In today’s world, we are constantly connected to each other by electronic media and one of the great facilitators of this has been the advent of the smartphone. We use them for far more than just phone calls: we can text or email, get directions, choose a restaurant then calculate the tip, play music, video or podcasts, surf the internet, and manage our social calendar just to name a few. The ubiquitous smartphone has become a staple in our lives and we have grown to depend on having all of our favorite apps at our fingertips at all times. But using your mobile phone abroad can cost a bundle. If your smartphone is your lifeline, here are some things to consider before you travel outside North America.

Tips for Using Your Mobile Phone Abroad

• Understand your calling plan roaming charges. Rates vary from country to country and inbound versus outbound communications. Text or data also have different roaming rates than phone calls.
• If you expect to be frequently using your mobile phone abroad, purchase a local sim card upon arrival and install it in your own phone. They come with a certain amount of data so you won’t be subject to your home service provider’s data charges.
• If you travel frequently, consider purchasing a global phone that allows you to only pay for airtime without a long-term service commitment.
• If you travel on a cruise ship that supports your mobile technology, understand that you will be billed at the published cruise ship rate when you are in international waters. When you are in port, applicable roaming rates for that country will apply. These can vary significantly, so do your homework before you run up a large bill.
• Understand the difference between using your phone services, i.e., 4G (high-speed data) and Wi-Fi. If you use your phone’s 4G service your service provider’s applicable data rates per megabyte will apply. If you access available Wi-Fi service you will pay locally at the time of service and it’s likely to be much less expensive or even free.
• In addition to being less expensive, Wi-Fi uses less battery power than 4G data, but you can also conserve battery power by turning down the brightness of your screen – the single biggest demand on your battery power.
• Manage the megabyte flow of data by turning off your data roaming feature and sync features. Check email and calendars manually only when you’re on Wi-Fi instead of allowing everything to be pushed through automatically.
• Monitor the amount of data and control roaming cost by resetting the data counter in your smartphone so you can keep an eye on the number of megabytes used.
• Helpful travel applications like currency converters, language translators and sightseeing maps are available for many different destinations. Be sure to read the description or test any fun travel apps that you intend to use when away from home to know if they require internet service to use.

These days you can stay connected almost anywhere in the world. Just be sure to manage your costs when using your mobile phone abroad, and don’t forget to occasionally put down the phone and just experience travel the old-fashioned way!