When traveling to Europe for a land or cruise vacation, I want to be able to stay in touch with family, friends and clients without a huge phone bill “surprise” when I return home.
These are four strategies I employ to stay in touch — using my iPhone and AT & T plan — without incurring a huge phone bill.
1. I set my phone to airplane mode, and plan to leave it in that mode until I’m back in the United States.
Being in airplane mode disables the phone’s functions that require cellular transmission, while still allowing access to the device’s camera, games, downloaded podcasts and audiobooks, etc.
Plus, whenever a Wi-Fi connection is available, you can check your email, use messaging apps, and browse the Internet while your phone is in Airplane mode.
To implement on my iPhone, I go into SETTINGS and switch to AIRPLANE MODE by moving the slider bar so that it’s green.
I then check to see that the little plane shows in the upper left corner of my home screen before I turn my phone off. To ensure my phone stays in AIRPLANE MODE, I look for the airplane symbol every time I turn on my phone while traveling outside the US.
2. Before Departing the US, I enable Wi-Fi Calling on my iPhone (with AT&T Service.)
AT&T offers free Wi-Fi Calling on my iPhone. To use this, I go to SETTINGS, and scroll way down to PHONE. After clicking on PHONE, I scroll down to Wi-Fi Calling, and turn it on.
Once AT&T Wi-Fi Calling is enabled on an iPhone, it works automatically whenever you connect to a Wi-Fi network. You can make calls or receive calls to or from the US (whenever you are on Wi-Fi) at no additional charge. In other words, you can being on a cruise in the Mediterranean, and if you are logged into the ship’s Wi-Fi, your phone will ring when someone calls you from the US, just like if you were home when they called — and there’s no international calling charge.
Connecting to Wi-Fi on most cruise ships requires an extra cost, but generally I find that cost of a Wi-Fi plan is significantly cheaper than using an international cell plan. Since Wi-Fi is free in many European hotels, cafes, and on Viking Ocean or River cruises, this is an inexpensive way to stay in touch with the US.
Some important notes regarding AT & T Wi-Fi Calling:
- Depending on time zones, Europe is five to nine hours ahead of the U.S. You may not want to receive calls in Europe while you are sleeping – so set your phone to silence during sleeping hours or just turn it off.
- People who call you will not know they are talking to you over Wi-Fi; the clarity of the call depends on the strength of the internet connection — i.e. if there are too many people on the Wi-Fi network at the same time the call will be impacted.
- Text messages you send or receive with Wi-Fi Calling count the same as regular text messages according to your current AT& T rate plan; if you have unlimited texts normally you will have them through Wi-Fi calling also.
- Wi-Fi Calling works for making and receiving US calls only. International calls get charged at regular rate so you don’t want to use this to call someone in Spain, for example, while you are in Spain. Learn more details about Wi-Fi Calling on the AT & T website.
Wi-Fi Calling is also available on other cellular networks. Use these links to find out details about your network:
- Verizon Wi-Fi Calling Details here.
- T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling Details here.
- Sprint Wi-Fi Calling Details here.
3. I also set up the International Day Pass option offered through AT&T.
This AT&T International Day Pass Plan takes your takes your talk, text, and data plan to over 100 countries for a low daily fee. You pay the $10 per day fee only only on the days you use your phone (off of AIRPLANE MODE) when traveling abroad.
While I have this plan enabled, I generally don’t use it. But, having set up the plan gives me the ability to “turn on” my phone for cellular use if necessary –to make local calls, search Google maps, use data to order a Uber ride, etc. – and I only pay the $10 daily rate for the days I use it.
IMPORTANT NOTES for the AT&T International Day Pass:
- You will get charged the daily rate if you have apps running in the background that use international data. (I avoid this by turning most of my apps off from using Cellular Data.)
- To turn off apps from using cellular data, go to SETTINGS, then CELLULAR. When in CELLULAR, scroll down until you start seeing apps, such as PODCASTS, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, MAIL, ETC. For each app that you don’t need to useunless you are on Wi-FI, swipe the green slider bar off, so that it no longer shows Green. Do not turn off the cellular access for apps you might need in Europe when WI-FI isn’t available. For example, you might want to leave Google maps, Uber, Yelp and Find iPhone, etc, acessible by CELLULAR.
- When you are back in the US, don’t forget to reinstate the CELLULAR data usage on the apps you turned off for Europe.
4. I use the Skype for iPhone app (download it here.)
The Skype for iPhone app works for sending and receiving instant messages, making voice or video calls – from most all devices such as Android phones, desktop computers, laptops, tablets. Skype is free when both party’s communicating have Skype accounts. However, if you load a small amout of funds to your account, you can call anyone on their regular phone number through the Skype app. I’ve found this particularly useful when you need to call customer service at your US based airline or credit card company, or reach family members that don’t embrace smartphones, email or social media.
As long as the Wi-Fi connection is decent, calls made through Skype generally have great sound quality. Be aware that when you call family or friends, they won’t recognize the phone number you are calling from, so they may think you are a tele-marketer.
How do you stay in touch when you travel to Europe? Or do you try to avoid calls, emails and texts when you are on vacation?
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