verizon cell phones: US cell phones and JA calling cards

[MissBlue]

just personal preference. i never get the int'l plan -- but i only call back to the states a few times while there; so local phone cards work fine for me for a 1-2 week visit.

My point in mentioning that was to let people know you don't "have to" get the int'l plan to be able to make int'l calls. Of course they will try to sell it to you - because 'upselling' is their job - and many people wind up thinking that they must buy it in order to make calls to the states -- and that's not so. This int'l plan is pushed to everyone, but most ppl wind up paying for all these minutes that they never use.

It's a great economical plan for someone who's there for a long time and makes a lot of calls internationally - but it's not a requirement. Calls to the states can be made with regular phone cards.