Chaotic Coffee Klatch (tea also available)

completely random interruption here... and I would probably do well to ask this later when the Brits are more likely to be awake -
but I am in the midst of working out the details of a trip to Scotland next month. I will be in country for almost a month.
I have an android phone (my carrier is verizon) and I am trying to figure out the best/ cost effective way to use my phone when there. I will be travelling with 3 other family members and expect to use text mainly to keep us all together/ reconnect after spliting up for different activities etc. I will mainly be in the Highlands area and more remote areas including the Orkneys and Hebrides. It seems like buying a SIM card once I am in Scotland may be the way to go, but I have not done that before - I think this means that I have a different cell number? does it mean that I do or don't have access to the content on my phone/ contacts/ apps/ etc?
I have already had to do a bunch of booking that is using my cell number as the confirmation (airbnb/ hotels/ ferry travel) - what happens to those contacts once I put a SIM car in my phone?

Any suggestions/ tips/ pointers welcome. I have travelled in the EU a fair bit in the last decade or 2, but my travel muscles have atrophied during COVID restrictions etc and it has been over 20 years since I spent time in the UK.

TIA!
 
completely random interruption here... and I would probably do well to ask this later when the Brits are more likely to be awake -
but I am in the midst of working out the details of a trip to Scotland next month. I will be in country for almost a month.
I have an android phone (my carrier is verizon) and I am trying to figure out the best/ cost effective way to use my phone when there. I will be travelling with 3 other family members and expect to use text mainly to keep us all together/ reconnect after spliting up for different activities etc. I will mainly be in the Highlands area and more remote areas including the Orkneys and Hebrides. It seems like buying a SIM card once I am in Scotland may be the way to go, but I have not done that before - I think this means that I have a different cell number? does it mean that I do or don't have access to the content on my phone/ contacts/ apps/ etc?
I have already had to do a bunch of booking that is using my cell number as the confirmation (airbnb/ hotels/ ferry travel) - what happens to those contacts once I put a SIM car in my phone?

Any suggestions/ tips/ pointers welcome. I have travelled in the EU a fair bit in the last decade or 2, but my travel muscles have atrophied during COVID restrictions etc and it has been over 20 years since I spent time in the UK.

TIA!
Use WhatsApp to text and call
 
completely random interruption here... and I would probably do well to ask this later when the Brits are more likely to be awake -
but I am in the midst of working out the details of a trip to Scotland next month. I will be in country for almost a month.
I have an android phone (my carrier is verizon) and I am trying to figure out the best/ cost effective way to use my phone when there. I will be travelling with 3 other family members and expect to use text mainly to keep us all together/ reconnect after spliting up for different activities etc. I will mainly be in the Highlands area and more remote areas including the Orkneys and Hebrides. It seems like buying a SIM card once I am in Scotland may be the way to go, but I have not done that before - I think this means that I have a different cell number? does it mean that I do or don't have access to the content on my phone/ contacts/ apps/ etc?
I have already had to do a bunch of booking that is using my cell number as the confirmation (airbnb/ hotels/ ferry travel) - what happens to those contacts once I put a SIM car in my phone?

Any suggestions/ tips/ pointers welcome. I have travelled in the EU a fair bit in the last decade or 2, but my travel muscles have atrophied during COVID restrictions etc and it has been over 20 years since I spent time in the UK.

TIA!
As far as I know, you shouldn't lose your contacts. Something I do on the off chance I lose my phone when travelling, is e-mail myself high priority contacts. That way even if I have to get a new phone, I still have the numbers.
 
completely random interruption here... and I would probably do well to ask this later when the Brits are more likely to be awake -
but I am in the midst of working out the details of a trip to Scotland next month. I will be in country for almost a month.
I have an android phone (my carrier is verizon) and I am trying to figure out the best/ cost effective way to use my phone when there. I will be travelling with 3 other family members and expect to use text mainly to keep us all together/ reconnect after spliting up for different activities etc. I will mainly be in the Highlands area and more remote areas including the Orkneys and Hebrides. It seems like buying a SIM card once I am in Scotland may be the way to go, but I have not done that before - I think this means that I have a different cell number? does it mean that I do or don't have access to the content on my phone/ contacts/ apps/ etc?
I have already had to do a bunch of booking that is using my cell number as the confirmation (airbnb/ hotels/ ferry travel) - what happens to those contacts once I put a SIM car in my phone?

Any suggestions/ tips/ pointers welcome. I have travelled in the EU a fair bit in the last decade or 2, but my travel muscles have atrophied during COVID restrictions etc and it has been over 20 years since I spent time in the UK.

TIA!

If you go down the route of buying a new sim card make sure your phone is compatible with it first. Some overseas phones don't match up to all networks 3g, 4g and 5g.
You will have access to all photos, music, everything stored on you phone but text msg and phone numbers linking to your original sim card.
Another cheap alternative is to buy a prepaid handset. It comes with sim and are usually disposable you can put packages on them rather cheap for texts and calls. (this is what I usually do when I go back to the UK or Aussie.) You will have a phone number that comes with the sim/phone.
 
completely random interruption here... and I would probably do well to ask this later when the Brits are more likely to be awake -
but I am in the midst of working out the details of a trip to Scotland next month. I will be in country for almost a month.
I have an android phone (my carrier is verizon) and I am trying to figure out the best/ cost effective way to use my phone when there. I will be travelling with 3 other family members and expect to use text mainly to keep us all together/ reconnect after spliting up for different activities etc. I will mainly be in the Highlands area and more remote areas including the Orkneys and Hebrides. It seems like buying a SIM card once I am in Scotland may be the way to go, but I have not done that before - I think this means that I have a different cell number? does it mean that I do or don't have access to the content on my phone/ contacts/ apps/ etc?
I have already had to do a bunch of booking that is using my cell number as the confirmation (airbnb/ hotels/ ferry travel) - what happens to those contacts once I put a SIM car in my phone?

Any suggestions/ tips/ pointers welcome. I have travelled in the EU a fair bit in the last decade or 2, but my travel muscles have atrophied during COVID restrictions etc and it has been over 20 years since I spent time in the UK.

TIA!

9:15pm here in Brit Land, some UK Litizens might be shutting down soon.

Find out if Verizon have a UK roaming partner. If not, you could face some hefty bills at the end of the trip. Major players here are O2, Vodafone, 3, EE and TalkTalk; there are others which offer a service which runs over the network of one of the big players. Be careful away from the main towns, there will be large areas with no coverage up the hills and on the offshore islands.

Portability of contacts depends on how they're stored and the capabilities of your hardware. Some can run dual SIMs in parallel for exactly this situation.

Someone more qualified in telecommunications networks may be along shortly.
 
Hello Cascadia

I'm in Scotland as I type, and WhatsApp is working just fine. We have pretty good 4G here, including in many rural areas. My guess is that signal depends on geography - if you're in a steep sided valley you may struggle.

Enjoy your trip!
Coming from a location FILLED with mountains and a fuckton of trees… I can tell you that signal 100% depends on your terrain and geography
 
9:15pm here in Brit Land, some UK Litizens might be shutting down soon.

Find out if Verizon have a UK roaming partner. If not, you could face some hefty bills at the end of the trip. Major players here are O2, Vodafone, 3, EE and TalkTalk; there are others which offer a service which runs over the network of one of the big players. Be careful away from the main towns, there will be large areas with no coverage up the hills and on the offshore islands.

Portability of contacts depends on how they're stored and the capabilities of your hardware. Some can run dual SIMs in parallel for exactly this situation.

Someone more qualified in telecommunications networks may be along shortly.
Thank you!
I have been advised that the area I will be traveling in is best served by EE
I have "travel pass" set up on my phone with Verizon - this has worked pretty well for me in Canada - but those trips have a limited number of days that I actually need any tech/ cell service. Looks like I can also get a monthly plan for a flat fee that gives me adequate capacity (data/calls/text), but if I am places where I can't get service because verizon doesn't cover, that would be a bummer
 
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