How to receive calls+texts to my US number while traveling in Europe?

June 6, 2018 10:01 AM

I'll be traveling in Europe for three weeks (Italy, Czechia, Greece). I plan on getting local SIMs for data/voice in each country. However, I'd like to continue to receive text messages and possibly phone calls made to my US number. What's the simplest way to do that?

I have an iPhone 6 with service from Verizon.

I understand that I could port my current telephone number to Google Voice, and then forward my Google Voice # to my new local number each time I get a new SIM. That might make sense if I was going to be traveling back and forth between the US and Europe frequently, but I would rather not port my number for this one-time trip.

Could I forward my US number Google Voice, and then forward Google Voice to the local number provided by my SIM? Will that work for texts in addition to voice?

If it is simpler, I could also drop the requirement for voice-call forwarding (I can always check my voice mail). I would, though, like to be able to receive texts sent to my local number.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

posted by Winnie the Proust to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

No idea about forwarding. However, Italy, CZ and Greece are all in the EU. There are no roaming charges. Just get a card in the airport in Italy and top it up through your whole trip and you'll be fine.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:12 AM on June 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Pay Verizon for international roaming and just keep your US SIM the whole time.
posted by GuyZero at 10:35 AM on June 6, 2018 [3 favorites]

Tmobile has a plan that allows unlimited free international texting on your US number. Meaning, anyone can text you anywhere in the world by texting your US number. There are some countries that are not included, but all the countries you mentioned should be fine. Check with Verizon to see if they offer anything similar. Also, Whatsapp is a great option for both calls and text.
posted by grassbottles at 10:36 AM on June 6, 2018

You might want to look into Verizon Messages, although I have no personal experience.

Also this is assuming you are talking about actual text messages (SMS) and not iMessage, Facebook Messages, WhatsApp, etc.. iMessage works ok overseas if the people contacting you are using your Apple ID and not your phone number, assuming you have a data connection.
posted by meowzilla at 10:40 AM on June 6, 2018

If you're on an iPhone, you're likely using Messages If your e-mail address is linked to your Messages login (listed as one of the ways people can contact you through Messages... check via Settings > Messages > Send & Receive) then Messages isn't going to care what your phone number is while you're away. You'll continue to get messages from iOS users, at least. Not sure about non iOS folks sending SMS messages to your phone number.

Data point: I have a Verizon iPhone. I purchased a local SIM while in Spain, and continued to get messages even though no one back in the U.S. knew my Spanish phone number. In Iceland, I never purchased a local SIM and found my phone automatically connecting to some local cell networks.
posted by emelenjr at 10:43 AM on June 6, 2018

Does your phone take dual SIM cards? I thought iPhones don't -- you'd have to keep swapping the SIM in and out to switch between an EU number and a US number. Or, if you keep the EU SIM in for the whole 3 weeks, your US-based contacts would be charged an international rate for calling/texting your EU number.
posted by basalganglia at 10:53 AM on June 6, 2018

Response by poster: I text with iPhone users as well as non-iPhone users. So just getting Messages (tm) messages but not text messages isn't sufficient.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 11:07 AM on June 6, 2018

the Google Hangouts app has a Dialer addon that will let you make and receive calls over Wifi. I've used it when I was traveling in Japan.

However I am not sure how it works if you have both cellular and wifi running at the same time.
posted by Gev at 5:39 AM on June 7, 2018

Best answer: I figured out how to do exactly what I was looking for.

1. Get a Google Voice number. Set up voice mail, and have the voice mail messages sent to my e-mail address. Forward my US phone number to the Google Voice number. This means I won't miss any phone calls.
2. Verizon makes a messaging app called Message+. This allows you to receive text messages sent to your Verizon telephone number on any device: computer, tablet, smart phone etc. You have to configure Message+ while you are still in the US and have your Verizon sim installed, but once it is configured you can change your sim (and thereby have a different phone number) and still receive the text messages sent to your Verizon number
3. Make sure that your Apple Messages account is configured to initiate and receive messages sent to your Apple ID (which will be an e-mail address). When you change your sim, Apple Messages will stop sending and receiving messages from your original phone number.

With this arrangement you can travel from the US overseas, get a local sim, and still be reachable via telephone, sms, and Apple Messages by people in the US without them having to get any new contact info.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:10 AM on October 13, 2018