Mobile Tips For Traveling Abroad
The world has gone digital, but your mobile phone company might have charges that are behind the times.
Whether it’s for work or play, these days people travel internationally more than ever. It used to be that when you went abroad you were forced more or less to go “offline”, as international calls were expensive and internet connections couldn’t always be relied on. However, in the age of smartphones and mobile data that is simply not an option.
Indeed, when people are either on holiday or in a foreign place, they often end up needing their phone even more than they do at home. Whether they use it for navigating around an unfamiliar city, booking hotels and flights on the fly, or posting well-edited pictures of their adventures to social media, going away without being connected is no longer an option.
Roam Free
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s affordable to do so. Mobile providers and data plans vary widely depending on the region you’re traveling to; the nature of your usage and the legislation that dictates what providers in your country must adhere to. We saw progress in this area recently in the EU, where data roaming charges are now capped in EU member states. By 2017, providers won’t be allowed to charge any roaming rates whatsoever, but until then the overages they charge are capped. This kind of legislation makes it much more feasible to use your phone freely abroad, especially for European travelers who frequently move through multiple countries in the space of a few days.
But for non-EU travelers, it’s easy to get caught out when traveling abroad and come home to a massive phone bill because you didn’t realize what you were being charged for using your data or phone plan. There are loads of horror stories around the internet of phone bills in the thousands of dollars as a result of simply downloading a few files or syncing some pictures. To avoid breaking the bank when you travel abroad, here are some tips for how to avoid that happening.
Do your research:
Even if your phone seems to be working when you touch down in another country, don’t assume that you can hop off the plane and start checking your email right away. Check with your provider before you leave what your allowances are and what charges with be. If you travel a lot, consider a contract like T Mobile’s, which allows users to travel abroad without roaming fees of any kind.
Consider a prepaid sim:
If you know you’re going to be using your phone a lot but your provider doesn’t offer any affordable options, consider buying a local sim card and inserting it into your phone when you arrive. This will offer you an affordable data option and a local number so you can make calls if needed while traveling. However, the only downside to this option is if you need your permanent number to be in operation while you’re abroad, changing your sim will prevent you from receiving calls on your home number.
Turn off roaming:
If you’re opting to go “offline” while on holiday, or you don’t plan on using your phone off of WiFi much, make sure you turn off your mobile data or roaming capability all together. This will prevent you from unknowingly using up data via apps that are running in the background or if you accidentally execute a search. Secret roaming charges can really add up, so to avoid a surprise bill, this is an important step.
Be aware of email:
If you’re trying to minimize your megabyte usage, be wary of downloading your email attachments. Simply checking your messages usually doesn’t use too much data, but if those messages include hi-res files you’re downloading when not on WiFi, you will quickly see your bill grow.