# Going overseas for the first time in decades **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** vacation-travel\ **Created:** [June 4, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617 "2026-06-04T15:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/61 "2026-06-08T12:49:04Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > The Verizon plan I have includes 1 travel day per month that you can bank up to a maximum of 12 days. That would be nice, but I don’t see that as an option on my plan. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/62 "2026-06-10T20:04:07Z")
nm. DCtrix beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/63 "2026-08-20T14:39:42Z")
I just got back yesterday and want to thank you all for posting. I made my bank aware that I’d be out of town and bought a short term international cell plan. Everything went off without a hitch. Gothenburg is a great city. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/64 "2026-08-24T18:11:42Z")
Having just come back from the UK. A couple of points that changed since last time I was there (3-4 years ago)… - US credit cards have now moved to the 20th and you can use them in Europe pretty universally. One quirk of this is you now get the “do you want to convert to USD?” messages (aka “do you want to throw away some money?”) on every transaction (not just on some ATMs). Sometimes the server/shop-assistant will press it for you which is a pain, if they press wrong one. - I used my US international plan on Verizon, rather than getting a UK sim card. It generally worked well except it meant my phone still thought it was a US phone which breaks some things. E.g. you cannot convince it to install the parking app I needed to pay for parking at the local station. This was infuriating as it was a confluence of two things that are personal bug bears of mine: Computers that you own but don’t let you choose what software you can install and important agencies deciding you must install an app to use them 😠 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/65 "2026-08-24T18:38:22Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > - US credit cards have now moved to the 20th and you can use them in Europe pretty universally. One quirk of this is you now get the “do you want to convert to USD?” messages (aka “do you want to throw away some money?”) on every transaction (not just on some ATMs). Sometimes the server/shop-assistant will press it for you which is a pain, if they press wrong one. I just returned from 3 weeks in Spain, France, and Italy. Same basic story. US chip- or tap-equipped credit and debit cards and US phone-pay apps work pretty much everywhere with no worries. Most ATM & most CC payment devices offer to convert the charge into dollars at some rip-off rate. But some of them just do it in Euros with no option to be ripped off. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/66 "2026-08-25T06:37:16Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > - E.g. you cannot convince it to install the parking app I needed to pay for parking at the local station. This was infuriating as it was a confluence of two things that are personal bug bears of mine: Computers that you own but don’t let you choose what software you can install and important agencies deciding you must install an app to use them I had that same problem when I went to the States, using an eSIM. Apple wouldn’t let me install Ticketmaster app and I wanted to take my kids to an NBA game because my region is set to Japan. There was a way be get around it, but it was a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/67 "2026-08-25T10:12:24Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > - generally worked well except it meant my phone still thought it was a US phone which breaks some things. E.g. you cannot convince it to install the parking app I needed to pay for parking at the local station This is due to the country you have set for your Apple account, rather than your SIM. You can easily change it, unless you have subscriptions. If that’s the case, you need to sign out, create a new account in the correct region, install the app, sign out, sign back in to your regular account. The apps installed under the alternate account will continue to work. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/68 "2026-08-25T15:59:18Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > This is due to the country you have set for your Apple account, rather than your SIM. You can easily change it, unless you have subscriptions Which of course no one has 🙄 in addition there are other constraints on Android at least (e.g. you can only do it once every 12 months WTF 😠 ) that make that basically not an option even if you don’t. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > If that’s the case, you need to sign out, create a new account in the correct region So to convince the computer _I own_ to install a piece of software (that I need to install to pay for &$#@ing parking because that’s what GWR have decided I need to do 😠 ) all I need to do is create a completely new fake online identity in foreign country with an associated email and foreign bank account, thats ok then 🙄. That seems like a totally reasonable thing to do to pay for a days parking. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/69 "2026-08-25T16:22:57Z")
It’s the fault of the developer that they don’t make it available in your country. As a frequent traveller, I’m just telling you how to make it work at least on iOS. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/70 "2026-08-25T16:23:24Z")
I have zero experience, but you may want to look into saily which is a data only eSIM Brian ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617/71 "2026-09-01T14:03:54Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > create a completely new fake online identity in foreign country with an associated email and foreign bank account, thats ok then 🙄. That seems like a totally reasonable thing to do to pay for a days parking. for what it’s worth: This problem is the same for furriners who visit the good ol’ USA, When I travel to America, my (foreign) cell phone provider sells me a deal which makes my phone work in America, by automatically syncing up with Verizon as soon as the plane lands. My phone number remains the same. with no changes. (This is convenient because everybody who knows me can still call me by using the same number they’ve always used, even if they don’t know I am currently on a different continent.) The problem is: my phone number (with country code) is 12 digits long. And _nothing_ in American web sites or apps knows how to handle a 12 digit number. This means that I can’t call an Uber. or use any app which requires having a phone number., All because the programmers were too ego-centric to imagine that there exist human beings who live outside America. (I’ve had the same problem with ordering online from small retailers.They will ship internationally, but their website isprogrammed to demand that you fill in a 2-letter code for the state. So I have to type a fictitious state code , which then allows me to proceed to the next line and fill in my country . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-overseas-for-the-first-time-in-decades/1030617.md?page=3)