eSIM in Europe for Dummies

Question

Hi all,

I am going to France, Spain, and Italy in a month. I plan to buy a new eSIM package from orange, a French carrier. It will include voice calls, data and text.

this is the first time I have tried this. I generally understand how it works, but I'm not sure about a couple of things that maybe you can help me with:

1.  I will have data roaming and cellular roaming off on my American phone number. How then do I see text messages that are sent to my American number?. I know I can switch from one eSIM to the next, but will I be charged roaming to look at texts sent to my US phone number if I am not on Wi-Fi?

2. I know I can forward calls to my American number to the European phone number that orange will assign me. Will Verizon charge me as if I were calling from the United States to Europe on my phone?

Thank you....Henry

Verizon_Support · Accepted Answer

Henry, if you turn off your data roaming and cellular service on your VZ number, you will not have access to your calls or SMS texts. If you use a internet based messaging service (WhatsApp, iMessage) you can access those via a internet connection, but if you’ve disabled data then you can only access that internet based messenger via Wi-Fi.

You are at risk of Pay As You Go charges for international service, if you decide to use you VZ number while traveling internationally. You can learn more about international travel, with our helpful FAQ guide: https://www.verizon.com/support/international-travel-faqs/

It goes over what generates charges and offers international plan options as well.

Call Forwarding, in relation to your other question, does not function internationally. You cannot forward calls on your VZ number while traveling. You can confirm this via our Call Forwarding FAQ, in the ‘About Call Forwarding’ section, under ‘Can I use Call Forwarding while I’m outside of the Verizon mobile network?’: https://www.verizon.com/support/call-forwarding-faqs/

Hope you have a good trip, and enjoy your time in Europe!

-John