As my long-awaited trip to Mexico draws near, it’s time to start getting practical about my vacation plans. That means making the necessary 
arrangements for my newest appendage: the iPhone.
Firing up your cell phone in a foreign country can result in shockingly high roaming charges. In one case, a U.S. tourist racked up $3,000 in roaming fees from using his iPhone on a two-week trip to England and Ireland, the New York times reported.
The most disturbing part of that story is that he had signed up for AT&T’s international roaming plan. Problem was, he didn’t understand the customer service representative’s explanation of how it worked. Despite purchasing a plan, he exceeded the amount of data he purchased by using data-intensive features such as Google Maps.
International Data Plan. One way iPhone users can avoid roaming charges from using the Internet or e-mail is to purchase an international data plan. The cost of this plan depends upon how many megabytes you plan to use.
The AT&T customer service representative told me that based on my past usage, I should purchase the 20 megabyte plan for Mexico, which costs about $25 per month.
But even after signing up for this plan, it sounds like I’ll need to be careful about using Google maps.
I’ll need to pay an additional $5.00 for a calling plan.
Quick Sign Up. The customer service rep. suggested that I sign up for these plans the day before I leave for Mexico.
The full menu of AT&T’s international data and calling plan options is available on its Web site.
There are alternatives to paying these fees. But they mostly involve “dumbing down” your iPhone by doing things like:
- turning off “roaming”,
- switching on airplane mode (and essentially turn your iPhone into an iPod),
- disabling “push and fetch” for your e-mail,
- using Skype.
The conventional wisdom is that you can avoid the data charges by using your iPhone in places where there is a Wi-Fi connection.
But in one of the examples reported in the New York Times story, a U.S. tourist incurred $300 in roaming data charges even though he claimed to have accessed the Internet solely via Wi-Fi connections.
The international data and calling plans seem well worth the expense. It’s worth paying a little extra to have a fully functional iPhone and to steer clear of a huge phone bill.
Photo by powerbooktrance (Via Creative Commons)
on May 20th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.
on May 23rd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
You might find this article interesting. My son (Mexico) travels on business to the US and all around central and south america and is using a number of the tips in this article.
http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/staying-in-touch-internationally-on-the-cheap/?apage=5&scp=1-b&sq=%22international+cell+phone%22&st=nyt
I’d be curious what you think.
on May 23rd, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Nancy, thanks for recommending that article. Very good info. I think there is a Skype app. for the iPhone now. I need to get up to speed with Skype.
I have an old phone, so the SIM card option would be good too.
But I’m totally spoiled and can’t live without my iPhone.
Using a different phone or dumbing down the iPhone would be like having a wonderful steak dinner, but not ordering wine to save some money.