Using the phone abroad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Att does $1o a day. It is perfect. Verizon charges double. You can do it cheaper but it is such a pain and life is too short for that but good luck

That’s $10 per day for the first line. Each line after that is $5 per day. That can really add up for a family of 4 with 2 teens on a 14 day vacation in Europe.

Would it make sense to use the primary phone as a hot spot?

[Anonymous]

If you travel abroad frequently, worth considering switching your plan to GoogleFi or similar.

[Anonymous]

I use Google Fi as my phone provider and their rates abroad are the same as home, at least for data. I end up getting a local SIM card but it’s great to get by until I do.

[Anonymous]

We leave the phones on airplane mode and connect to Wifi which is really ubiquitous in Europe. Even if a restaurant doesn't have Wifi listed just ask your server and they will tell you what it is. If we need driving directions then one phone gets turned on for the trip. I have 5 kids so I get that it does add up. Mine are teens and ok with finding wifi.

[Anonymous]

So all of you are just connecting to public Wi-Fi spots in Europe? Aren’t you concerned about hacking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So all of you are just connecting to public Wi-Fi spots in Europe? Aren’t you concerned about hacking?

. Not the slightest bit concerned. What do you really think is going to happen in your feared scenario?

[Anonymous]

Verizon and ATT are both $10 per day for the first line. But Verizon allows very limited data before charging an additional $10, and ATT allows you to use your phone normally all day for the original $10. My boyfriend and I travel frequently using both, and most days he pays $20 unless he is very conscious to use Wifi whenever possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I usually swap out the SIM for one I buy locally when I get there, but I'm switching to TMobile since supposedly it's free texts and 5G high speed data with my plan plus 25 cents a minute for calls. I rarely call vs text or whats app, so we'll see how it goes.

T-Mobile is great. Have done multiple trips using their free texting/slow data and it has worked great. Data is fast enough for Whatsapp calls, and if you download maps beforehand, you are all set for directions.

Yeah Tmobile is great. Works fine in most countries - just a little slow data sometimes. TOtally worth it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Att does $1o a day. It is perfect. Verizon charges double. You can do it cheaper but it is such a pain and life is too short for that but good luck

That’s $10 per day for the first line. Each line after that is $5 per day. That can really add up for a family of 4 with 2 teens on a 14 day vacation in Europe.

Would it make sense to use the primary phone as a hot spot?

If I'm dong the math right, it's $350. Seems like a drop in the bucket compared to other travel costs (at least for my family of 6.) For us it's worth the hassle of switching SIM cards or keeping your phone on airplane mode.

[Anonymous]

pp above here.
Sorry, I meant it's NOT worth the hassle of switching...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Verizon and ATT are both $10 per day for the first line. But Verizon allows very limited data before charging an additional $10, and ATT allows you to use your phone normally all day for the original $10. My boyfriend and I travel frequently using both, and most days he pays $20 unless he is very conscious to use Wifi whenever possible.

We're in Europe now, and they don't automatically charge another $10. Once you use 2GB, they switch you to 3G, which doesn't work as well. But the charge is $10 per day. Regardless, download Google maps offline, if the issue is driving directions. It saves a ton of data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pp above here.
Sorry, I meant it's NOT worth the hassle of switching...

Same here. We have two of us and with the money we're paying to travel, it just didn't make sense to me to have to worry about sim cards, different numbers, etc. $20 per day for 5 days. What's another $100 when you're trying to enjoy your trip.

[Anonymous]

As someone mentioned tmobile has international roaming. It was fine for texting and calling. Data was somewhat slow and I couldn't use facetime. It worked fine for a long weekend.

I am going on a longer trip and I added T-mobiles upgraded international service so I could have faster data and it may have been $50 for 10 days. They had one that cost less for less data though. I can't remember the cost off the top of my head.

[Anonymous]

I just pay $10 a day to use my own number and phone but usually use Signal via wifi.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we're doing this for our child for her international trip. $10/day via Verizon.