Travel question: How to use a Verizon iPhone 4S in the UK

[Fingolfin269]

We're going to be in the UK for a couple of weeks in June/July and I'm looking for phone options. My understanding is that the Verizon iPhone 4S can be unlocked to accept a sim card that will work in the UK. I assume that means carriers like O2 and Tmobile would be available options to me.

So what's the best way to go about getting this functionality up and running? I know how to get the phone unlocked (call Verizon) but I'm really not sure about what to do next. Are there places in Edinburgh airport that will sell prepaid sims I can just plug in and go? Or do I need to try to get my hands on a sim before we leave?

Thanks guys.

(And I'm asking about the 4S because I assume my Verizon Nexus won't work. If that's wrong then let me know!)

 

[pm]

This is how you unlock a Verizon 4S phone:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1274057

Second, my advice is to take your phone to a Carphone Warehouse. They are not quite as prevalent as Starbucks are in the US, but they are not at all hard to find. In fact, I remember 3 in Edinburgh near the downtown. You can find other places with prepaid SIMs but the guys at Carphone Warehouse are - in my limited experience anyway - pretty knowledgeable about unlocked US phones and they are good at getting deals that were better than I found elsewhere. When I was in London, they came up with a sweet deal where for GBP12 I got unlimited 3G data on O2 for a month by texting some stuff, and then I went to to a CW in Dublin to get SIMs for Ireland and they got me an even better deal for Ireland (it was like EUD8 or something like that). This was a much better deal than I was able to find myself or in grocery stores or other shops.

Carphone Warehouses in Edinburgh:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=carp....188267&sspn=0.447478,0.806808&gl=us&t=m&z=13

If you are really eager for data and need it at the airport, I'm sure there are places at the airport to get it. But I think you save some money by waiting and going to a Carphone Warehouse instead.