Question
These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
I am looking for help on the best way to maintain US cell service in Spain. I live in the US and will be going to Spain for about 90 days. I have Verizon cell service. Their international plans are quite expensive ($100/month or a TravelPass for $10/day), so I’m looking for other options.
Can anyone share their experience getting a local SIM card, specifically with Verizon cell service? I’ve heard I can temporarily suspend service with Verizon and then get a SIM card once I arrive in Spain, but I’m concerned about having my US phone number inactive because it’s tied to my bank account.
Answers
“I travel to Spain regularly. I have Verizon. It is very easy to get a Spanish SIM card and cheap. I use Orange but there are many other options. If you have an iPhone 12 or higher the phone has a dual SIM feature. One is an eSIM. I asked Verizon to move my main number to that. By doing so it freed up the physical SIM slot. I keep my Orange SIM in that slot. You can switch back and forth or use both. I keep my US number active but use the Spanish number in Spain. You might want to see if the bank has an alternative system to authenticate”
“Switch to T-Mobile: best plan for international travelers and you get free wifi on Delta and Delta partners on top of that. Also, as some have just mentioned, you can now have E-SIMs, which eliminated the need for a physical SIM card. If you switch to T-Mobile, have them migrate your US cell service number to your phone as an E-SIM and insert a Spanish temporary SIM when in Spain. That way you can actually receive calls from both numbers at the same time (subject to you turning the settings on and off). I recently did the above and it’s been a game changer”
“We spent 3 months in Barcelona as well. The first day we just stopped at a Vodafone shop and got a SIM card, chose a data plan, paid, and we were good to go. Prices are very reasonable, and you can just buy more data when you run low. Very easy, and very reasonable. We had no problems with signal/service in and around Barcelona”
“You can have two SIM cards in the iPhone and most modern phones. I keep my ATT sim and get a vodaphone sim for when I’m in Spain. Then you go to settings and turn off cell service for the American number (so they don’t charge you the daily charge). If you go back to the us you just turn it back on”
“You can keep your US number active and remove the chip. Keep the chip somewhere safe. Go get a pay as you go chip from a Spanish carrier and use it for 90 days, you’ll probably have to renew it each month. Then once you go home put your US chip back in. I’ve done something similar a few times and it works great”
“You don’t need to suspend your US service. You just get a local SIM in Spain and keep your Verizon service as an eSIM. Depending on your phone model, you might even be able to physically accommodate two SIMs (thus, no need for an eSIM)”
