Note that the last version of the Verizon Galaxy Nexus (i-525) does not have a GSM radio and thus will not work for international service except in about 35 CDMA compatible countries.
About the only better pound-for-pound value I've seen is the Nexus 4, and that says a lot about what Nokia has accomplished with its starter smartphone.
For me, moving forward, I'm only going to purchase Nexus phones -- on the Android platform, anyway -- and strong demand for the Nexus 4 suggests that a groundswell of similar sentiment is forming.
On Saturday evening, I called Delta to make sure they would accept my Nexus card for re-entry into the United States and was told that the requirements showed that a passport was needed.