iPhone 6 HW model unsubsidized buying advice (CDMA features and int'l support)

[contraband]

Hi all. I’ve done an unhealthy amount of research into buying iPhone 6, and I’m not done… but I have reduced my questions down a fair bit, and I was wondering if the community here could chime in on some of it.

I’m currently a Verizon “Share Everything” iPhone 5 owner in the USA. My contract ends at the end of this month. I want to make sure I buy an iPhone 6 smartly, which for me, means not renewing a contract while maintaining my current service, and also hopefully allowing some international support.

I understand there are (for the sake of this argument) three models of iPhone 6: “A1549 (GSM)”, “A1549 (CDMA)”, and “A1586”:

• A1549 (GSM) is what you get if you buy on AT&T or unlocked on T-Mobile. It supports all GSM & LTE bands.
• A1549 (CDMA) is what you get if you buy on Verizon. It supports all GSM & LTE, *plus* EV-DO Rev. A & B. Due to this broad support, this seems to be the “world” version.
• A1586 is what you get if you buy on Sprint. I get the impression that it is unique in that it supports TD-LTE, but I am not certain of this. I am not considering this model.

My first thought was to buy T-Mo unlocked and use my Verizon LTE SIM. However, A1549 (GSM) does not claim to support EV-DO, which Verizon uses for voice. Yet, anecdotal evidence shows this setup working (YouTube, MacRumors). I don’t fully understand this. I believe this is because there is hardware support for EV-DO but it is simply not marketed. Can anyone confirm this? Also, I am not clear what having an IMEI on a CDMA network can entail. I have heard that this phone will be recognized as a “non-MEID device” if used on Verizon, and I am concerned with how that would affect Verizon's CDMA-based services like VoLTE and mobile hotspot.

My second (and current) thought is to buy a A1549 (CDMA) iPhone at an unsubsidized price. That would allow me to have clear and official support for Verizon.

In summary, here are my requirements:

• Official, full Verizon feature support (voice calls (obviously), LTE, hotspot, VoLTE)
• No 2-year contract signed with Verizon
• Unlocked and unrestricted, able to swap SIMs domestically (move to T-Mobile in USA if needed) and, ideally, internationally (specifically, in Iceland, Finland and Japan)
• Ideally, (and this may not be possible) I want to be able to change my “Share Everything” plan to the unlim. talk/text/2GB data $50/mo “Verizon Edge” plan at an arbitrary future date without signing a contract.

Based on those requirements, is A1549 (CDMA) the one for me? Are there any gotchas I’m forgetting? Am I overthinking this? I have read a lot of possibly-misinformed or possibly-incomplete community-sourced information online regarding this, so any concrete evidence would be great. I'll be speaking to a Verizon rep tomorrow to confirm, at least, the plan details. In my dream scenario, I'm paying $50/mo for Verizon Edge, paying for an unsubsidized iPhone 6, with no contract in sight.

Thank you all for reading my long post, please let me know if I can clarify anything.