data. Since I use my phone mostly as a smart device, I turn off my home SIM/eSIM, and use the data only eSIM for most of the time. If I need to use my home phone # to make a call, I can turn on the eSIM/SIM, and turn off the other one so I use whatever network Spectrum connects to. I'm not trying to sell Spectrum - it's just that it's been far simpler than Verizon.

The people that may need to text me, I have them contact me on WhatsApp. These days all of my work correspondence is via TEAMS, and that app doesn't care how I'm connected...

Thanks again J62. I understand what you wrote, food for thought at least. Appreciate it.