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We have traveled on 3 cruise ships, did a Bus tour through Europe of 12 countries and just came back from S. Wales and Northern Germany. Every time we had that extra insurance just to be sure we are not caught with large medical expenses.
I have Verizon. In my previous trips, I paid $10 per day to use my phone. This time, the representative told me that if I had my iPhone in airplane mode and I was connected to WiFi, I could text anyone else who had an iPhone, use FaceTime and the Internet for free. The only time I would activate the plan is if I made a phone call or was not in airplane mode. I saved myself $90 this time.
I took a lot of pictures with my phone. I avoided the activation fee by waiting until I was connected to WiFi before uploading to the iCloud.
Be aware that the hotel and most other WiFi will be unsecured, so don't do any banking or shopping with your credit card.
