Traveling outside of the U.S? Avoid a large phone bill! Disabling the Data feature isn’t usually enough. Someone recently came back to a bill of over $1,000 of just data overages, definitely not what anyone wants to come home to!
Next time you travel, make sure you turn off the feature which checks for messages on a regular basis (this is called data ‘roaming’). The biggest misconception people have, is that they will only incur roaming charges if they actually use their cellphone to make a call, text or use data. However, when your phone checks for messages it will incur a charge even when no messages are downloaded. Think of it as your phone automatically checking-in to towers while you are traveling. Ask your cellphone provider how to have the phone only check for messages when you ask the phone to do so (this will avoid a large phone bill). I highly suggest you put your phone on airplane mode while overseas to turn off everything from message downloading, GPS, etc.
Of course, if you are a T-Mobile customer traveling to one of the over 100 countries they have international roaming agreements with, you won’t have to worry about this. If the country you are traveling to is included you only pay 20 cents a minute for calls there or to the U.S, unlimited texting is included and if your data works, enjoy 2G speeds at no additional cost to you (check T-Mobile for complete details). If you don’t have T-Mobile, check what options your service provider has available.
Be smart while traveling, don’t let your travel money become “cellphone bill” money.
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