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France cell phone/data plan?

Posted on 7/19/25 at 11:56 am
Posted by Wiseguy
Member since Mar 2020
4069 posts
Posted on 7/19/25 at 11:56 am
Preparing for a trip in France. We will be starting in Bordeaux and ending in Nice. On prior trips I have activated the international day plan on ATT. Currently that option is 12/day for the first phone and 6/day for subsequent phones. There are four of us so that would get pretty pricey pretty quick.

Is an eSIM the best way to go? I know it will be more limited or require an extra step or two to get some functions but basically just want to be able to access internet to look up places of interest, restaurants, etc and of course to use maps. iPhones all around so esims will work for everyone.

Am I missing anything with this plan? Any recommendations on specific providers? Looking for unlimited data plans just so we don’t have to think about how much we might use.
Posted by VABuckeye
NOVA
Member since Dec 2007
38283 posts
Posted on 7/19/25 at 12:02 pm to
The ATT plan is $12 a day but only if you use service that day. IOW, there will probably be days where you stay in airplane mode and just use wifi so no cost that day.

Is this for four adults because if there are kids they don't need service. They can just use wifi when it is available.
Posted by Wiseguy
Member since Mar 2020
4069 posts
Posted on 7/19/25 at 12:06 pm to
Four adults (2 adult children). Might just activate one day plan and have everyone hotspot off that as needed.
Posted by SDHSDH
Member since Mar 2023
3 posts
Posted on 7/19/25 at 12:33 pm to
eSIM. Much less expensive. Just returned from Italy and used Airalo. Had the 10GB plan and didn’t even use half of the data and I used it heavily for navigation and google translate, etc; it was $24. We tried the hotspot process for my wife to connect to mine, that’s fine and dandy if your together all the time but if the connection isn’t being used actively the two phones disconnect from each other.

I’d suggest getting data for each of you. Instructions are easy to follow to install and set up. It is data only, no phone calls. One other thing, your phone has to be carrier unlocked.
Posted by geauxpurple
New Orleans
Member since Jul 2014
16210 posts
Posted on 7/19/25 at 2:37 pm to
That is the one I use. $12 per day for every day I use it.
Posted by Yeti_Chaser
Member since Nov 2017
11425 posts
Posted on 7/21/25 at 9:49 pm to
quote:

$12 a day but only if you use service that day

How is a day determined? Every 24 hours? Midnight to midnight local time? Midnight to midnight at home?
Posted by LSUfan4444
Member since Mar 2004
56584 posts
Posted on 7/22/25 at 5:40 am to
quote:

How is a day determined? Every 24 hours? Midnight to midnight local time? Midnight to midnight at home?


For Verizon, it's 24 hours from the time of use and then it expires. After 24 hours has passed from the first use it will not activate again and start the next 24 hour window until cellular or data is used again.
Posted by DonJuanDaMiles
San Diego, CA
Member since Feb 2014
1180 posts
Posted on 7/22/25 at 10:55 am to
I have T-Mobile first responder plan which includes 5GB of data and unlimited texting at no extra charge in France and then I opted to get another 10-days of a data plan with unlimited data, text and calling. My gf went with orange eSIM and she’s been really happy with that and it was recommended by her French friend whose wedding we came here for. We’re still here and it’s been working great for her.
Posted by LemmyLives
Texas
Member since Mar 2019
12948 posts
Posted on 7/22/25 at 1:25 pm to
quote:

your phone has to be carrier unlocked.


Do not ignore this. If you frequently "upgrade" your "free" phones, you're stuck with whatever your carrier charges you.

The sad thing is that it's super easy to control data usage if you want to "save" data. I could tell when my 70 year old mom hit the hotel wifi in whatever shithole country she was in, because I'd get a flood of pictures over WhatsApp. If you just control picture/video upload, and things like podcast downloads, FB & IG scrolling to wifi, you will easilly be under daily caps or your bucket of usage.

Airalo is constantly advertised by a funny British vlogger I follow, but I haven't used it personally.
Posted by DonJuanDaMiles
San Diego, CA
Member since Feb 2014
1180 posts
Posted on 7/23/25 at 2:42 am to
Lemmy

I snapped a photo of a Warhammer shop in Lyon for you and I’ll post it once I figure out how to get the iCloud link to work.
Posted by hoopsgalore
Chicago, IL
Member since Nov 2013
9026 posts
Posted on 7/23/25 at 5:39 am to
quote:

eSIM. Much less expensive. Just returned from Italy and used Airalo.


Can confirm Airalo is the way to go.
Posted by HarrisonTown
Member since Nov 2019
562 posts
Posted on 7/23/25 at 7:11 am to
I used eSim for the first time last year in Nicaragua.
Airalo worked very well for me and will be using it going forward.
Posted by Sisyphus
Member since Feb 2014
1975 posts
Posted on 7/24/25 at 1:52 pm to
quote:

That is the one I use. $12 per day for every day I use it.


It also reaches a max charge per billing period after 10 days so the most you'll ever be charged is $120/billing cycle.
Posted by H2O Tiger
Delta Sky Club
Member since May 2021
7511 posts
Posted on 7/24/25 at 4:48 pm to
In Japan we had a friend get a signal booster that we all connected to using Wi-Fi. Not sure if that's an option in France but it worked well. I had my cell service on but everyone else used the hotspot.
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