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by officialchicken 1383 days ago
No misunderstanding... been affected twice with EU trips that included hops to MENA. And if you are somehow disconnected (due to an error on their end, which are quite frequent) it can not re-establish functionality without accessing a US-based cell tower. After the second or third time it happened, I just started carrying a second phone to put in a local SIM. I ended up saving a ton of money in data charges too.
2 comments

It's even dumber than that! It used to "just work" when you landed in another country and tried to pull a single byte of data. But now you're required to call VZ and inform them of your trip beforehand. To make matters worse, not all of their reps know this and will tell you that isn't the case and leave you stranded with no coverage. I'm generally happy with VZ over the years but this is just pathetic.

A rep once explained this to me as "innovation". Cool.

Current VZW customer here. Been overseas to Europe a few times (multiple countries each time) and SO went to Asia (3 countries) with absolutely zero issues. Just have to go on the app before you leave to pick an international plan (daily or monthly), select all the countries, and total trip start/end dates. Maybe you are on a business plan and can’t access the app? It’s pretty straightforward in there. Also pretty sure you can update the countries in the app if needed before you hop on the plane in the scenario of an unforeseen stop (or hop on free wifi when you land). eSim feels similar to a credit card, if you don’t tell the company you are leaving town you could run into issues, but as long at the company is notified it should be seamless.