Hello Everyone...I hope someone can give me some guidance. My DH just gave me a new Iphone. Very nice, but the problem is, I'm terrible at anything technical. Have any of you used your Iphone while in Paris and how? I've heard stories of people using their Iphone in Europe and coming home to terrific bills. Do you turn something on or off? I heard someone say you have to turn off your international roaming? I also heard someone say to use Skype? I would love to hear your experiences in using your phone and any very simple, very easy instructions. Like I said, I'm really terrible at any of this. Thanks for your help.

If you call ATT they can help you. I believe you pay a small amount and you are able to make calls much more cheaply.

I have used Trufone which is sort of like Skype. You are not using your own phone account...you are going thru the internet connection. You sign up here before you go and it is ridiculously inexpensive. You put, say, $10 on the acct with a credit card and each call was only a few cents a minute. I made several calls and I think my balance is still over $8. The calls were very clear. I imagine Skype will work the same way. You can use it anywhere, I believe. The downside is that you must find a wireless connection, but that's not too hard these days.

I have used an AT&T iPhone in France and UK. This info may not necessarily apply to the iPhone service offered by Verizon. From the Settings menu, in the General submenu and the Network sub-sub menu turn data roaming off--this will avoid the large internet chargesf. In this mode, you will not be able to receive e-mail in Paris unless you are in a wi-fi zone ( our hotel had free wifi so I was able to receive and send e-mail from the hotel with no extra charge).

A standard ATT iPhone plan includes the ability to call internationally FROM the US--international charges apply). If you want the ability to make calls from Paris to U S you need to add a free feature to your plan called standard international roaming. No charge for this feature (you can add it directly from your account on the web or call customer service and they can do it for you ). With this free feature calls to US will be about $2.29 per minute. This rate was acceptable for me as I only made a few calls to check in at home. For $5.99/month you can activate ATT World Traveler plan which will bring per minute charge down to $1.99 per minute.

Hope this helps.

Check this thread and see if it answers some of your questions:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-193242-2.cfm

best use with free wi-fi...turn off any push notifications for email. I just checked email from our hotel which gave us free wi-fi...I would avoid checking voicemail by phone...you can download a free Skype app to use

Thank you all so much...that is exactly what I needed...you're so nice to take the time to help out. Really appreciate you breaking it down so even I can understand.

AlReady, is your phone AT&T or Verizon? The current Verizon iPhone will not work (as a phone) in Paris. You can still use it with wifi access.

Good information

We followed advice on this website on last trip to Europe and it worked perfectly for us.
http://holeinthedonut.com/2010/01/14...avel-settings/

Not in realtion to roaming and phone plans, but with a new iPhone you should definitely look for some apps for your trip! I have an iPhone and am planning my first trip to Paris, so I went to the iTunes store and searched for "Paris" under applications and found several useful free ones, including the Louvre's official app, and a metro route one called MetrO where you download the maps ahead of time, so you can use it for navigation and planning without an Internet connection -- useful if you turn off international roaming. I also found some audio walking tours apps for free, including one from Rick Steves, and lots of other apps for a few bucks each.

jent103...I have ATT so I hope this will work...like I said, I just received this Iphone so everything is new to me. I'm still trying to figure it all out and I want to thank everyone for your guidance and suggestions. I'm just starting to find out about apps so I'll check that too.

bookmarking, leave in 3 days for Paris. Already added the AT&T World Traveler plan but still trying to make sure I don't accidentally run up a big bill. Hotel has free wi-fi. I do not understand how to check email manually. I also will be taking my iPad, which is wi-fi plus 3 G, but intend to use wi-fi only. Kind of complicated but I'm getting there.

I have the AT&T I phone.

I do not add the World Traveler plan. I just turn off data roaming and call if I need to. However, I use the phone for emergencies and very quick calls. My last trip the entire bill was around $10 for example. I think it's about $2 a minute if you don't have a plan, but if you aren't really planning to use it, then a plan isn't really required IMHO.

I think you would also need to turn off data roaming on an Ipad (Mine is wifi only so I am not 100% sure how that works)

AT&T does have info on thier webpage on what to do.

I have ATT and an iphone that we travel with.

I buy a international texting package from ATT for $ 10 for 50 texts, I put it on both of our phones, hence 100 texts and we can text each other when we are out separately as well as texting people back home if need be, it works without wifi or 3g, I think. I then just use my phone for a quick dinner reservation.

I have another tip. When we are in the apartment, hotel,cafe with wifi we will look up directions to where we are going. DH then takes a picture of the screen for each direction, sometimes as many as ten picures. When we leave the place are walking around you can always get into your photo library without wifi or 3g, we have the directions there, we erase as we go! It has worked great for us.

These are great! Funny the AT&T rep didn't mention the texts for $10.00 I may ask about that. I did get the $24.99 International plan, but the texts might be a good idea.