Saving on Communications While Traveling

Saving on Communications While Traveling: a reader asks…

I have a smartphone (iPhone) and Verizon cell phone service here in the US. I’m traveling internationally soon, and I would have to pay xx dollars a day to use my phone while overseas. I also understand that making calls from overseas will incur additional charges, even when I’m calling locally (from overseas). I’d like to avoid all that expense, and don’t plan on making any calls, I can do everything by email and text messaging. How can I avoid having to pay?

To completely avoid this, you’ll only use your smartphone on a Wi-Fi connection. You’ll want to remain in airplane mode, turn off Data Roaming, and connect to a local Wi-Fi network anytime you want to communicate or use your smartphone on the internet. The exact procedure varies by smartphone type.

For your iPhone, Tap Settings and turn on Airplane Mode before you leave the US (assuming you’re flying). When you land, leave Airplane mode on. You can turn off Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth, or leave them on. For Wi-Fi, turn off the “Ask to Join Networks” and “Auto-Join Hotspot”. On the Cellular settings (if you leave that on), turn off Cellular Data and turn off “Data Roaming”.

Now, when you want to use your smartphone, manually connect to a Wi-Fi network first. You can then use text messaging and email, provided that a Wi-Fi network is connected to the internet. You can also use a web browser. I should mention that you can also use various video-calling services, such as FaceTime (Apple), Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. You can also use other 3rd-party messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp, which allow for both audio-only and video calls.

You may find this a bit inconvenient when traveling overseas, as you should be careful about which Wi-Fi networks you connect to. There are many scammers and hackers out there using portable hotspots that appear to be legitimate Wi-Fi networks (with names similar to those you may know). When at a hotel, Airbnb, VRBO, or other rental accommodation, you should only connect to the Wi-Fi network provided by that venue. For commercial establishments, be wary of Wi-Fi networks with names similar to the business – be sure to connect to the legitimate one. And finally, recognize that when you’re not at one of those places, you’ll be out of touch with most of your smartphone’s capabilities, including live location tracking and navigation mapping.

I should mention that a Verizon International Day pass is only $12/US per day (actually per 24-hour period), and you may want to flip on your cellular service on days when you think you’ll need all the capabilities of your smartphone, leaving it off for the days when you’re remaining in the coverage of a Wi-Fi network. That isn’t as cheap, but will give you the capability when you need it.