MPN Specials

Whether it is an iPhone, a Blackberry, or any other smartphone, you need to be very careful of not being overcharged when you travel.

I occasionally get to travel, not as much as I would like, but I always enjoy it.  However, whenever I travel internationally, I am afraid that my smartphone (iPhone) bill will be the most expensive part.  I have heard horror stories of people returning home to discover cell phone bills of over $2000 when they barely used their phone!!

So what can you do to prevent this, short of leaving your phone at home or off during the entire trip?

It is rather simple:

First, call your cell provider and find out what the charges are for the country or countries that you are going to.  Also, ask them what international plans they have.  At a minimum, this will give you a guideline of what to expect.  They might even be able to give you specific instructions for how to configure your phone for international travel.  Take good notes, so you can change back any settings when you return.

The tricky part of determining your costs with a smartphone are all the little things that go on behind the scenes.  So you want to turn off as much as possible. An example of data services that happen behind the scenes is the automatic periodic checking for new emails. Other services might include over the air automatic syncing of calendar and contacts, a “Find-Me” feature in case your phone is lost, and any other push or location services.  The obvious data services include features such as Text Messaging (SMS & MMS), manual Sending and Receiving email, and surfing the web.

1) Turn off data roaming. This disables data services over the cellular carrier when you in an area not covered by your provider.  You will still be able to use WiFi wherever it is available.

2) Turn off 3G or 4G services.  This is an extra precaution, that will prevent your phone from using the high speed data portion of cell service.  Again, you can still access most features of your phone using the regular phone portion of your cell service for phone calls and WiFi for data.

3) If you understand your international plan and what your charges will be, or your still really want to use your phone, turn off any features you can, that you do not need.  For example, make sure you only check for new email manually, not automatically.  Turn off push notification. Don’t text and especially do not send many pictures and videos via text.  Use email over WiFi when possible. Turn off syncing, and any “Find-Me” or “Find-My-Phone” type features.

Another option that I have heard other people use, but have not done yet is simply get a disposable phone at your new location or by a local SIM card that you can plug into your own phone.

Happy travels,
Richard Lazovick