Nowadays, pretty much every traveler has this issue: How should I deal with my cell phone/data issues while traveling abroad. There are a couple of different issues here. 1) Will my phone work where I am going and 2) How can I stay connected without going broke?
I'm not an expert by any means, but hopefully these suggestions will help.
First of all, unless you have urgent business needs, consider staying as unplugged as possible. It's really not that hard when you are in a completely new and fantastic place. Stop and smell the roses.
However, if your business demands it, or if you want to use some of the cool apps that help while traveling (I'll do another post on that), start by calling your US cell provider and asking them about your phone and whether or not it will work in the countries you are planning to visit. If so, great...now ask about how to use your phone and the data plan while minimizing costs. You can choose to disable international data roaming which will save a LOT. Just get your emails and post to Facebook while you are connected via wifi and you're set. Most hotels and some cafés and restaurants offer free Wifi. London has a TON of Starbucks so finding wifi won't be difficult.
What are we doing?
Our iPhones will both work while in England and France. Our boys phones will not as they are older models...pre-iphone 4 so they will be bringing them only to use with wifi and as cameras. I think this is important as I'm looking forward to seeing the memories of the trip through their eyes. For our AT&T iPhones, we will disable data roaming and buy a texting plan that will allow 100 text messages for about $10. We also have the good fortune of having a friend who travels frequently who is lending us his UK based pre-paid phone that we will be able to buy minutes on the SIM card. This will give us a London phone number to use if needed and we'll give it to the kids should they venture out on their own for a bit.
We will also be using the What'sApp iPhone app that will allow us to send texts, photos and some video at no cost via wifi to our friends and family who also have the app installed. We've used this on other trips and highly recommend it.
Rick Steve's does a nice job summarizing the details here, so I won't try to re-invent the wheel. You'll also find information on renting a phone or buying a SIM card in-country at the link above in case you have a phone that won't work at all outside of the US. Some other helpful links with info and suggestions:
Travel Quest
Budget Travel (includes some carrier specific info)
I'm not an expert by any means, but hopefully these suggestions will help.
First of all, unless you have urgent business needs, consider staying as unplugged as possible. It's really not that hard when you are in a completely new and fantastic place. Stop and smell the roses.
However, if your business demands it, or if you want to use some of the cool apps that help while traveling (I'll do another post on that), start by calling your US cell provider and asking them about your phone and whether or not it will work in the countries you are planning to visit. If so, great...now ask about how to use your phone and the data plan while minimizing costs. You can choose to disable international data roaming which will save a LOT. Just get your emails and post to Facebook while you are connected via wifi and you're set. Most hotels and some cafés and restaurants offer free Wifi. London has a TON of Starbucks so finding wifi won't be difficult.
What are we doing?
Our iPhones will both work while in England and France. Our boys phones will not as they are older models...pre-iphone 4 so they will be bringing them only to use with wifi and as cameras. I think this is important as I'm looking forward to seeing the memories of the trip through their eyes. For our AT&T iPhones, we will disable data roaming and buy a texting plan that will allow 100 text messages for about $10. We also have the good fortune of having a friend who travels frequently who is lending us his UK based pre-paid phone that we will be able to buy minutes on the SIM card. This will give us a London phone number to use if needed and we'll give it to the kids should they venture out on their own for a bit.
We will also be using the What'sApp iPhone app that will allow us to send texts, photos and some video at no cost via wifi to our friends and family who also have the app installed. We've used this on other trips and highly recommend it.
Rick Steve's does a nice job summarizing the details here, so I won't try to re-invent the wheel. You'll also find information on renting a phone or buying a SIM card in-country at the link above in case you have a phone that won't work at all outside of the US. Some other helpful links with info and suggestions:
Travel Quest
Budget Travel (includes some carrier specific info)
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